I could write about how excited I am about the latest NYFOS concert, how relevant the material is in this music and why it will be a wonderful experience for you to go, but who could say it better than Steven Blier himself. Follow this link for ticket information and read the press release including the maestro's compelling story of how this new program: "Women" came to be.
- THIS WEEKEND Handel's Partenope with Boston Baroque
- Recitals with Warren Jones
- Return to NYFOS
- lots close to home
- More great Handel
- Teasers for upcoming season...
Dear Friends,
Fall means something special and important to a lot of us. Back to school, back to work, back to some of the best seasonal beers of the year... For me it means a suddenly busy season of working while managing to stay mostly at home.
*This weekend please come and see Boston Baroque's production of Partenope one of Handel's few
comic operas. This is a semi-staged production at Jordan Hall with a beautiful cast of Handel singers...and me.
Last month I began rehearsing a new recital program with a new and terrific collaborator, Warren Jones. This program, created with my friend Barbara Hocher is entitled The Quest - Don Quixote and Other Wanderers. It includes the Vaughan Williams Songs of Travel, a group of Schubert songs about wandering (from which there are many to choose) Ravel's mini-masterpiece for baritone Don Quichotte à Dulcinée, selections from Songs of Cifar and the Sweet Sea, a Nicaraguan Odyssey by Peruvian-Chinese-Jewish-American sensation Gabriela Lena Frank., the American Folk Set you may remember from Steven Mark Kohn and of course "The Impossible Dream." We will perform this program at Brown University, Philips Exeter Academy and then in New York City as part of the Carnegie Neighborhood Concert Series. Later we will bring a portion of the program to the Olmos Ensemble chamber music series in San Antonio, TX.
I am blessed to work with such great artists again with the New York Festival of Song. Along with the incomparable genius Steven Blier, this program stars Corinne Winters and Sasha Cook. It is simply called Women and "explores the lives of women, narrated in their own words and also observed through the eyes of men. It features world premieres by four of today’s most interesting song composers: Mark Adamo, Harold Meltzer, Carla Kihlstedt, and Mohammed Fairouz. Rounding out the musical program are songs by Thea Musgrave, John Musto, and others."
Right from there it's back home to rehearse for Boston Baroque's Messiah. Last year I had such a great time singing with this orchestra and was so amazed by their playing that I had to blog about it. This year there is another great line up of soloists and I have had the privilege of singing with them before.
Conductor Steven Karidoyanes is bringing together the Plymouth Philharmonic and the Masterworks Chorale for a program called: Transcendent Masterworks. Five Mystical Songs of Vaughan Williams and the Brahms Requiem. Come to a performance near you at the Performing Arts Center in Duxbury or Sanders Theater in Cambridge.
This year the Colorado Bach Ensemble started their inaugural season and this December performs their first Messiah. I have a feeling this will be to Denver what the Oregon Bach Festival is to Portland.
2013 brings a lot of exciting things: Seattle, good friends in Dayton (singing Le Nozze di Figaro) Knoxville (Cenerentola with James Marvel), Bach's St. Matthew Passion, NYFOS' 25 Birthday Bash, Cincinnati Opera, a big recital in Texas and more surprises.
All of this information is available on my calendar. If you happen to be in the area for any of these performances I would love to see you there.
