FIRST-NAME BASIS to Debut at New York Festival of Song Season Opener

Breaking news to your phone. US mobile only. No password required.

Broadway + NYC

Broadway

Off-Broadway

Off-Off Broadway

Cabaret

Dance

Opera

Classical Music

West End / UK

International

Canada

Australia / New Zealand

Europe

Asia

Latin America

Africa / Middle East

Entertainment

Ctrl + K to open · Esc to close

Steven Blier and Bénédicte Jourdois curate an eclectic program placing classical composers alongside Tom Lehrer, Noël Coward, and Randy Newman.

Most Popular

Get all the top news & discounts for Music & beyond. No password required.

In this article

New York Festival of Song (NYFOS) will open its mainstage season with First-Name Basis on Tuesday, October 20, 2026 at 8:00pm at Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center in New York City, co-presented by Kaufman Music Center.

Get all the top news & discounts for Music & beyond.

NYFOS Artistic Director Steven Blier and Associate Artistic Director Bénédicte Jourdois serve as curators, hosts, and performing pianists in this concert of songs named for a colorful cast of characters from history, literature, and music – from Beethoven's 'Adelaide' to Fauré's 'Lydia' to Noël Coward's 'Nina.' Featuring performances by soprano Christine Taylor Price, mezzo-soprano Megan Moore, and baritone Samuel Kidd, the program references figures from Biblical times (Belsazar) and Greek mythology (Ganymede) to the Beatles' London (Michelle) and Randy Newman 's America (Marie), all immortalized in song.

'First Name Basis is an idea that has been kicking around my brain for a long time: a program comprised of songs whose titles are simply the name of a person,' Blier says. 'This somewhat goofy prospect led Bénédicte Jourdois and me to a potent brew: songs about lovers, soldiers, Greek gods, and French teenagers, in locales spanning from scenes of war and chic salons up to the very gates of heaven. In true NYFOS style, the playlist places Schubert, Wolf, Beethoven, and Fauré shoulder to shoulder with Tom Lehrer , Noël Coward, and the Beatles – an unforgettable portrait gallery.'

First-Name Basis is the first of four NYFOS mainstage programs scheduled for this season, all to be co-presented by Kaufman Music Center at Merkin Hall. Following three standalone concerts – This Now Naked Life (NYFOS Next) on Sunday, November 15, 2026; A Goyishe Christmas to You! on Monday, December 7, 2026; and The NYFOS@Juilliard show, Hooray for Hollywood!, on Wednesday, January 13, 2027 – the mainstage series will continue with United We Stand on Wednesday, February 10, 2027; Guilty Pleasures on Tuesday, March 9, 2027; and Harlem Renaissance on Monday, April 5, 2027. All mainstage programs are held at Merkin Hall and include complimentary post-concert receptions with the artists.

Tuesday, October 20, 2026 at 8:00pm

First-Name Basis

Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | New York, NY

Link: www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/mch/event/new-york-festival-of-song-first-name-basis/

Poulenc – Paul et Virginie

Eduardo Toldrà – Lorenzo y Catalina

Lovers, Enraptured

Duparc – Phidylé

Fauré – Lydia

Hahn – A Chloris

Warriors

Hugo Wolf – Gesang Weylas

Kosma – Barbara

Bécaud – Nathalie

Lovers in the Throes

Wolf – Agnes

Wolf – Peregina I and II

Brel – Madeleine

Scaling the Heights

Beethoven – Adelaide

Schubert – Ganymed

Schubert – An Sylvia

López Buchardo – Petite Ynga

Rogues' Gallery

Noël Coward – Nina

Harold Arlen – Evelina

Beatles – Michelle

Tom Lehrer – Alma

Christine Taylor Price, soprano

Megan Moore, mezzo-soprano

Samuel Kidd, baritone

Steven Blier , pianist

Bénédicte Jourdois, pianist

Sunday, November 15, 2026 at 3:00pm

This Now Naked Life (NYFOS Next)

The Theater at 150 W 17th Street | New York, NY

Link: nyfos.org/nyfos-next

Program:

Daniel Pesca – Terra Incognita

Thomas Kotcheff – songs

Joel Balzun – songs

leiken – Selections from Ars moriendi [World Premiere]

Monday, December 7, 2026 at 8:00pm

A Goyishe Christmas to You!

