Music, theater, and a life in motion.

THE STORY

At this moment, somewhere in the world, the music of Astor Piazzolla is being played.

The emergence of New Tango master Astor Piazzolla is a Horatio Alger story for our time. Here’s a small, would-be hoodlum, the lame son of immigrants living on New York City’s Lower East Side, who grows up to become one of the foremost composers of the 20th century. And in that becoming, he contains multitudes.

He’s a porteño, as inhabitants of Buenos Aires are called, but a porteño born in Mar del Plata, a seaside town 250 miles south. He’s a New Yorker, but not quite an American. He’s an Argentine who, when he returns home, is 16 and doesn’t speak Spanish.

He knows his De Caro and Troilo and Vardaro, he studies his Bach and his Bartók, he holds onto the rhythms of Jewish weddings and the swing of Cab Calloway, and of all that and more, Piazzolla creates a music so personal that it touches a global audience.

And thus, the kid who once hated the scratchy tango records his father played every night, to feed his nostalgia for what it once was, grows up to be modern tango’s most important composer and to give the music a future.

His music speaks of roots and displacement, hope and loss. It’s the music of a street fighter, generous but rough, always on guard, always as close to love as it is to anger and always, always, on the move. It’s a music in which tenderness has an unsentimental edge. It’s a music of beauty, seductive mysteries and hard truths, and as it speaks of struggle but also possibility, we hear our humanity.

Tóquese un tango, maestro. Play a tango, maestro. No, not one of the old ones, one of yours.

Directed by

Sarah Meyers

Ms. Meyers, Director, has been on the directing staff at the Metropolitan Opera since 2006, and has also been a guest director for companies including San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, and New Orleans Opera. She is active in the development of contemporary music and innovative work. In 2018 she directed the premiere of Gregg Kallor’s Dramatic Sketches from Frankenstein at Green-Wood Cemetery in a production WQXR declared one of the standout performances of the year. Operawire described the performance as “riveting… an extraordinary experience.” She proceeded to direct the world premiere of the completed Frankenstein in October 2023 for Arizona Opera, in a production which Broadway World declared “a showcase of virtuosic excellence.” She is the author of a new translation/adaptation of Die Fledermaus, which received rave reviews following performances in Boston in 2019. She holds a PhD in Theater from Columbia University. As of January 2024, she is the newly appointed Artistic Director of On Site Opera, the leader of site-specific and immersive opera production in New York City.

Stephen Wadsworth

Stephen Wadsworth, co-writer/original director, is a ground-breaking writer and director for the stage. American Theater has called him “one of the most influential directors of the 21st century.” For his translations of classic French stage works he was named Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the Republic of France. In opera he wrote A Quiet Place with Leonard Bernstein (GRAMMY nom) and the story for Daron Hagen and Gardner McFall’s Amelia. He is acclaimed for his direction of the Seattle Ring cycle and the operas of Handel, including Rodelinda at the Metropolitan Opera, where he also staged productions of Boris Godunov and Iphigénie en Tauride. He has directed new work by such diverse writers as Beth Henley, Ken Ludwig, Peter Lieberson and Anna Deavere Smith, and he recently directed Terence McNally’s Master Class on Broadway and in the West End. His work on plays from Aeschylus, Shakespeare and Marivaux to Shaw, Wilde and Coward have established him as a master of the classic repertoire. At the Juilliard School he is The James S. Marcus Faculty Fellow, recipient of the John Erskine Faculty Prize, and creator, with Brian Zeger, of the first intensive acting program for singers in the world.

THE ARTISTS

Music direction and piano: Brandt Fredriksen. Violin: Eric Silberger. Bandoneón: Julien Labro. Upright bass: Pedro Giraudo.

The people who bring Piazzolla’s world to life.

Conceived by, written by, and featuring

Lesley Karsten

Lesley Karsten, co-writer, actress, has enjoyed a varied career in both film and music. She has worked extensively in documentary film on projects ranging from mental illness, the class system in Great Britain, the Mormons, the spiritual aftershocks of 9/11 and the Bauhaus. These films have aired on PBS, Frontline, American Experience, ABC Closeup, and Turner Broadcasting. Collaborating with renowned documentary film producer, Helen Whitney, Lesley Karsten served as Senior Reporter for a two-part PBS special entitled Forgiveness: A Time to Love; A Time to Hate. Most recently she worked on another two-part special Into the Night - Portraits of Life and Death, also with Ms. Whitney. Currently, Lesley Karsten is working on another mono-drama based on the life of a controversial musical figure whose presence dominated fin-de-siècle Vienna.

Brandt Fredriksen

PIANO / MUSIC DIRECTOR

Pianist Brandt Fredriksen enjoys a dynamic career as performer, musical director, and teacher, having appeared at Weill Recital Hall and Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, Munich’s Gasteig, Athens’ Megaron, and Beijing Concert Hall. Selected by the U.S. and China Foundation, he toured China with recitals and concertos in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenyang. A dedicated chamber musician, he has collaborated with members of the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Fredriksen is the pianist and musical director of That’s Not Tango: Astor Piazzolla — A Life in Music, and serves as Executive & Artistic Director of the Silver Bay Summer Music Festival.

Julien Labro

BANDONEON

French-born accordionist, bandoneonist, composer, and arranger Julien Labro is known for his versatility across classical, chamber, jazz, tango, and contemporary music. He has performed with leading artists and ensembles including the Takács Quartet, Maria Schneider Orchestra, The Knights, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and major orchestras throughout the United States and abroad. His work as a composer and arranger spans classical, contemporary, jazz, and tango traditions. His composition Meditation No. 1, performed with the Takács Quartet, received a Latin GRAMMY nomination for Best Classical Contemporary Composition.

Eric Silberger

VIOLIN

Violinist Eric Silberger, prizewinner of the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition and 2011 Michael Hill International Violin Competition, has performed as soloist with the London Philharmonia, Mariinsky Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonia, and Danish National Symphony. He has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Royal Festival Hall, and venues worldwide. A Columbia and Juilliard graduate, Silberger co-founded the Hawaii International Music Festival and performs on a rare 1757 J.B. Guadagnini violin.

Pedro Giraudo

DOUBLE BASS

Latin GRAMMY Award-winning bassist and composer Pedro Giraudo is among the most compelling tango artists today. After two decades performing with tango’s most important interpreters, he debuted his own Tango Orchestra at Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night Swing. His album Vigor Tanguero won a Latin GRAMMY for Best Tango Album. He has collaborated with Pablo Ziegler, Paquito D’Rivera, Branford Marsalis and Regina Carter, performed with the New York Philharmonic and New York City Ballet Orchestra, and appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall.

RESERVE YOUR SEAT

Join us for

That’s Not Tango — Astor Piazzolla: A Life in Music

Monday, November 16, 2026 · 7:00–9:00 PM · Reception to follow

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THAT’S NOT TANGO

GRACE AND ST. PAUL’S CHURCH · NEW YORK CITY