The New York Festival of Song (NYFOS), under the artistic direction of Steven Blier, continues its acclaimed NYFOS Next series with The Many Worlds Interpretation on Sunday, November 16, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. at The Theater at 150W17TH, 150 W 17th Street, New York, NY 10011. Tickets are $25 for general admission and $10 for students.
Curated by pianist and artist Nathaniel LaNasa, the program explores the playfulness and complexity of personal narratives through contemporary song. Highlights include the New York premiere of Michael Stephen Brown’s Love’s Lives Lost, performed with soprano Susanna Phillips, Kimberly Osberg’s You, Us, Me performed by tenor Benjamin Brecher, and Sarah Gibson’s Breath’d Back Again, which reimagines poems by Thomas Moore to examine memory and emotion in “endless space.”
LaNasa noted, “These songs are full of reality-revisions, missed connections, and unlived possibilities; these composers have crafted ingenious musical language for the fractures and recombinations as memories are revised.”
The NYFOS Next series, designed to spotlight new compositions and emerging voices, will conclude in June 2026 with The Same River Twice, presenting three world premieres from Luna Composition Lab alumni alongside works by established mentors. Soprano Jennifer Zetlan and mezzo-soprano Kelly Guerra will perform works tailored to their voices, celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Luna Composition Lab.
Michael Stephen Brown, praised by The New York Times as “one of the leading figures in the current renaissance of performer-composers,” has performed internationally as both pianist and composer. Recent accolades include a MacDowell Fellowship and the Emerging Artist Award from Lincoln Center.
Susanna Phillips, soprano, is recognized for her performances at The Metropolitan Opera and other leading venues. Her 2024/25 season includes engagements with the Seattle Symphony, Musica Sacra, Oratorio Society of New York, and a tour with her chamber ensemble, SPA Trio.
Benjamin Brecher, tenor, has performed over 75 operatic roles and with more than forty orchestras worldwide. His celebrated concert programs include A Celtic Celebration, and he maintains an active teaching career at UC Santa Barbara and USC Thornton School of Music.
All NYFOS programming is partially funded by the New York State Council on the Arts and supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
The Many Worlds Interpretation offers audiences a vivid exploration of self-narrative, memory, and musical innovation, continuing NYFOS’s mission to present contemporary song in fresh and compelling ways.
Tickets and information: https://nyfos.org/nyfos-next
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