Brooklyn Art Song Society Opens 2023–24 Season with Circles I: Clara, Robert, and Johnnes on October 6

A Portrait of One of Music’s Most Famous Love Triangles

Elisabeth Marshall, Katherine Lerner, Gregory Feldmann, Brian Mextorf, Joel Harder, and  Michael Brofman Perform Works by Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | New York, New York (August 24, 2023) – Led by Artistic Director Michael Brofman, Brooklyn Art Song Society opens its 14th season on Friday, October 6, 2023 at 7:30PM with Circles I: Clara, Robert, and Johannes. The first installment in a six-part series exploring the musical and social connections between composers throughout music history centers around the complex relationship between Johannes Brahms, Clara Schumann, and Robert Schumann.  Soprano Elisabeth Marshall, mezzo-soprano Katherine Lerner, baritone Gregory Feldmann, bass-baritone Brian Mextorf, and pianist Joel Harder join Artistic Director Michael Brofman at the piano. The concert follows a lecture by Dean Whiteside, Goethe-Institut New York’s Library and Information Project Manager.

Clara and Robert Schumann were personally introduced to Johannes Brahms in 1853 and quickly became ardent supporters of his work. Robert Schumann, a noted critic, was integral in the launch of Brahms’ career and famously described him as a genius akin to Beethoven. Shortly after their meeting, however, Robert Schumann’s long-standing struggles with mental health worsened and he was committed to an asylum until his death in 1856. During the time before Robert Schumann’s death, Brahms stepped in as a surrogate head of the Schumann householdWhile the debate about the nature of Clara Schumann and Brahms’ relationship continues, the musical references and interconnections in their compositions reflect how they artistically inspired one another for many years after Robert Schumann’s death, and both composers pay tribute to him with their work. 

“It’s always of interest to humanize the composers whose music we love and to understand them not as abstractions but as flesh-and-blood like ourselves,” said Artistic Director Michael Brofman on programming this concert. “With this particular trio, understanding their personal lives is integral to understanding their music.”  

BASS’ 2023–24 seasons continues with Circles II: The Wagnarians on Friday, November 3, 2023 at 7:30PM, featuring soprano Tami Petty, mezzo-soprano Blythe Gaissert, baritones Mario Diaz-Moresco and Brian James Myer, and pianists Dimitri Dover and Spencer Myer and on Friday, December 3, 2023 at 7:30PM with Circles III: The Second Viennese School featuring sopranos Maggie Finnegan and Jennifer Zetlan, mezzo-soprano Kate Maroney, and pianists Michael Brofman, Eric Huebner (New York Philharmonic), and Nana Shi.

BASS is pleased to once again offer its Digital Concert Hall Subscription, which reaches audiences all over the world. The subscription includes free admission and automatic RSVP for all in person concerts (excluding the Dichter Project), unlimited on demand viewing of BASS’ entire season, complete programs, notes, texts and translations before each concert, access to BASS’ performance archive, and more..

Event information:
Circles I: Clara, Robert, and Johannes
First Unitarian Church of Brooklyn
Friday, October 6, 2023 at 7:30PM 
119 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Link: https://brooklynartsongsociety.org/circles-i-clara-robert-and-johannes/

Program: 

Clara Schumann, selected songs:
Ich stand in dunklen Träumen Op. 13 no. 1
Er ist gekommen in Sturm und Regen Op. 12 no.1 
Liebst du um Schönheit Op. 12 no. 2
Warum willst du and're fragen Op. 12 no. 3
An einem lichten Morgen Op. 23 no. 2

Johannes Brahms, selected songs:
Ständchen, op 106 no 1
Minnelied Op. 71 no. 5
Sapphische Ode Op. 94 no. 4
Geheimnis Op. 71 no. 3
Wie Melodien Op. 105 no 1.
Verzagen Op. 72 no. 4
Die Mainacht Op. 43 no. 2
Von ewige liebe Op. 43 no. 1

