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  • “Every artist brings their POV to a program they create,” says Amy Lam, Vice President of Tisch Music, “and the platform of a song recital is, I think, the best vehicle to really appreciate an artist for who they are. Through the selection of works, you come away with what makes an artist a great one, but also an appreciation of the human aspect and the values they stand for. I’m greatly excited to be presenting mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges on our stage with a powerful and personal program in her first NYC mainstage concert” (Thu, Dec 1).

    Bridges is a new superstar in the opera world. She dazzled audiences and critics and earned a Grammy Award for her role as Nefertiti in the Met Opera’s 2019 production of Philip Glass’ Akhnaten. “J’Nai is an amazing talent, but it was her advocacy during the pandemic – the way she was super vocal about the lack of diversity in our industry, and demonstrating that in the most eloquent way – that really made me take notice of her,” says Lam.

    Joined by the dynamic, Grammy-winning Catalyst Quartet, Bridges’ program for this concert is devoted to the music of Black and Hispanic composers. Spirituals and spiritual-inspired music bookend the concert. Bridges opens with the joyous “Every Time I Feel the Spirit” and 2021 Sphinx Medal of Excellence winner Carlos Simon’s more darkly soaring “Prayer (Gather Up)” – a setting of the poem by Langston Hughes. At the center of the program is a pair of works by rising star Peruvian American composer Jimmy López – the first, a tender aria from his hit opera Bel Canto, based on Ann Patchett’s bestselling novel; the second the world premiere of a new work meditating on motherhood. Falla’s evocative Seven Popular Spanish Songs leads into Bridges’ final selection – John Carter’s tour-de-force, spiritual-based Cantata, made famous by the great Leontyne Price. It’s a program J’Nai developed exclusively for this 92NY engagement.

    “Audiences are in for something very special,” says Lam not only the chance to hear one of the world’s most compelling new voices, but in music that speaks to her core as an artist and a human.”

    J’Nai Bridges, pianist Mark Markham, and the Catalyst Quartet perform Thursday, December 1, 2022 at 7:30 pm. Hear them live in Kaufmann Concert Hall, or by livestream. Additional details on the program here. Read notes on the program here.

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