Steven Blier Explained

Birth Date:25 November 1951
Birth Place:New York City
Alma Mater:Yale
Occupation:Musician
Known For:Co-founder NYFOS
Spouse:James S. Russell

Steven Blier is an American pianist, recital accompanist, musicologist, and, since 1992, a faculty member in the Department of Vocal Arts at The Juilliard School.[1] in New York City. He is the artistic director and co-founder of the New York Festival of Song (NYFOS)[2] with former Chief Executive and General Director of Caramoor, Michael Barrett.[3] Blier was also a casting adviser at the New York City Opera[4] and a regular performer at Wolf Trap[5] and Caramoor.[6] [7] He has been active in encouraging young recitalists at summer programs, including the Wolf Trap Opera Company,[8] [9] the Steans Music Institute at Ravinia,[10] the Santa Fe Opera, and the San Francisco Opera Center.[11] He has written articles for Opera News and The Yale Review.[12]

The New York Festival of Song was founded in 1988 with the motto "No song is safe from us" and is one of Blier's signature accomplishments; he has produced more than 140 recitals for the nonprofit arts organization. Pulitzer Prize-winning classical music critic Justin Davidson called NYFOS "the oldest permanent floating song party in New York".[13] Blier programs NYFOS concerts "...on the democratic premise that all songs -- from Brahms to Broadway to the Beatles -- are created equal. In place of the formality of the traditional recital, the festival offers groups of good young singers in smart, offbeat programs, each organized around a theme."[14] He is known for his well-researched and literate program notes, translations of lyrics from a variety of languages, and his onstage presence and wit as emcee, raconteur and pianist. He says that "a concert should use music to get you close to something in an emotional and intellectual way.”[15] Blier emphasizes emotional intensity, both in his choice of songs and his coaching of the singers who work with him: “A song is the closest thing I know in waking life to dreaming. It’s a coded version of reality. It’s not like playing a scene from Chekhov, where you’re trying to look like you’re having a tea party or a nervous breakdown. Instead, you’re enacting a coded, ritualized version of that moment, and somehow everyone in the hall is dreaming along with you.”[16]

Blier is a major proponent of contemporary art song and has programmed many new works including those by John Musto,[17] [18] Ned Rorem,[19] Roberto Sierra, and Clarice Assad,[20] among many others. A review of a program of Polish art song entitled "Warsaw Serenade"[21] noted that a "broader existential approach seems to inform the uncommonly eloquent programs assembled and performed by the New York Festival of Song. Art songs here are celebrated for the sensual pleasures they bring but also for the improbably numerous ways in which they open out onto larger worlds of history, poetry, and biography, distant geographic landscapes and the veiled interior regions within...[I]t was Blier whose printed essay and spoken commentary, marbled with playful lines of wit, erudition and anecdote, gave the program its distinctive personal touch."[22]

Personal life

Blier was born November 25, 1951, in New York City. His parents were Josephine Berg Blier and Julius Blier.[23] He received a bachelor's degree with Honors in English Literature at Yale University, where he studied piano with Alexander Farkas.[24] He continued his studies in New York with Matin Isepp, Paul Jacobs, and Janine Reiss.

He is married to James S. Russell, an architecture writer and critic,[25] former professor at the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture at City College of New York[26] and frequent contributor to The New York Times, Architectural Record, and The Economist. Russell is the author of the book, The Agile City: Building Well-being and Wealth in an Era of Climate Change[27]

Blier lives with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy and supports fundraisers for the FSHD Society.[28] [29]

Recordings

Reaction

The New York Times Op Ed columnist Joe Nocera wrote: "I had never heard anything like a NYFOS concert — still haven’t, really. There are no microphones; Blier believes deeply that unmiked music creates a more intimate experience. At a NYFOS concert, the lyrics matter as much as the music."[37]