Robert Schumann: Dicherliebe, Op. 48
Im wunderschönen Monat Mai
Aus meinen Tränen sprießen
Die Rose, die Lilie
Wenn ich in deine Augen seh'
Ich will meine Seele tauche
Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome
Ich grolle nicht
Und wüssten's die Blumen
Das ist ein Flöten und Geigen
Hör' ich das Liedchen klingen
Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen
Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen
Ich hab' im Traum geweinet
Allnächtlich im Traume
Aus alten Märchen winkt es
Die alten, bösen Lieder

Artists:
Elisabeth Marshall, soprano
Katherine Lerner, mezzo-soprano
Gregory Feldmann, baritone
Brian Mextorf, bass-baritone
Michael Brofman, piano
Joel Harder, piano

Brooklyn Art Song Society’s programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.The New Voices Festival is made possible in part by support from the National Endowment for the Arts. 

Ticket information: 

In Person Concerts: Individual tickets are “Pay What You Wish” with a minimum of $10 and a suggested general admission price of $35.* Please note: All tickets purchased at the suggested price or higher include a month-long pass to the digital concert hall. Digital Concert Hall subscribers receive free admission to all performances*.
*Excluding The Dichter Project

The Dichter Project: Individual Tickets: $50 (not included in Digital Subscription Package)

Digital Concert Hall: Annual Subscriptions: $111.99/year or $10.99/month. Includes free Admission to In Person Concerts, unlimited on demand viewing of BASS’s entire season, complete programs, notes, texts and translations, and a bonus listening guide made available before each concert, exclusive access to full episodes of Song and Wine, BASS’s hit web series. 

Individual tickets and Digital Subscriptions available at www.brooklynartsongsociety.org

About Brooklyn Art Song Society 
Brooklyn Art Song Society (BASS) will enter its 14th season of first-rate music making in the Fall of 2023, having earned a reputation as one of the preeminent organizations dedicated to the vast repertoire of poetry set to music. Its mission is to preserve art song’s direct expressiveness and emotional honesty for today’s audience and future generations.

BASS has been called “a company well worth watching” by The New York Times and “superb” by New York Classical Review. Opera News wrote, “Brooklyn Art Song Society keeps the intimate recital alive with innovative programming,” and “BASS delivered a triumph of a program, as they have throughout their distinguished history, skillfully reminding us of the great vitality and power of Art Song.” The New Yorker praised BASS as “invaluable” and “uncompromisingly dedicated to continuing the traditions of classical art song, both old and new.” BASS was named the “Most Innovative” Classical Music organization of 2019 by Classical Post. Seen and Heard International wrote “BASS has not only made Brooklyn its home over the past decade, but also one of the most exciting venues for song anywhere.”  

BASS’s innovative and ambitious programming has reached thousands of audience members- lifelong classical music and first-time concert-goers alike. Since 2010 BASS has presented thousands of songs- nearly the entire canon. Highlights include presentations of the complete songs of Charles Ives and Hugo Wolf and annual themed festivals that range from  surveys of the lieder of Franz Schubert, British song, French Melodie, and songs from the two World Wars.  BASS is dedicated to creating the next generation of great song composers.  In fact, it is the single largest commissioner of new art song working today. BASS has commissioned over 25 composers, including Katherine Balch, The Balliett Brothers, Lembit Beecher, Eve Beglarian, Daniel Felsenfeld, Daron Hagen, Mikhail Johnson, Libby Larsen, James Matheson, Harold Meltzer, Reinaldo Moya, Kurt Rohde, Huang Ruo, Carlos Simon and Scott Wheeler.

