Brooklyn Art Song Society (BASS) is set to open its 2026 New Voices Festival on Sunday, April 12. 

The first concert titled, “Longing I” will feature a program spotlighting the extraordinary vitality of composers from the United Kingdom. The concert will feature the world premiere of a new BASS commission by Charlotte Bray, recipient of the inaugural Van Koolbergen Commission Award for Art Song, with text by acclaimed Iranian-American poet Sholeh Wolpé. The program also includes works by Iain Bell, Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade, Helen Grime, and Hannah Kendall.

The evening will include performances from sopranos Mireille Assalin and Maggie Finnegan, mezzo-soprano Abi Levis, baritones Brandon Bell and Brian Mextorf, and pianists Michael Brofman and Nathaniel LaNasa.

Bray will also give the pre-concert lecture at 4:30 p.m.

Read Related Stories 

• Brooklyn Art Song Society to Present ‘Evidence of Things Not Seen’