Reviews of Premieres at The New York Festival of Song

On February 17, 2014, Baritone Shea Owens joined pianist and co-artistic director of NYFOS (New York Festival of Song), Michael Barrett, in the premiere performance of two of my most recent compositions, False Morning, and The River-Lip. Originally written for Baritone and Guitar, the songs were recorded by Michael Strutt, and Will George in Vancouver, BC, and are set to Edward Fitzgerald’s English translations of poems by Omar Khayyam. The sold-out performance by NYFOS was nothing short of exquisite.Allan Kozinn - NYFOS Review

Most notably, the famed music critic, Allan Kozinn, who formerly worked for The New York Times, wrote a favorable review of all three performances at NYFOS in the Wall Street Journal, entitled The Newest of New.

A few days later, [Q]onStage published another wonderful review of the performance by the award-winning activist, Sherri Rase:

“Our first new friend of the evening was Sheng’s student Iman Habibi, whose songs “False Morning” and “The River Lip” are settings of Edward FitzGerald’s translations of Omar Khayyám’s poetry. Habibi told us that this poetry is at the very heart of Persian mysticism. FitzGerald’s translations were so well-received, he said, that Khayyám’s countrymen went back to his poetry, inspiring a renaissance for the work of this philosopher, mathematician, and poet. Every heart in the room was yearning for spring and warmth by the time it was through and found a new friend in Habibi.”

It was an honor to be a part of this wonderful evening. I would like to thank NYFOS, and the concert’s curator, Bright Sheng, for programming my music.

NYFOS Michael Barrett, Matthew Tommasini, Bright Sheng, Brandon Rumsey, Annie Rosen, Amy Owens, Leann Osterkamp, Mingjie Lei, Shea Owens

From Left to Right – Standing: Shea Owens, Michael Barrett, Leann Osterkamp, Matthew Tommasini, Iman Habibi, Mingjie Lei, Bright Sheng, Brandon Rumsey – Sitting: Annie Rosen, Amy Owens