Washington Post critic Ronald Broun wrote: "A few words of high praise are utterly inadequate to describe what Steven Blier accomplished Saturday night at the Barns of Wolf Trap. Start with this: Blier knows everything about the mechanics and art of singing, songs and songwriting (he draws no distinction between classical and pop), and piano accompaniment. He is a passionate, indefatigable researcher and scholar who haunts libraries, finds wonderful songs that time has obliterated and gives them new life."[38]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Juilliard Staff. The Juilliard School of Music. May 17, 2019.
  2. Web site: The New York Festival of Song - About. May 17, 2019. NYFOS website.
  3. Web site: A Gala Evening Celebrating Michael Barrett. May 14, 2012. Caramoor. August 14, 2019.
  4. News: Another Musical Post Is Vacated at City Opera. August 4, 2011. The New York Times. May 18, 2019.
  5. Web site: Steven Blier: 25th Anniversary Also featuring Joseph Li & Wolf Trap Opera Soloists. June 1, 2019. Wolftrap website. May 18, 2019.
  6. Web site: Steven Blier's Decade of Song at Caramoor with Schwab Vocal Rising Stars.. March 2, 2018. Caramoor website. May 18, 2019.
  7. News: At Caramoor, a Focus on Songs of the Belle Époque. Lutz. Phillip. March 5, 2010. The New York Times. August 14, 2019.
  8. Web site: Steven Blier: 25th Anniversary Concert. August 18, 2019.
  9. News: Music Review: Steven Blier and the Wolf Trap Opera Singers. Estren. Mark J.. August 3, 2009. The Washington post. August 18, 2019.
  10. Web site: Ravinia's Steans Music Institute Program for Singers. August 18, 2019.
  11. News: Blier's Gift to Our Adlers. Serinus. Jason Victor. March 30, 2014. San Francisco Classical News. August 18, 2019.
  12. News: For a Champion of Song, It's About Communicating. Midgette. Anne. May 24, 2003. The New York Times. August 14, 2019.
  13. News: Music Review. Davidson. Justin. November 16, 2006. Newsday. August 18, 2019.
  14. News: For a Champion of Song, It's All About Communicating. Midgette. Anne. May 24, 2003. The New York Times. August 14, 2019.
  15. News: Renowned pianist Steven Blier brings New York Festival of Song to Orient. Schroeder. Katharine. August 8, 2017. Southold Local. August 15, 2019.
  16. News: Sing It So I Believe It!. Davidson. Justin. November 21, 2010. New York Magazine. August 18, 2019.
  17. Book: Kimbal, Carol. Song: A Guide to Art Song Style and Literature. Hal Leonard Corporation. 2006. 9781423412809. Milwaukee, WI. 337.
  18. Web site: NYFOS Next Series Presents THE MUSIC OF JOHN MUSTO Tonight. March 4, 2014. Broadway World. August 16, 2019.
  19. Web site: New York Festival of Song celebrates the timeless art of Ned Rorem at 90. Vastek. Sophia. November 6, 2013. New York Classical Review. August 16, 2019.
  20. Web site: "Hyphenated-Americans" at NYFOS Features Multicultural Vocal Music. McKay. Tristan. March 5, 2019. I Care If You Listen. August 16, 2019.
  21. Web site: NYFOS Offers "Warsaw Serenade". Miron. Susan. February 17, 2014. The Boston Musical Intelligencer. August 20, 2019.
  22. News: Peering outward, through the notes of a song. Eichler. Jeremy. February 18, 2014. The Boston Globe. August 16, 2019.
  23. News: Obituary, Josephine Blier. May 18, 2019. The New York Times.
  24. Web site: MA 30 Profiles in Courage: Steven Blier. Copeland. Misty. December 2, 2014. Musical America. August 15, 2019.
  25. Web site: JAMES RUSSELL, FAIA: Journalism Fellow, 1997– 2002. Design Trust for Public Space. August 15, 2019.
  26. News: Vows: Steven Blier and James S. Russell. Shattuck. Kathryn. May 4, 2012. The New York Times. May 17, 2019.
  27. Web site: The Agile City. Island Press. May 17, 2019.
  28. Web site: Fourth Annual Songs in the Key of Steven Blier. July 8, 2017. FSH Society. May 24, 2019.
  29. Web site: Radio Show – Steven Blier, musician extraordinaire. Kinoshita. June. September 15, 2017. FSHD Society. August 18, 2019.
  30. News: Record Briefs. September 22, 1991. The New York Times. May 18, 2019.
  31. Web site: Recording Academy Grammy Awards. 1990. Grammy Awards. August 11, 2019.
  32. News: Annual Grammy Nominations. January 11, 1990. UPI. August 14, 2019.
  33. Web site: MUSTO: Bastianello. BOLCOM: Lucrezia.. S.G.S.. April 2011. Classical CD Review. August 14, 2019.
  34. Web site: Spanish Love Songs. Ward. Marvin J.. November 10, 2007. CVNC: An Online Arts Journal. August 14, 2019.
  35. Web site: Darius De Haas/Steven Blier: Quiet Please. Loudon. Christopher. May 1, 2011. Jazz Times. August 14, 2019.
  36. Web site: Canción amorosa. Stearns. David Patrick. Gramophone: The World's Best Classical Music Reviews. August 14, 2019.
  37. News: The Man at the Piano. May 10, 2013. The New York Times. May 24, 2019.
  38. News: Steven Blier's Song Smorgasbord. Broun. Ronald. 2002. The Washington Post. August 15, 2019.

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