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Current Season
As the New York Choral Society embarks on its 51st season, we are proud to present three glorious and diverse programs.
"A Joyful Noise"
December 9, 2009
Carnegie Hall
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
Join us in Carnegie Hall for our season opening concert, "A Joyful Noise," a program of festive choral classics. The program will include Randall Thompson's Alleluia, a celebrated a capella gem; Vivaldi's Gloria, a favorite of choral music lovers; the "Hallelujah! Amen" from Handel's Judas Maccabaeus, and in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Haydn's death, his Harmoniemesse, an exhilarating masterpiece that was his last completed work.
"Vive la France!"
February 28, 2010
St. Bartholomew's Church
Like a fine French wine, this program of lush choral music will warm and comfort the senses. The program comprises works by two of France's most important composers of the twentieth century, Poulenc's Quatre Petites Prières de Saint François d'Assise, for male chorus, and Litanies à la Vierge noire, for women's chorus, and Duruflé's Requiem.
Francis Poulenc was the leading member of Les Six, a group of French composers devoted to turning music away from Impressionism, formality, and intellectualism. The Litanies à la Vierge noire signaled a new phase in Poulenc's career, one marked by religious choral works of a mysterious, ethereal, and often moving nature. The Quatre Petites Prières de Saint François d'Assise was composed for and dedicated to the monastery choir at Champfleury, in particular the monk Frère Jerome, Poulenc's great-nephew. With the use of archaic textures of plainchant and early polyphony, along with Poulenc's harmonic colorings, these four pieces are works of unique reverence and solemnity.
Maurice Duruflé is known for a small number of extraordinary works, among which the Requiem is perhaps the finest and most often performed. An organist as well as a composer, Duruflé originally wrote the Requiem, which premiered in 1947, for organ accompaniment, which is the version we will perform. The "Pie Jesu" aria for mezzo-soprano combines with the choral movements to form a piece of soothing beauty.
The New York Choral Society Responds to Earthquate in Haiti
We have decided to set aside 150 prime tickets in order to invite Haitian families in NYC who have lost loved ones in the earthquake. These families have members who have disappeared forever, with no closure, no burial ritual. We will dedicate this performance of the Requiem to them as a salve for their weary hearts and a chance for them to honor their dead.
NYCS is asking that you consider helping to underwrite these tickets. We are offering them at a significant discount for this purpose ($30 each). The Haitian Consulate will be handling the distribution of the tickets, so we are assured they are put into the right hands.
If you're interested in donating tickets, please click here. Any number of ticket will truly be appreciated!
Mozart's Requiem
May 1, 2010
Carnegie Hall
Our season will close with a performance of Mozart's Requiem, Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, and James DeMars's Tito's Say.
Mozart's Requiem is one of the most popular and beloved works in the choral repertoire. The myths surrounding Mozart and the writing of this piece have continued and been embellished upon since its creation. The work was commissioned by Count Franz Walsegg zu Stuppach (with the intention of passing it off as his own) to honor the memory of his wife. At the time of his death, Mozart had completed the "Introit" and "Kyrie," leaving only the chorus parts and a bass line with occasional remarks to indicate the orchestration for the rest of the movements up through the beginning of the "Lacrymosa." His student Franz Xaver Süssmayr was given the task of realizing the sketches and completing the work. There have been many debates and discussions surrounding the piece ever since. Mozart may have died in poverty but his musical legacy, and particularly his Requiem, has brought outstanding beauty and richness to Western culture like few other composers.
The Chichester Psalms is a piece of great strength and beauty. The New York Choral Society performed the first movement of this piece under the baton of Bernstein himself at the opening of the New York City Ballet's American Music Festival in 1988. The work's world premiere took place in Philharmonic Hall (now Avery Fisher Hall) on July 15, 1965, conducted by the composer; it was followed by a performance in the Chichester Festival later the same month.
James DeMars's Tito's Say is a four-movement cantata set to texts by Alberto "Tito" Rios. This engaging work was commissioned by the Arizona Choral Arts Society and received its world premiere in 1989 under the baton of our current music director, John Daly Goodwin. The final movement, "Ventura and Clemente," is a rollicking account of the courtship of two young Mexican lovers and is representative of the entire piece.
Guest Appearances
This past June 18 the chorus joined Andrea Bocelli on stage at Madison Square Garden providing opera chorus and back-up vocals for his U.S. "Incanto" tour.
Continuing our dedication to "filling the skies with music" the chorus will sing at St. Patrick's Cathedral on September 11 at 7:00 p.m. as part of the September Foundation Concerts. The chorus will be performing Robert De Cormier's Turn the World Around and Stephen Paulus' Whitman's New York. This is a free concert open to the public.
November 22, 2009, the New York Choral Society will make its 17th appearance at the annual Richard Tucker Music Foundation Gala in Avery Fisher Hall. This year's award winner is the tenor Stephen Costello. The gala will be conducted by Fabio Luisi and is scheduled to feature Anna Netrebko, Stephanie Blythe, Samuel Ramey, René Pape, and others.