Musica Sacra Announces 2019-2020 Concert Season

Music Director Kent Tritle spoke about the season, saying, "This chorus continues to set the gold standard in choral music - this year's season ranges from the austere glory of Machaut's Messe de Nostre Dame to the lushness of Bruckner's Os Justi. Our two concerts at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine flank our annual performance of Handel's Messiah at Carnegie Hall. Altogether, you will hear an incredible breath of great choral music, performed to the highest standards by a fully professional chorus, in two of New York City's most cherished venues."

Musica Sacra will open its New York concert season on Monday, October 21, 2019, at 7:30 pm, with Music for a Gothic Space at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (1047 Amsterdam Avenue at 112th Street, New York, NY, 10025). The world's largest Gothic Cathedral will serve as the setting for this a cappella concert featuring Guillaume de Machaut's late medieval Messe de Nostre Dame alongside the exquisite polyphonic motets of Josquin des Prez and meditative sounds of Gregorian Chant. A pre-concert recital will be given by the Newark Boys Chorus at 7:00 pm.

On Monday, December 23, 2019 at 7:30 pm, Musica Sacra will give its 81st New York City performance of Handel's Messiah at Carnegie Hall (57th Street at Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019). This beloved and always revelatory holiday tradition will feature the Musica Sacra Chorus and Orchestra, complete with baroque bows and a focus on period performance practices, conducted by Music Director Kent Tritle. Soloists will be: Amy Justman, soprano; Kirsten Sollek, contralto; Joshua Blue, tenor; and Adam Lau, bass.

Musica Sacra will conclude their concert season on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, at 7:30 pm, with Bach, Brahms, Bruckner & Rheinberger at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (1047 Amsterdam Avenue at 112th Street, New York, NY, 10025). This intimate a cappella concert will be held in the Cathedral's Great Choir and will explore the German choral tradition. Josef Rheinberger's Mass for Double Choir in E-Flat Major, 'Cantus Missae,' will flank Johannes Brahm's motet Schaffe in mir, Gott and Anton Bruckner's Os Justi. J. S. Bach's Komm, Jesu, Komm completes this evening of soaring and uplifting music. A pre-concert recital will be given by the Newark Boys Chorus at 7:00 pm.

Subscriptions and single tickets are now on sale, with three-concert subscription packages ranging from $64 to $225, a savings of up to 20% the Box Office single ticket prices.

For ticket information, please visit www.musicasacrany.com, e-mail tickets@musicasacrany.com, or call (212) 330-7684.

Now in his 13th Season as Music Director with Musica Sacra, Kent Tritle is one of America's leading choral conductors. Called "the brightest star in New York's choral music world" by The New York Times, he is also Director of Cathedral Music and Organist at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City; Music Director of the Oratorio Society of New York, the acclaimed 200-voice avocational chorus. In addition, Kent is Director of Choral Activities and a member of the organ faculty at the Manhattan School of Music and is a member of the graduate faculty of The Juilliard School, serving its Vocal Arts Department. An acclaimed organ virtuoso, he is also the organist of the New York Philharmonic and the American Symphony Orchestra.

Kent Tritle's discography of more than 20 recordings on the Telarc, AMDG, Epiphany, Gothic, VAI and MSR Classics labels includes the 2016 performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 8, David Briggs's organ-choral version, which received a rave review in The American Organist, and Eternal Reflections: Choral Music of Robert Paterson with Musica Sacra, about which Gramophone said, "As shaped by Music Director Kent Tritle, the myriad hues, lyricism and nobility in Paterson's music emerge in all their splendour." Other releases, including his 2013 recording of Juraj Filas' Requiem, Oratio Spei dedicated to the victims of 9/11, with the Prague Symphony Orchestra and the Kühn Choir; Messages to Myself, an acclaimed recording with Musica Sacra of five new works; and releases including with the Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola, Cool of the Day - an a cappella program of music ranging from Gregorian chant, Palestrina, and spirituals to Strauss's Deutsche Motette - and Ginastera's The Lamentations of Jeremiah with Schnittke's Concerto for Choir, have been praised by Gramophone, American Record Guide, and The Choral Journal.

Kent Tritle founded the Sacred Music in a Sacred Space concert series at New York's Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, and led it to great acclaim from 1989 to 2011. From 1996 to 2004, he was Music Director of New York's The Dessoff Choirs. Kent hosted "The Choral Mix with Kent Tritle" on New York's WQXR, a weekly program devoted to the vibrant world of choral music, from 2010 to 2014. Among his recent honors are the 2017 Distinguished Achievement Award from Career Bridges and the 2016 President's Medal for Distinguished Service from the Manhattan School of Music. Kent is on the advisory boards of the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective (C4) and the Clarion Music Society, and was the 2016 honoree at Clarion's annual gala.

The mission of Musica Sacra is to create definitive, professional choral performances of the highest caliber for the widest possible audience. It supports its mission by presenting concerts; recording, commissioning and performing new choral works; and educating audiences, students, and the general public in the appreciation and history of choral music. www.musicasacrany.com