Justin Austin, baritone & Howard Watkins, piano

Justin Austin and Howard Watkins play the Perelman Theater on Friday, November 6, at 7:30 PM. It's Austin's debut with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and he's paired with Watkins, a pianist who spends his days as an assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera. Between them, they're pulling from a few different worlds: the satirical cabaret of the 1920s, the high-art songs of the early 20th century, and a couple of contemporary pieces.

The program centers on The Threepenny Opera, the 1928 collaboration between Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht. It's a jazz-infused critique of unbridled capitalism, and the songs carry that same biting, cabaret energy. From there, they move into a Walt Whitman poem set by Weill, and two songs by Ricky Ian Gordon, one of which looks at the tragic death of Marvin Gaye. The rest of the set draws from Ravel and Wolf, so the night jumps from the gritty streets of Brecht's Berlin to the more polished, romantic lines of the French and German song tradition.

Austin is a baritone who's been picking up some serious momentum lately. The New Yorker called his voice "velvet," and Opera News described him as "duly seductive." He was named Rising Star of the Year at the 2024 International Opera Awards and took home the 2024 Marian Anderson Vocal Award. Watkins is a seasoned vocal collaborator who has performed with Renée Fleming, Joyce DiDonato, Thomas Hampson, and Kathleen Battle.

The performance runs about an hour and 25 minutes, including intermission. If you want a bit of context before the music starts, there's a pre-concert talk with Michael Bolton at 6:30 PM in Comcast Circle. The main event follows at 7:30 PM at the Perelman Theater, part of the Kimmel Center at 300 South Broad Street.