Highlights from the 2023-2024 season include the six-concert festival Circles and the fourth annual New Voices Festival, a three-concert series focused on art song in the 21st-century, featuring commissioned world premieres by Iain Bell, Jessica Meyer, and Aida Shirazi. In addition to monthly concerts in Brooklyn, BASS has traveled to Philadelphia, Kansas City, Portland, ME, Raleigh, San Francisco, and Seattle and has held residencies at Cornell University, University of Notre Dame, University of California-Davis, University of Chicago, Ithaca College and University of South Carolina. BASS also reaches music lovers around the country and globe with its innovative Digital Concert Hall and partners with Heights and Hills Senior Services to bring monthly concerts to their Park Slope Center for Successful Aging.   BASS’s artist roster features over 50 of the finest young interpreters of art song. For more information visit www.brooklynartsongsociety.org.

About Michael Brofman
Pianist Michael Brofman has earned a reputation as one of the finest vocal accompanists of his generation. He has performed hundreds of songs, from Schubert’s earliest lieder to premieres of new songs by today’s most-recognized composers. He was hailed by the New York Times as an “excellent pianist” and Feast of Music recently praised his “elegant and refined playing … exhibiting excellent touch and clean technique.” Parterre Box Blog called Mr. Brofman a “master communicator at the piano,” and Voix des Arts praised his “finesse and flexibility.” Seen and Heard International recently wrote “Brofman got to the core of each song…delving into their emotional depths.” Opera News stated “Michael Brofman provided exquisite piano accompaniment.”

Highlights from Mr. Brofman’s 2023-2024 season include performances of Arnold Schoenberg’s Das Buch der Hängenden Gärten with Kate Maroney, Poulenc’s Tel Jour, Telle Nuit with Michael Kelly, and repeat or premiere performances of works written for him by Daniel Felsenfeld, Libby Larsen, Jessica Meyer, and Reinaldo Moya. Mr. Brofman also performs works by Benjamin Britten, Johannes Brahms, Michael Djupstrom, Shawn E. Okempolo, Caroline Shaw, Clara Schumann, Anton Webern, Kurt  Weill, and Hugo Wolf.

Mr. Brofman has championed new works and has fostered relationships with many living composers, including Katherine Balch, Lembit Beecher, Tom Cipullo, Michael Djupstrom,Daniel Felsenfeld, Herschel Garfein, Mikhail Johnson, Daron Hagen, Jake Heggie, James Kallembach, Libby Larsen, Lowell Liebermann, David Ludwig, James Matheson, Reinaldo Moya, Harold Meltzer, Russell Platt, Kurt Rohde, Glen Roven, Andrew Staniland, Carlos Simon, and Scott Wheeler. In all, he has premiered over 100 songs, many of them dedicated to him.  

Mr. Brofman is the founder and Artistic Director of the Brooklyn Art Song Society, an organization dedicated to the vast repertoire of poetry set to music now in its 14th  season. His first CD New Voices on Roven Records includes four world-premiere recordings and was number one on Amazon’s new releases for Opera/Vocal and debuted in the top 10 of the Traditional Classical Billboard Chart.  Since then he has recorded world premiere recordings of Kurt Rohde on Albany Records and Herschel Garfein for Acis Records.   

An eloquent and passionate advocate for art song, Mr. Brofman has been interviewed by Russell Platt for Opera News, for Caught In the Act on Brooklyn Public Television, on the WQXR radio show Soundcheck, on Seattle KING FM 98.1, and for the Linked Music blog. He also hosts his own internet show Song and Wine. Mr. Brofman has a reputation as a gifted educator and has presented masterclasses at the University of Chicago, Cornell, Ithaca College, the University of Notre Dame and University of South Carolina. Mr. Brofman holds a bachelor of Music from Northwestern University where he studied with James Giles. There he was awarded the Frida A. Pick Award for Piano and featured on Chicago’s classical radio station. Mr. Brofman spent several summers at the Aspen Music Festival as a student of Rita Sloan and continues his studies with Robert Durso. He resides in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn with his wife, violinist Stanichka Dimitrova and his two daughters, Julia and Lillian.

###

Contact:
Catherine Hancock | Catherine Hancock Digital 
catherine@catherinehancockdigital.com | (404)642-7342