The Theater at 150 W 17th Street | New York, NY

Link: nyfos.org/goyishe-christmas

Also available via livestream

Lauren Worsham , soprano

Donna Breitzer, mezzo-soprano

Rebecca Jo Loeb, mezzo-soprano

Alex Mansoori, tenor

Joshua Jeremiah , baritone

Joshua Breitzer, cantor

Alan R. Kay, clarinet

Steven Blier , pianist and host

Wednesday, January 13, 2027 at 7:30pm

Hooray For Hollywood!

Peter Jay Sharp Theater, The Juilliard School | New York, NY

Tickets available Fall 2026

Students of the Marcus Institute of Vocal Arts

Program:

Songs by:

Stephen Sondheim

The Beatles

Burt Bacharach

Herman Hupfeld

Wednesday, February 10, 2027 at 8:00pm

United We Stand

Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | New York, NY

Link: www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/mch/event/new-york-festival-of-song-united-we-stand/

Theo Hoffman, baritone

Shelén Hughes Camacho, soprano

Shiyu Zhuo, soprano

Steven Blier , host and pianist

Bénédicte Jourdois, pianist

Program:

Songs by:

Joni Mitchell

Carlos López Buchardo

Fairuz

Franz Schubert

Tuesday, March 9, 2027 at 8:00pm

Guilty Pleasures

Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | New York, New York

Link: www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/mch/event/new-york-festival-of-song-guilty-pleasures/

Steven Blier , host and pianist

Bénédicte Jourdois, host and pianist

Caramoor 2027 Schwab Vocal Rising Stars

Program:

Songs by:

Richard Strauss

Benjamin Britten

John Jacob Niles

Johannes Brahms

Irving Berlin

Monday, April 5, 2027 at 8:00pm

Harlem Renaissance

Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | New York, New York

Link: www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/mch/event/new-york-festival-of-song-harlem-renaissance/

Lucia Bradford, mezzo-soprano

Justin Austin , baritone

Steven Blier , host and pianist

Bénédicte Jourdois, pianist

Program:

Songs by:

Fats Waller

Florence Price

Duke Ellington

Eubie Blake

J. Rosamond Johnson

William Grant Still

Readings from Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston

Now in its 39th season, New York Festival of Song (NYFOS) is dedicated to creating intimate song concerts of great beauty and originality. Weaving music, poetry, history, and humor into evenings of compelling theater, NYFOS fosters community among artists and audiences. Each program entertains and educates in equal measure. Founded by pianists Michael Barrett and Steven Blier in 1988, NYFOS continues to produce its series of thematic song programs, drawing together rarely-heard songs of all kinds, overriding traditional distinctions between musical genres, exploring the character and language of other cultures, and the personal voices of song composers and lyricists.

Since its founding, NYFOS has particularly celebrated American song. Among the many highlights is the double bill of one-act comic operas, Bastianello and Lucrezia, by John Musto and William Bolcom , both with libretti by Mark Campbell , commissioned and premiered by NYFOS in 2008 and recorded on Bridge Records. In addition to Bastianello and Lucrezia and the 2008 Bridge Records release of Spanish Love Songs with Joseph Kaiser and the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, NYFOS has produced five recordings on the Koch label, including a Grammy Award-winning disc of Bernstein's Arias and Barcarolles, and the Grammy-nominated recording of Ned Rorem 's Evidence of Things Not Seen (also a NYFOS commission) on New World Records. In 2014, Canción Amorosa, a CD of Spanish song – Basque, Catalan, Castilian, and Sephardic – was released on the GPR label, with soprano Corinne Winters accompanied by Steven Blier .

