A Goyishe Christmas with Stephanie Blythe, Steven Blier & Two Barihunks

Joshua Jeremiah & John Brancy

We mentioned the New York Festival of Song's A Goyishe Christmas to You! Yuletide Classics by Jewish Songwriters back in July, but figured it was time for a reminder. There will be two performances at Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center on Tuesday, November 29 and Thursday, December 1. The program includes not one, but two barihunks who have been featured on this site,  John Brancy and Joshua Jeremiah. They will joined by international opera star Stephanie Blythe, Lauren Worsham, Mary Testa, Josh Breitzer and the inimitable Steven Blier.

The evening will be filled by Yuletide songs from Jewish songwriters including Frank Loesser, Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn, Johnny Marks, Irving Berlin, Jay Livingston and many others. Rumor has it that the holiday classic "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" will be sung in Yiddish, Klezmer-style. And you wonder why we love New York? 

There will also be a complimentary wine reception after the show and we'd love for our readers to send us your iPhone pictures with the singers. Send them to Barihunks@gmail.com. Call 212.501.3330 for tickets or visit the NY Festival of Song website.

Blythe and Blier together already guarantee an evening of fun of non-stop entertainment, so the two barihunks are icing on the Yule log.  Here's a little teaser for the show. 



If you want to enjoy barihunks everyday for an entire year, order our charity calendar today. Click HERE and help support the young artists who make our musical experiences so enjoyable.

NY Festival of Song's "Manning the Canon" in New York City and Maryland

Tim McDevitt

If you missed Steven Blier's insightful and entertaining "Manning the Canon: Songs of Gay Life" last year, you're in luck because they are reprising the show in Maryland and New York City. The first performance will be at the Joseph & Alma Gildenhorn Recital Hall at the University of Maryland in College Park on November 15th. On November 17, the show returns to Merkin Concert Hall in New York City. The show includes two barihunks who have appeared regularly on this site, Tim McDevitt and fan favorite Jesse Blumberg (whose posts often shows up in our top ten site visits). Not only are these guys eye candy, but they are amazing singers and worth hearing. They will be joined by Scott Murphree and Matt Boehler.

Jesse Blumberg

The program includes a number of songs that might be familiar to you, as well as some that you'll want to experience. They include Marc Blitzstein’s “Purest Kind of a Guy," Christopher Berg’s "Is It Dirty?," Lutvak and Campbell's "Exit Right," Schubert's quartet for four male voices “Auflösung," Tchaikovsky’s “At the Ball," Poulenc’s “Montparnasse," Griffes’s “Evening Song,” John Wallowich’s  “Bruce.” Bolcom’s “Piano Walk” and “I’ll Be By,” Camille Saint Saëns’s “Si vous n’avez rien à me dire,”  Benjamin Britten’s “Night covers up the rigid land,” Manuel de Falla’s “Polo," Cy Coleman's "Tennis Duet,"  Chris DeBlasio’s “Walt Whitman in 1989,”Bernstein's “To What You Said,” and Cole Porter's "You're the Top."



Don't be fooled by the title, as this show isn't just for gay audiences. Like all of Steven Blier's shows they are an entertaining and thoughtful exploration of a canon of work. Anthony Tommasini wrote in The New York Times: "Such programs can easily fall into the trap of social politics and turn maudin, agenda driven and campy. This one was insightful and imaginative, touching and funny."

For tickets to either show, please visit the New York Festival of Song website.

Jesse Blumberg and Martin Katz working on Schubert last year:



We also want to remind fans of Jesse Blumberg on the West Coast that he will be performing Handel's "Messiah" with the American Bach Soloists on December 15, 16 and 18.

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John Brancy Back from Germany; Appearing at Poquatuck Hall in N.Y.

John Brancy

American barihunk John Brancy just wrapped up a six week intensive training program at the Internationale Meistersinger Akademie in Neumarkt run by soprano Edith Wiens. The program offers emerging artists an opportunity to work with leading coaches and singers in developing their skills in opera, oratorio and Lied/Mélodie. European agents, promoters, opera directors and festival managers are invited to give seminars and to take part in roundtable discussions with the young artists, providing the networking and professional contacts important to the profession.

Brancy has appeared twice on this site, once upon his graduation from Julliard and more recently for a feature on the upcoming New York Festival of Song. We're big fans of this emerging talent and are eager to follow his career, which undoubtedly will be successful.

Brancy can next be seen on August 27th at Poquatuck Hall in Orient, New York with Steven Blier accompanying him in a program of classical art songs, duets, arias and American popular song. They will be joined by soprano Corinne Winters, mezzo-soprano Kara Sainz and Perlman Music Program Fellow Peter Dugan. Contact Jane Smith for reservations: 631-323-1378 or jansmith@optonline.net.

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