Angel's Share at the Greenwood Cemetery
Cocktails, Comestibles & Callas
By: Susan Hall - May 29, 2025
Impresario Andrew Ousley has opened up the world of classical music to a new generation—one often untutored and underexposed—by presenting it in some of the most unexpected venues: churches and cemeteries.
His most recent event, part of the Angel’s Share series, took place at Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery. The evening began, fittingly, with whiskey—whose evaporation is romantically referred to as the “angel’s share.” Along the winding cemetery paths, local vendors offered delicacies and heartier fare, adding to the event’s vibrant, communal atmosphere.
As the sun set, the Grand Street Stompers filled the twilight air with jazz, setting the stage for the evening’s more theatrical interlude: a Maria Callas lookalike contest, emceed by drag artist Creatine Price. Rumor had it Angelina Jolie may have been among the judges. The parade was a delight—lighthearted and irreverent—perfectly setting the mood for the budding opera stars who followed, performing arias from an audience-selected “Top Ten” list of favorites.
A white tent stood before the Brownstone Gate’s arches, designed in a late Gothic Revival style. The sky here is vast; even as night fell, light lingered—and so did the music, drifting down as if from above.
Performed by artists Brittany Olivia Logan (soprano), Ben Reisinger (tenor), and Deborah Robertson (piano)from The Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Program and Laffont Competition
"Lunge da lei .. Dei miei bollenti spiriti" from La Traviata - Verdi
"Quando m'en vo" from La Bohème - Puccini
"La donna è mobile" from Rigoletto - Verdi
"O mio babbino caro" from Gianni Schicchi - Puccini
"Addio fiorito asil" from Madama Butterfly - Puccini
"Vissi d'arte" from Tosca - Puccini
"Ah lêve-toi soleil" from Roméo et Juliette - Gounod
"Io son l'umile ancella" from Adriana Lecouvreur - Cilea
"O soave fanciulla" from La Bohème - Puccini
"Brindisi" from La Traviata - Verdi
A friend once said the only thing he would miss in heaven was classical music. A colleague replied, “Where do you think classical music comes from?”
Andrew Ousley’s events, suspended between the earthly and the ethereal, make you wonder. Try one.