Song surrounds us, and it’s so easy to take for granted. That’s one of the reasons why the Federation of the Art Song is a refreshing new addition to the area’s musical organizations — they want to celebrate song in its many permutations.
Founded in 2021 by vocalist and educator Alta Malberg and pianist/educator Martin Neron, FAS addresses song in all its variety, from the classical art songs of such composers as Schubert, Schumann, and Grieg, to songs that drive Broadway shows and Hollywood movies, to well-crafted pop songs by the likes of Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Joni Mitchell.
FAS’ mission is to create a broader appreciation of all songs. But even more importantly, the organization wishes to provide opportunities for singers and collaborative pianists and instrumentalists, assisting them in growing and developing their artistic identities.
“We were with another organization for 30 years and they weren’t budging, not helping young performers. (Martin) and I got so frustrated we said, ‘let’s do it on our own,’ so we started FAS, which was an arduous task,” says Malberg, a longtime Princeton resident, with a storied career as a performer. “FAS wants to take things in a different direction, be a little friendlier, more accessible to the public.”
The FAS will celebrate its inception on Saturday evening, May 14, with a concert featuring baritone Jean Bernard Cerin, with Neron accompanying on piano. The concert takes place at the Princeton home of local arts patrons Judith K. Brodsky and Michael Curtis, with a wine and cheese reception preceding the performance, and a buffet dinner afterwards — a chance to meet the performers.
Throughout the concert, Cerin, a native of Haiti, noted educator, and gifted recitalist, will relate the history of vocal and piano music from Haiti. With a keen ability to relate to the audience, he will trace the flow of musical styles and stories from Europe and Africa, which blended in Haiti and made their way from the island to France, the southern United States (particularly Louisiana), and South America.
“As part of the FAS, we have something called ‘Songs from Outside the Box,’ exploring music from under-represented cultures world-wide, in this case Haiti,” Malberg says. “Jean Bernard takes you through the whole history, and some of this work is wonderful.”
An assistant professor at Lincoln University in Oxford, Pennsylvania, Cerin has appeared with noteworthy early music ensembles throughout the U.S. In the Philadelphia area alone, he has performed with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society’s Gamut Bach Ensemble, Piffaro Renaissance Wind Ensemble, and the Philadelphia Bach Festival.
“I know Jean Bernard from competitions I’ve adjudicated, and he’s donating his time,” Malberg says, adding that Brodsky has also gone above and beyond for the FAS, giving much time and considerable energy in planning the event. “She’s always so positive,” Malberg says.
In autumn 2022, FAS will have its first fellowship competition, and communicating with the audience — not just singing — will be a major part of the contest.
“That’s part of FAS, we want to be educational to the audience, but also fun,” Malberg says. “Most of our performers have a real understanding of the songs they perform, and they’ll explain it to the audience in an enjoyable way. It’s more of a cabaret experience, definitely not a stuffy classroom.”
“That’s what the fellowship competition is about,” she continues. “There are so many great singers and collaborators out there, but we have to find those with that special spark, individuals who can reach out to the audience and bring the audience to them.”
The most important aspect of the FAS, however, is to give singers and their collaborators work, an opportunity and place to perform.
The dearth of live venues was especially evident during the pandemic, and both Malberg and co-founder Neron saw much anxiety, depression, and sheer frustration among their musical friends and students. Yes, technology was a blessing for many who wanted to share their music and keep their skills sharpened. But how many Zoom performances can a person handle?
“We felt it was important to get things moving,” Malberg says. “During the pandemic, no one seemed to budge. People were getting lazy, there was too much Zoom.”
But even before the pandemic, “musicians always seemed to suffer,” she says. “They don’t get paid enough, as far as I’m concerned, so this will be a way to help them find venues, make extra money, and get some publicity. We really hope this will come to fruition.”
“We’re working on (planning) a couple of performances at the Zimmerli (museum in New Brunswick), working on dates in New York City, etc.,” Malberg says. “We’re always looking for performance venues, whether it’s private homes, libraries, whatnot. But everything takes time, and we’ve only existed for a year.”
FAS launched on Labor Day weekend 2021, with a fundraising concert held in the Malberg’s backyard in Princeton. Alta’s husband is Dr. Marc Malberg, an orthopedic surgeon (and talented painter), who took everyone’s temperature, abiding within the COVID safety protocols.
Instead of a more formal indoor reception, the FAS had to-go bags of hummus, cheese, crackers, and cookies. Concert-goers ate picnic style during the performance.
