InterPlay series: Nicholas Phan and Joshua Stauffer play at Stephen Friedman Gallery, New York
Join us on Saturday 9 March, 6–8pm at our New York gallery for a special performance by Grammy nominated tenor Nicholas Phan and Lutenist Joshua Stauffer. Their program is inspired by Sarah Ball's solo exhibition 'Tilted', as part of our new event series, InterPlay.
The event is free and open to everyone. RSVP here.
About the artists and presenters
Sarah Ball’s meticulously rendered portraits explore themes of gender and identity. Demonstrating an acute sensitivity to the psyche of her subjects, she emphasises physical characteristics that define how we outwardly portray ourselves to the world. Ball uses source material such as newspaper cuttings, archival photographs and social media to inform her portraits. Often depicting people who celebrate self-expression and contest traditional binary norms, Ball highlights physiognomy, hairstyles, clothes, jewellery and make-up that reveal the idiosyncrasies of her anonymous, often unknowing sitters. Set against flat planes of colour and confined within closely cropped compositions, the artist lends the people within her work a surreal, timeless quality by denying the viewer any form of narrative about their identity.
Tenor Nicholas Phan has been described by the Boston Globe as “one of the world’s most remarkable singers." Praised for his keen intelligence, captivating stage presence and natural musicianship, he performs regularly with the world’s leading orchestras and opera companies. Also an avid recitalist, in 2010 he co-founded the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago (CAIC) to promote art song and vocal chamber music, where he serves as artistic director. Highlights of the current season include the role of Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Boston Baroque; returns to the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Berkeley Symphony and Orchestra of St. Luke’s; and a season-long residency at New York’s Kaufman Music Center. A prolific recording artist, Phan will be joined by Palaver Strings and vocalist Farayi Malek for A Change is Gona Come, a new album, available May 24, exploring America’s rich legacy of protest songs and music inspired by social events.
Joshua Stauffer is a restless creative who performs music from over four centuries on a variety of plucked instruments. He began his career as an electric guitarist performing jazz and improvised music, before transitioning to the classical guitar via contemporary works and chamber music. His diverse musical interests converged when he encountered the theorbo, a large lute which performs primarily basso continuo, or improvised accompaniment, in chamber and orchestral works from the 17th and early 18th centuries.