Thank you! Colorado Denver Colorado Bach Ensemble Handel's Messiah
Saturday, December 22, 7:30 PM
Trinity United Methodist Church
Fort CollinsColorado Bach Ensemble Handel's Messiah
Friday, December 21, 7:30 PM
First United Methodist Church
Massachusetts Boston Boston Baroque Handel's Partenope
October 19 and 20, 7:30 PM
Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory
Boston Boston Baroque Handel's Messiah
Friday, December 7 &
Saturday, December 8 7:30 PM
Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory
Duxbury Plymouth Philharmonic and Masterworks Chorale: Vaughan Williams Five Mystical Songs and Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem
Saturday,October 27, 8PM
Duxbury Performing Arts Center
Hingham Conservatory Concert SeriesPilgrim's Progress to Pop Paragon: Music of the New World
Sunday, October 21, 4PM
South Shore Conservatory, Hingham Campus
New BedfordNew Bedford Symphony Handel's Messiah (Christmas portion) and Schubert's Magnificat in C
New Hampshire Exeter Gilbert Concert Series at Philips Exeter Academy Carnegie Neighborhood Concerts: The Quest - Don Quixote and Other Wanderers, a recital with Andrew Garland, baritone and Warren Jones, piano
Tuesday, October 30, 7PM
New York New York CityCarnegie Neighborhood ConcertsThe Quest - Don Quixote and Other Wanderers, a recital with Andrew Garland, baritone and Warren Jones, piano
Saturday, November 3, 4PM
Advent Lutheran Church (West 93rd St and Broadway)
New York CityNew York Festival of Song: Women a new NYFOS program starring Corinne Winters, Soprano, Sasha Cook, mezzo-soprano and Steven Blier, piano
Tuesday, December 4, 8PM
Merkin Hall
Rhode Island Providence Brown UniversityThe Quest - Don Quixote and Other Wanderers, a recital with Andrew Garland, baritone and Warren Jones, piano
Sunday, October 28, 8PM
Grant Recital Hall
Texas San AntonioOlmos Ensemble "Warren's Back, with Baritone Andrew Garland!"
Monday, November 9, 7:30 PM
First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Antonio
in my first mobile blog post i am proud to announce that last night i won the natsaa (national association of teachers of singing artist award) at the nats national convention in orlando, florida. more information - and capital letters - soon!
Today I've committed to raising money for cancer research by riding in the 2012 Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC). On the first weekend in August, I will join 5,500 cyclists in the PMC ride, an annual bike-a-thon that raises money for research and care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DCFI) in Boston.
I hope I can count on your support
The PMC raises more money for charity than any other single event in the country, $338 million since 1980 and $35 million last year alone! This success is the result of a lot of people riding for, and caring about, a cure. And because every penny matters, 100 percent of your donation goes to DFCI.
I've made a personal commitment to ride and raise $3,500. So I hope you can help me achieve this significant goal.
Please donate to my PMC ride at one of the following links:
Your donation is tax deductible and 100% will go to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. If you prefer to write a check, please make it out to the PMC, The Jimmy Fund or Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and mail it to me directly at:
Andrew Garland 24 Clifton Drive Kingston, MA 02364 US
If your employer has a matching gift program, ask your Human Resources department for a form, and follow the process for matches.
To learn more about the PMC, please visit pmc.org.
"To sing or not sing?" Romeo, Don Quixote, Warren Jones, Steven Blier and other great men Record Release Summer, Song and Seattle Lots of new audio
Spring is in the air. And so is the pollen. I hate to complain of allergies, but I know most of you reading this know just what I'm talking about. This Spring I've got them bad. "How bad," you ask? I will tell you:
This weekend was the 15 biennial Marguerite McCammon Voice Competition at Ft. Worth Opera. I flew down there from Maryland where I had been working the past week, woke up the morning of the first round and could not sing, I could not speak. As luck would have it I drew the #2 spot who sings first thing in the morning. I was faced with a touch choice: go out there and try to sing, not 100% certain your voice will work, or cancel. I decided to give it a shot. I was not pleased with my performance and went back to my hotel certain that I would not advance to the finals. But I did. Revived with another chance I took good care of my voice, came back the next day, gave a performance that everyone was pleased with and won the audience favorite award.
I returned here to Annapolis where I am rehearsing for Romeo and Juliette. Performances are May 18 and 20 with Annapolis Opera. I sing the role of Mercutio who steals the show, has a daredevil sword fight and dies. Here I am singing Mercutio's aria: "Ballade de la Reine Mab." Keep in mind Mercutio (named after Mercury, the Roman god of speed) runs back and forth across the entire 40-foot stage, dances, hurdles over furniture, swings his sword and teases Romeo all while singing this whirlwind music and telling the story of "The Fairy-Queen of Dreams."
