U.S. Premiere of James MacMillan's SINCE IT WAS THE DAY OF PREPARATION Set for St. Bart's, 5/4

Great Music at St. Bart's will present the American Première of James MacMillan's Since it was the Day of Preparation on Sunday, May 4 at 2:30 pm.

Scottish composer James MacMillan is one of the most compelling composers of sacred music today. His Since it was the day of preparation picks up where his St. John Passion left off, setting the Resurrection narrative from St. John's Gospel. It is scored for bass-baritone soloist, chamber choir and a small ensemble of instrumentalists, including clarinet, horn, harp, theorbo and cello. It was co-commissioned by Soli Deo Gloria, an American organization whose mission is to preserve, enhance and promote sacred music, along with the Edinburgh International Festival and other partners. Its world premiere in Edinburgh inspired Scotland's The Herald to remark, "The music ranges in mood from austere to warm and tender, from the purity of intensity to relaxed expansiveness." The work is being performed as part of Soli Deo Gloria's 20th anniversary season.

St. Bartholomew's Director of Music, William K. Trafka will conduct St. Bartholomew's Chamber Singers and an outstanding quintet of instrumentalists including Benjamin Fingland, Clarinet; Karl Kramer, French Horn; James Wilson, Cello; Frances Duffy, Harp and David Walker, Theorbo. Jeff Morrissey, Bass-Baritone will sing the role of Christus.

Tickets at $35 and $25 with a $10 discount in each pricing category for students and senior citizens may be purchased at the concert office at 325 Park Ave. between the hours of 9 am and 6 pm or by calling (212) 378-0248 or online atwww.mmpaf.org.

The Great Music Series, presented by the Mid-Manhattan Performing Arts Foundation, Inc., (MMPAF) offers a diverse variety of concerts from large scale choral works and organ concerts in the church to chamber music and jazz in the acoustically remarkable chapel. Crucial to the musical programming of the series is St. Bartholomew's Choir, a fully professional choir, and the Boy and Girl Choristers, renowned as one of the finest children's choir in the metropolitan area. The church also possesses an Aeolian/Skinner pipe organ of 168 stops, the largest in New York City and considered to be one of the greatest examples of the American Classic Organ of the 20th century.