In January of 2022, NYFOS Records issued its first album, From Rags to Riches, with Stephanie Blythe and William Burden . In January of 2025, they released their sixth album, Schubert/Beatles, with Theo Hoffman, Julia Bullock , Kunal Lahiri, and Mr. Blier, which was nominated for a 2026 Grammy Award. The new CD joins NYFOS Records' burgeoning discography, alongside A Picnic Cantata (2022), the first stereo recording of a hidden gem by Paul Bowles and James Schuyler; Black & Blue (2023), the debut solo album of British-American tenor Joshua Blue collaborating with Steven Blier ; Mi País: Songs of Argentina (2023) featuring bass-baritone Federico De Michelis and pianist Steven Blier ; and NYFOS Records: The Singles, Vol. 1 (2024), a wide-ranging compilation drawn from over 20 years of archival material, including tracks featuring Michael Spyres , Justin Austin , and Bernarda Fink. NYFOS Records has reached rapidly growing audiences in over 100 countries, with well over 2.5 million streams to date.

In November 2010, NYFOS debuted NYFOS Next, a mini-series for new songs, hosted by guest composers in intimate venues, including OPERA America's National Opera Center, National Sawdust, the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, and the Ann Goodman Recital Hall at Kaufman Music Center. Pianist and new music specialist Nathaniel LaNasa has served as series curator since 2022, when NYFOS Next found its current home, the former Rubin Museum space in Chelsea.

NYFOS is passionate about nurturing the artistry and careers of young singers, and has developed training residencies around the country, including with The Juilliard School's Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts (now in its 18th year); Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts (its 18th year in March 2026); San Francisco Opera Center (over 20 years as of February 2018); Glimmerglass Opera (2008–2010); and its newest project, NYFOS@North Fork in Orient, NY.

NYFOS's concert series, touring programs, radio broadcasts, recordings, and educational activities continue to spark new interest in the creative possibilities of the song program and have inspired the creation of thematic vocal series around the world.

A native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, baritone Samuel Kidd is establishing himself as a versatile and engaging performer. This season he returns to the Adler Fellowship Program at San Francisco Opera, where he will sing the role of Schaunard in La bohème, in addition to appearances with Opera Naples as Papageno in The Magic Flute. In March 2025, Samuel was named a National Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. Last season, he made his San Francisco Opera debut singing the roles of Silvano in Un Ballo in Maschera, Morales in Carmen, and Steuermann in Tristan und Isolde. A student of Gerald Martin Moore, other recent highlights include Tarquinius in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia with the Merola Opera Program, Belcore from Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore and Tarquinius with Yale Opera, and Onegin from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin at The Music Academy of the West.

At home on the opera stage, Sam is equally passionate about art song and recital singing, in particular German Lieder. In the fall of 2023 Sam returned to The New York Festival of Song for their Perennials program. His 2023 performance in the Merola Opera Program's Metamorphosis recital was praised for its 'cohesive blend of caressing phrases and dynamic intensity' (San Francisco Classical Voice). In November 2022 he appeared with the Cincinnati Song Initiative performing Mahler's Kindertotenlieder. In April 2021 he participated in the Caramoor Rising Star program, directed and curated by Steven Blier . He was also featured in the New York Festival of Song online season in September 2020.

Samuel enjoys oratorio and choral singing, having performed the baritone solos in Vaughn Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem with the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, Haydn's Creation and Mozart's Requiem with the Plymouth Oratorio Society, and bass solos in Bach's Mass in B minor and Monteverdi's 1610 Vespers with Audivi and the Michigan Bach Collective.

Praised for her versatility and depth, mezzo-soprano Megan Moore enjoys a diverse career in opera, concert, and recital. Particularly recognized for interpreting Rossini, Handel, and Mozart, Megan's favorite operatic roles include Rosina, Angelina, Donna Elvira, Dorabella, Ariodante, and Dido, and she has appeared with such esteemed companies as The Metropolitan Opera, Santa

_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwmusic/article/FIRST-NAME-BASIS-Will-Make-Mainstage-Debut-at-New-York-Festival-of-Song-20261001)._