My return home will mark in unofficial start of Summer, though for many of us it has felt like Summer for weeks already. I finished my first year teaching at Brown University. I have a terrific studio of students, a few are concentrating in music, others who are preparing to be leading scientists, publishers, historians and humanitarians, all who are dedicated to the beauty of their craft. All of them, I will add, practice! Brown provided me with some performing opportunities of my own: I got to sing Franz Liszt's nearly-never-performed oratorio The Bells of Strassbourg, a setting of a poem by Longfellow in the original English. In the spring I teamed up with organist Mark Steinbach to perform his arrangement of Gustav Mahler's 5 Ruckert-Lieder on the 1903 Hutchings-Votey organ. We also had the privilege of coaching this cycle with Wolfgang Holzmair when he visited campus.
Mark and I also recorded excerpts from concert standards including the Brahms Requiem,
Faure Requiem and Five Mystical Songs of Vaughan Williams.
Summer will take me a few interesting places: Orlando to compete for the NATSAA artist award (wish me luck on June 28 and 29) Lake Placid, NY to sing an opera Gala, and Woodstock, NY to return to Maverick concerts, this time to sing and all French recital including the string Quintet version of Faure's La Bonne Chanson and some more French music at the Bard Festival. I'm fortunate enough to do some performing at home as well, in the Evenings Under the Starts series and the Duxbury Music Festival, both at the South Shore Conservatory.
A lot of you have asked - the answer is 'yes, I am riding the Pan Mass Challenge.' Thank you for your continues support.
Fall is an exciting time because not only do I return to Brown but I get to sing some of the greatest works in my repertoire. Alexander Platt has invited me to sing the Copland Old American Songs with his Marion Philharmonic. Most of us sang these at one time or another in our student days, but how many of us get to sing them with orchestra?!
Then on November 3 I return to New York to sing a Carnegie Neighborhood Concert with pianist Warren Jones in a new program we're calling "The Quest: Don Quixote and other Wanderers." Program will include Vaughan Williams' Songs of Travel, songs by Schubert, some American traditionals and originals and of course Ravel's classic Don Quichotte a Dulcinee. Maybe, just maybe there'll be an "Impossible Dream" at the end.
from a 2009 Horne Foundation cruise live recording with Jerome Tan, piano
the ship was rocking - literally!
My last post was about a wonderful dress rehearsal experience with Boston Baroque. I am honored to be invited back to sing their Messiah again. December 7, 8 at Jordan Hall. If you can't wait that long to hear me sing with Boston Baroque you can attend their 2012 Gala on Sunday, June 3 at the Four Seasons in Boston.
That magical concert was followed by several more: New Year's Day with the Cape Cod Symphony (come back and see me again New Year's Day 2013), A Modern Person's Guide to Hooking Up and Breaking Up (now affectionately known as AMPGTHUABU) with NYFOS first at the new Calderwood Hall at the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum in Boston, then at NYFOS' home at Merkin Hall in New York City. For those of you who came, thank you for sharing this racy, beautiful, loving program.
The new Calderwood Hall at the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum.
There is seating on all four sides and a third balcony (not shown.)
Corinne and I enjoyed a refreshing trip to Camden, ME. While there I sang Carmina Burana with Bay Chamber Concerts and I got to meet two special, talented soloists: Daniel Stein and Suzanne Nance. The following weekend was a grand Carmina with the Albany Symphony, and guest conductor JoAnn Falletta. Those of you who have had the privilege of working with her know of her incredible passion, precision and charm. I will return to Albany next Spring to sing my first Jesus in Bach's St. Matthew Passion.
2013
Somewhere in all this I have got to get my procrastinating baritone self over to Europe and audition for some houses and show them what I've got? Right? Well there won't be much time for that because at the end of January I start rehearsals for La Bohème at Seattle Opera. While there we will hold a record release party for American Portraits, songs by Jake Heggie, Stephen Paulus, Lori Laitman and of course, Tom Cipullo. Donna Loewy and I recorded this for GPR Records last May.
Next will be a return to Dayton Opera to sing the role I have sung more times than any other, Cout Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro. From there it is back to Knoxville where I will sing my favorite role, Dandini in La Cenerentola. The future hold many more exciting musical projects including Harlekin at Seattle, more recitals, the annual Andrew Garland and Friends benefit concert and my return to Boston Lyric Opera in a lead role. Stay tuned for more details.
Another heartfelt 'congratulations' to Steven Blier and James Russell who got married on April 28 in New York. Corinne and I were honored to be at the celebration.
