The Anthology of Art Song by Black Composers

Friday | October 16, 2026 | 7:30 pm

GREAT VOCALISTS In this thrilling collaboration with the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music, Grammy-nominated baritone Joshua Conyers, acclaimed soprano Kiera Duffy and BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Nicole Cabell—all Eastman faculty—lead Eastman students in a…

(classical, musical-theater, new-music, season-highlights, vocal-performance)

New York Festival of Song: First-Name Basis

Tuesday | October 20, 2026 | 8 pm

From Beethoven’s “Adelaide” to Fauré’s “Lydia” to Noël Coward’s “Nina,” our playlist is composed of songs whose titles are the given names of a colorful cast of characters, ranging from Biblical times (Belsazar) and Greek myths…

(classical, musical-theater, season-highlights, vocal-performance)

William Finn

Monday | October 26, 2026 | 7:30 pm

BROADWAY CLOSE UP Hosted by Sean Hartley Celebrate one of the most distinctive voices in modern musical theater at this festive soirée honoring the life and work of the Tony-winning composer and lyricist William Finn (1952-2025). A stellar lineup of cast members – many of whom worked…

(musical-theater, season-highlights, vocal-performance)

Lembit Beecher & Karen Ouzounian: Mayrig

Tuesday | October 27, 2026 | 7:30 pm

ARTIST AS CURATOR Curated by Lembit Beecher & Karen Ouzounian Grammy-nominated Armenian-Canadian cellist and composer Karen Ouzounian and her husband, Rome Prize-winning Estonian-American composer, pianist and animator Lembit Beecher, give the NYC premiere of their new program Mayrig…

(classical, new-music, season-highlights, vocal-performance)

VOCES8

Thursday | October 29, 2026 | 7:30 pm

GREAT VOCALISTS Oct 30: VOCES8 at Trinity Church Lead Me Home The ever-popular, Grammy-nominated British vocal VOCES8 returns to Merkin Hall with journeys through the rich and varied landscape of American choral music, tracing a path through faith, folk tradition, poetry and popular song. The…

(classical, musical-theater, new-music, season-highlights, vocal-performance)

VOCES8 at Trinity Church

Friday | October 30, 2026 | 6:30 pm

GREAT VOCALISTS Oct 29: VOCES8 at Merkin Hall Featuring Trinity Choral Scholars The Grammy-nominated vocal ensemble VOCES8 returns in a unique collaboration with Kaufman Music Center and Trinty Church NYC. Praised by The Times (London) as “close harmony singing doesn’t get much more…

(classical, season-highlights, vocal-performance)

Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht’s "Happy End"

Thursday | November 12, 2026 | 7:30 pm

Religion and capitalism collide in this sharp, jazz-infused 1929 musical satire by Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht and Elisabeth Hauptmann. Conceived as a follow-up to the trio’s success with The Threepenny Opera, Happy End is a satire of big business and big religion set in a smoky…

(classical, musical-theater, season-highlights, vocal-performance)

Bound for Broadway

Monday | November 16, 2026 | 7:30 pm

BOUND FOR BROADWAY Hosted by Liz Callaway Bound for Broadway returns with a sneak peek at four of the best new shows headed for New York’s bright lights! Emmy Award-winner and Tony nominee Liz Callaway interviews some of musical theater’s most fascinating voices, followed by performances…

(musical-theater, season-highlights, vocal-performance)

I Could Have Danced All Night: Broadway in the 50’s

Monday | December 7, 2026 | 7:30 pm

BROADWAY CLOSE UP Hosted by Sean Hartley During the Golden Age of Musical Theater, the musical play came into its own with smash hits by larger-than-life Broadway legends like Rodgers & Hammerstein, Lerner & Loewe, Frank Loesser and Leonard Bernstein. Get the inside stories and hear songs…

(musical-theater, season-highlights, vocal-performance)

Zachary Wilder & Rob Mounsey

Thursday | December 17, 2026 | 7:30 pm

GREAT VOCALISTS The acclaimed tenor Zachary Wilder teams up with renowned, Emmy-winning producer Rob Mounsey for an intimate evening of music from their new album, Brooklyn Suite, which travels across continents and generations from Yiddish song and Romantic lied to opera arias, jazz and…

(classical, musical-theater, new-music, season-highlights, vocal-performance)

