MASON G. SENFT is a professional accompanist, vocal coach, musical director, sound engineer and teacher. His studio is located in the Brookville area on the North Shore of Long Island in Greenvale, New York.
After ten years on the faculty of the Music Department of Adelphi University early in his career, his professional activities required his full attention accompanying such diverse artists as Jane Powell, leading Hollywood actress in the national tour of the Broadway show, Irene, to Frederica von Stade, international mezzo soprano with whom Mason appeared extensively in concert from Harvard University in honor of Prince Charles to the White House celebrating the visit of Queen Margrethe of Denmark to the United States.
Conducting credits include three seasons with the Tibbits Opera House in Michigan as well as twelve summer seasons at the Canal Fulton Playhouse, one of the Midwest's oldest and most prestigious star Equity theaters located in northeastern Ohio. Local appearances include recitals at Lincoln Center, Steinway Hall, Carnegie Hall and even Gracie Mansion by invitation of then Mayor Ed Koch.
For television, Mason collaborated with Conductor Julius Rudel in a musical special called Christmas with Flicka, which was filmed in Austria and aired in the United States. In collaboration with Conductor John McGlinn, Mason has worked on his acclaimed albums, Showboat and Anything Goes. Other collaborations include Dino Anagnost of the Little Society Orchestra of Lincoln Center and Kenneth Klein of the New York Virtuosi.
Together with composer, Dominick Argento, Mason prepared and coached the music for the telecast of Mr. Argento's opera, The Aspern Papers, which debuted in Dallas and was featured on the Great Performance Series for PBS. As consultant to the Lincoln Center Chamber Society, he also collaborated with composer, Christine Berl, in her chamber work, Dark Summer, which debuted at Alice Tully Hall to critical acclaim.
In addition to his illustrious colleague, Frederica von Stade, Mason has accompanied such notable singers as Earl Wrightson, Lois Hunt, Elaine Malbin, Robert Merrill, Lucine Amara, Sandra Warfield, Nicolai Gedda and Richard Tucker as well as illustrious international cantors including, but not limited to, Aaron Bensoussan, Barry Black, Faith Steinsnyder and Steven Pearlston.
Mason has a fully equipped recording studio where he orchestrates and records professional soundtracks, some of which have even been included in Hollywood films, such as Barry Levinson’s Liberty Heights. He has produced a number of professional CD’s including Home For the Holidays for “These Three Tenors.” In 2001, as a member of the Republican Presidential Taskforce, he produced a CD, A Memorial Tribute to the Fallen Heroes of September 11th, 2001. Many artists from the Metropolitan Opera as well as local residents contributed tracks to the project and copies were distributed to many of the families of the victims. The album has been included in the collections of libraries throughout the region and is now part of the permanent archive of the 9/11 Memorial Museum at the World Trade Center. Excerpts from the album can be found at their website: https://www.911memorial.org/profile/1696411
In his book, The Shadow of God, published by Doubleday in 2006, Charles Scribner III describes Mason's studio as "dazzling," while commenting that he is "a one-man orchestra ... and a brilliant recording engineer." His newest book, "Home By Another Route," published in 2016 again references Mason as his "music coach and inspiration."
Mason has assisted in fundraising events on behalf of such organizations as the American Red Cross as he did at Carnegie Hall in February 1989 to assist the Armenian Earthquake victims, as well as the Glimmerglas Opera at the Hudson Theater in New York, the Children's Storefront on behalf of Columbia Artists, and even the Metropolitan Opera playing in two concerts at $1000 a seat that assisted the Metropolitan Opera in meeting its budget that year.
In June of 1994 Mason was invited to play an historic vocal recital on behalf of Steinway & Sons at Steinway Hall in New York City highlighting the Steinway as the piano of choice for accompanists as well as soloists.
Later that year, Mason received a Lifetime Achievement Award from then Governor Mario Cuomo of New York. Many of Mason's writings have been published in national journals and compendiums including his poems, “Elusive Thought” and “Windows.” He is now an Honorary Member of Local 802 having been a member for over 60 years. Additionally, he is a member of MENSA since 1962.
In 2008 Mason orchestrated and produced a CD of 20 songs by Alfred Morena, Sr. called Tutto Morena, and in 2008, he was invited by his son, Alfred Morena, Jr. to write lyrics to the songs. The score was published in 2009 and available as a publication as well as a 2 CD album entitled Confetti Canzoni. Many of these selections were presented in a concert he played at Lincoln Center in April 2012, which received widespread attention. He was then commissioned to collaborate with Anna Heifetz, violinist, on a second album of these works called Il Violino Romantico released in 2014.
In 2009, Mason played an historic concert in Curaçao at the behest of Cantor Avery Tracht, resident spiritual leader of the Mikvé Israel-Emanuel in Curaçao, the oldest working synagogue in the Western Hemisphere and second leading tourist attraction on the island. He accompanied three celebrated cantors: Avery Tracht of Curaçao, Faith Steinsnyder of New Jersey and Don Croll of Dallas, Texas.
In April 2010, Mason wrote a tribute entitled "Simply Flicka," which was published by the Metropolitan Opera Guild when they honored Frederica von Stade for her forty years of starring performances there.
Additional information can be found in listings in “Who’s Who in America,” and “Who’s Who in the World,” published by Marquis and available in just about any library nationwide.
