NYCS Returns to Carnegie Hall with Jennifer Koh, 4/29

The New York Choral Society (NYCS) returns to Carnegie Hall under the baton of David Hayes on Tuesday, April 29th at 8pm to perform the New York premiere of Pulitzer Prize winning composer Jennifer Higdon's The Singing Rooms in Carnegie Hall with a special appearance by acclaimed violinist Jennifer Koh.

Composer Jennifer Higdon is one of the most performed living composers today. Originally commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra and premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2008, The Singing Rooms, for chorus, orchestra and solo violin has been described as "one of Higdon's best" (Philadelphia Inquirer). ConcertoNet.com says, "The emotional spectrum is almost staggering - from pastoral to cataclysmic.

Ms. Higdon describes The Singing Rooms as a house where the violin sings, the choir sings and the orchestra sings. Every room is its own sound world.

The program will also include a performance of Gustav Holst's seldom-performed The Hymn of Jesus, which uses Gnostic texts from the apocryphal Acts of St. John that Holst translated himself. A work of great depth and beauty, it is the first major piece Holst composed after completing The Planets. First performed in 1920, Hymn of Jesus is not a "sacred" piece, but a response to great suffering-Holst's artistic and philosophical response to the Battle of the Somme, during which, in 1916, over two million people were slaughtered.

"I'm a huge champion of Jennifer Higdon's work and am excited to bring The Singing Rooms to Carnegie Hall for its New York premiere with the New York Choral Society and the fabulous violinist Jennifer Koh," said Mr. Hayes. "The program will also include Gustav Holst's deeply moving piece, The Hymn of Jesus. The exceptional acoustics of Carnegie Hall and the 180 talented voices of the New York Choral Society will combine to bring these magnificent works to life. I'm thrilled to be bringing both of these masterpieces to the New York audience."