Blog

  • Everything Old is New Again

    “La musica, come il sale, conserva meglio.”“Music, like salt, preserves better.”– Erri De Luca The old Italian songs, sung in vocal studios the world over, are here reimagined with flair by America’s premier Black composers. Lyric Fest is honored to collaborate with the Denyce Graves Foundation in presenting the world premiere of these beloved songs…

  • The Soul of the City

    “I have never felt salvation in nature. I love cities above all.”  – Michelangelo “City life is millions of people being lonely together.”  – Henry David Thoreau In this gritty, but surprisingly poetic program, Lyric Fest explores both the energy and underbelly of life in the city. Join us for song, verse, and a reflection…

  • Clara Osowski

    Mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski, who sings “from inside the music with unaffected purity and sincerity” (UK Telegraph), is an active soloist and chamber musician hailed for her “rich and radiant voice” (UrbanDial Milwaukee). She was a Metropolitan Opera National Council Upper-Midwest Regional Finalist, the winner of several competitions including Bel Canto Chorus Regional Artists Competition of…

  • Nevertheless, She Sang

    “For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.”  – Virginia Woolf IMPORTANT TIME CHANGE  Saturday’s concert at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church has been changed to 5pm. Despite a lack of opportunity, female composers were not, in fact, silent… Hear the remarkable blossoming of art and expression, when women take up the verse of women and…

  • Play a Simple Melody

    Everybody ought to have a lower East Side in their life. – Irving Berlin From the clamoring brownstones of Manhattan’s lower east side came the celebrated songs of Tin Pan Alley – and a genre that came to define America at home and abroad. Song pluggers like Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields, and dozens…

  • Joseph Parrish

    Regarded as a singer with “personal style and a very beautiful baritone voice” (Seen and Heard International), “One of our favorite young singers is Joseph Parrish whose deeply resonant tone is never booming but rather subtly colored.” (Voce di Meche) Joseph’s artistry incorporates a unique blend of genre and performance methods, shining a light on…

  • Jesse Blumberg

    Baritone Jesse Blumberg enjoys a busy schedule of opera, concerts, and recitals, performing repertoire from the Renaissance and Baroque to the 20th and 21st centuries. He has performed featured roles at Minnesota Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Atlanta Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Boston Early Music Festival, Opera Atelier, and at Château de Versailles Spectacles and London’s Royal…

  • COTTON

    Multimedia song cycle inspired by the cotton photography of Philadelphia artist John Dowell and composed by Damien Geter. Thursday, April 18, 2024, 7:30pm The 92nd Street Y – New York City, NY Damien Geter’s COTTON, conceived and commissioned by Lyric Fest, will be presented at the 92nd Street Y with Denyce Graves, mezzo soprano, Justin…

  • ¡ CANCIÓN !

    Lyric Fest is thrilled to present a fascinating program in collaboration with Esperanza (in Philadelphia), an organization that serves and strengthens the Hispanic community in Philadelphia. The program will explore the sights, sounds, and vibrant musical colors of Mexico. With Mexican American artists Cecilia Violetta López, soprano, Levi Hernandez, baritone, performing with Laura Ward at the piano,…

  • Jeanne Minahan

    Jeanne Minahan is a poet, writer, teacher, and scholar. She collaborates frequently with composers and musicians and her work has been published in Potomac Review, Cimarron Review, Women’s Review of Books, and other journals. Grammy award and Pulitzer-prize winning composer Jennifer Higdon set six of Minahan’s poems for violin, orchestra and chorus. The Singing Rooms…