“Hopefully we’ll have a concert every Saturday of the Labor Day weekend; that will be our annual thing,” she says. “Our backyard is like an amphitheater, and the acoustics are amazing.
“Our board members are all very talented, so we all sang,” Malberg says. “We also had Paul Appleby, a wonderful tenor on hand, who donated his time.”
Another key component of the FAS is its charitable element, “If Music Be the Food of Love,” borrowing its name from a line in Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.”
“Food of Love” offers financial assistance to musicians, in the form of gift cards, for food and other basic needs in times of emergency or crisis. Malberg speaks about her late daughter, Ariel Eden Malberg, a talented vocalist who was concerned with helping the homeless and the hungry. “Food of Love” reflects Ariel’s efforts to help those in need.
“We have a memorial fund in her name,” Malberg says. “That’s another part of FAS, how to donate money to musicians, help them out with food, new clothes for an audition, for example. So many didn’t have enough during the pandemic.”
Malberg was born and raised in North Jersey, where her father was a cantor. He had been in the Army Air Corps in World War II, and utilized the GI Bill to study music. Malberg recalls tagging along to his voice lessons in Newark, where the teacher recognized little Alta’s talent and started her on the piano, then voice.
“By age 12, still with the same teacher, I took more serious lessons,” she says. “They hoped I would be a cantor.”
Her mother was a homemaker, with hidden musical talent, and cantorial singing in her ancestry.
“Her maiden name was Singerman, and she came from generations of cantors,” Malberg says. “I teach my mother’s story to my voice students because it’s both happy and sad. She was a twin and loved singing, but the teacher didn’t think she was talented enough, so my mother was put in the ‘listening group.’ Her sister was allowed to sing, though.”
“So when she got older, she married a singer, and my dad taught her that yes, she could sing,” Malberg adds. “That goes to show that teachers should not discourage young singers. I prove (in my teaching) that everyone can sing if you love it enough.”
Malberg reflects that a gift for singing ran in her father’s side of the family too, as her paternal grandfather was a famous boy soprano in Poland.
“Plus, my husband’s family was also involved in cantorial singing,” she says. “We all wound up in New Jersey, we all came together!”
A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, where her mentor was the famed American opera singer Rose Bampton, Malberg has performed in Europe and the United States on both stage and screen, and has lectured at the Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center. She was a member of the board of directors of the international singing competition “Joy in Singing” for 30 years, serving as president during her last years with the organization.
She has directed and produced as well as performed in many concerts, operas, and musicals, with such favorite stage roles as Maria in “West Side Story” and Lili in “Carnival.” Her favorite opera roles are Papagena in “The Magic Flute,” Susanna in “The Marriage of Figaro,” and Gilda in “Rigoletto.”
Malberg has taught voice for more than 30 years in her studios in New York and Princeton. She is also on the board of directors of Princeton Adult School.
A member of SAG and Actors Equity early in her career, Malberg had a small role in Woody Allen’s “Broadway Danny Rose (1984),” as well as a leading role in the 1972 film, “The Witches of Salem.”
Malberg admits to feeling torn at first between performing solo classical recitals, opera, and on Broadway, but later in life realized she especially loves the connection a solo singer can establish with the audience in concert.
“There’s the special feeling of being in front of the audience, as opposed to being in a big theater,” Malberg says. “But, you can also do drama when you do concert work. In fact, you can’t ‘just sing’ any more, you have to be an actor, and you have to use the audience and feel their warmth.”
Remembering how her mother was discouraged from singing, Malberg has made positivity and encouragement her cornerstone in teaching voice.
“Singers should never give up,” she says. “Don’t listen to criticism, listen to your heart and go for it, if that’s what you really love. I’ve had students who had teachers who told them to give up, but they didn’t and now they’re doing just fine. I always believe in being positive, that’s the way I teach, I don’t think negative at all. There’s too much negativity in the world.”
And that goes for the FAS and its concert on May 14.
“We want it to be totally positive,” Malberg says. “Especially coming out of the pandemic, thinking about what’s happening in Ukraine, etc. We have to have our own piece of heaven.”
Jean Bernard Cerin with pianist Martin Neron, Federation of the Art Song, home of Judith K. Brodsky and Michael Curtis, Princeton. Saturday, May 14, 5 p.m. Tickets cost $125 and include a wine and cheese pre-concert reception, and buffet dinner post-concert. All proceeds benefit the FAS. 609-865-7173 or 732-616-9336. www.fasong.org.