Rodgers & Hammerstein

Sunday | January 31, 2027 | 11 am

BROADWAY PLAYHOUSE For ages 4-11 The groundbreaking collaborations of Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II gave birth to the modern musical and helped define the Golden Age of Broadway. This family-friendly exploration of the evolution of American musical theater and the greatest theater…

(family, musical-theater, season-highlights, vocal-performance)

New York Festival of Song: United We Stand

Wednesday | February 10, 2027 | 8 pm

A new program exploring the universal values that unite us all, through music by Joni Mitchell, Carlos López Buchardo, Fairuz, Franz Schubert and others. Their songs take a stand against cruelty and intolerance, singing of kindness, connection, love and the beauty of a day well lived. NYFOS…

(classical, musical-theater, season-highlights, vocal-performance)

Stephen Sondheim

Sunday | February 28, 2027 | 11 am

BROADWAY PLAYHOUSE For ages 4-11 Widely regarded as the most influential musical theater writer of the late 20th century, Stephen Sondheim is celebrated for his sophisticated lyrics, inventive scores and psychologically complex characters. Through songs, sing-alongs, skits and games, the Broadway…

(family, musical-theater, season-highlights, vocal-performance)

New York Festival of Song: Guilty Pleasures

Tuesday | March 9, 2027 | 8 pm

A program of secrets, admonitions, parables, guilt and delights from many cultures and centuries. This bracing dive into the Seven Deadly Sins (with a side tour to some sweeter peccadillos) includes songs by Strauss, Britten, John Jacob Niles, Brahms and Irving Berlin, sung by Caramoor’s 2027…

(classical, musical-theater, season-highlights, vocal-performance)

Lorelei Ensemble: WILD

Thursday | March 11, 2027 | 7:30 pm

GREAT VOCALISTS KATHERINE BALCH  –  songs and interludes ANGÉLICA NEGRÓN  –  (ritual: postcathexis) (world premiere) SARAH KIRKLAND SNIDER  –  [new work] (world premiere) TINA TALLON  –  broad band (world premiere) PAMELA…

(classical, new-music, season-highlights, vocal-performance)

Chanticleer & ACRONYM

Wednesday | March 17, 2027 | 7:30 pm

GREAT VOCALISTS Returning to Merkin Hall after sold-out performances last season, the Grammy-winning vocal ensemble hailed as “the world’s reigning male chorus” by The New Yorker teams up with the acclaimed early music string ensemble ACRONYM for an evening of music by Italian…

(classical, season-highlights, vocal-performance)

Leonard Bernstein

Sunday | April 4, 2027 | 11 am

BROADWAY PLAYHOUSE For ages 4-11 Renowned for his extraordinary achievements as a composer, conductor, pianist and communicator who brought classical music to millions, Leonard Bernstein helped redefine American music and inspired generations of artists and audiences alike. The dynamic Broadway…

(family, musical-theater, season-highlights, vocal-performance)

New York Festival of Song: Harlem Renaissance

Monday | April 5, 2027 | 8 pm

The songs of “Fats” Waller, Florence Price, Duke Ellington, Eubie Blake, J. Rosamund Johnson and William Grant Still join the writings of Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, evoking the creative power of Black America that surged a hundred years ago. Two powerhouse singers, Lucia…

(classical, musical-theater, new-music, season-highlights, vocal-performance)

An Evening of Music & Comedy with Isabel Hagen, Charles Yang & Peter Dugan

Monday | April 12, 2027 | 7:30 pm

ARTIST AS CURATOR Curated by Isabel Hagen The dynamic trio returns to Merkin Hall with an all-new, high-energy evening of chamber music and comedy. Comedian, filmmaker and Juilliard-trained violist Isabel Hagen, a Tonight Show veteran whose stand-up “blends existential humor and raunchy…

(classical, new-music, season-highlights, vocal-performance)

Simone Dinnerstein & Baroklyn with Concora

Thursday | May 6, 2027 | 7:30 pm

PIANO DIALOGUES The pianist hailed as “a unique voice in the forest of Bach interpretation” (The New York Times) and “an artist of strikingly original ideas and irrefutable integrity” (The Washington Post) joins her string ensemble Baroklyn and Concora: Connecticut Choral…

(classical, season-highlights, vocal-performance)