Oratorio Society Of New York Has Its 149th Performance Of Handel's 'Messiah'

The Oratorio Society of New York (OSNY), led by Music Director Kent Tritle, continues its 150th Anniversary and 2023-2024 season with its 149th performance of Handel's Messiah on Monday, December 18, 2023 at 7:00pm at Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall.

A holiday tradition for the Society since first performing the work on Christmas Day 1874 in Carnegie Hall under the baton of founding director Leopold Damrosch, this year's grand performance includes soloists soprano Kathryn Lewek (“utterly enthralling, emitting richly glowing bursts of notes like a collapsing star”, The New York Times), countertenor Daniel Moody (“profoundly startling vocal resonance”, The New York Times), tenor Martin Bakari (“vocally charismatic”, Opera News), and baritone John Brancy (“a vibrant, resonant presence”, The New York Times), together with the Orchestra of the Society.

The Messiah is not only a holiday tradition for OSNY but for many around the world. Handel composed his work in 1741 and its success soon made it a Christmastime favorite. Now performing the work for the 149th time, Music Director Kent Tritle says: “This year we return to the complete Messiah for the first time since 2019. It is thrilling to hear the chorus at its best-ever tone and musical aptitude as we renew and invigorate our bond with the fullness of Handel's timeless masterpiece.”

Prior to the festive concert, OSNY's 2023-24 season kicks off on Monday, November 6, 2023 at 7:00pm with Bach's Magnificat and Mozart's Requiem, two iconic works in the choral repertoire. Joining the Society as soloists are Susanna Phillips, soprano, Lucia Bradford, mezzo-soprano, Eric Finbarr Carey, tenor, and Adam Lau, bass, together with the Orchestra of the Society, all led by Music Director Kent Tritle.

Continuing its milestone season, the Oratorio Society of New York will next present a concert at St. Bartholomew's Church (St. Bart's) on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 at 7:00pm. The program features performances with organ reduction of the final movements of Mahler's Second Symphony and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Earlier in the fall, OSNY announced a call for scores, with the selected submissions – Oliver Caplan's Cloud Anthem and Karen P. Thomas' Le Stelle – to be performed at this celebratory concert. Organist and arranger David Briggs joins the performance, with soloists Susanna Phillips, soprano, Heather Petrie, contralto, Joshua Blue, tenor, and Tyler Duncan, baritone. Reception to follow.

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Event Information
Handel's Messiah
Monday, December 18, 2023 at 7:00pm
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall
Tickets: Starting at $39
Link: https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2023/12/18/Oratorio-Society-of-New-York-0700PM

HANDEL: Messiah

Kathryn Lewek, soprano
Daniel Moody, countertenor
Martin Bakari, tenor
John Brancy, baritone
Kent Tritle, conductor
Orchestra of the Society

Ticket Information
Subscriptions to OSNY's three concerts at Carnegie Hall are available now at osny.org. Single tickets are available via carnegiehall.org, CarnegieCharge 212-247-7800, or the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th and Seventh.

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About Kathryn Lewek
Kathryn Lewek has established herself as one of this generation's most thrilling coloratura sopranos. Last season reached the remarkable milestone of Kathryn's 50th performance as Die Königin der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte at The Metropolitan Opera, surpassing The Met's record for the most performances of a role by a single artist. The New York Times declared her performance “utterly enthralling.” Ms. Lewek's has brought her Queen to more than 25 companies in over 300 performances to date.

This season includes two highly anticipated role débuts: the title role in Lakmé at Opéra de Nice and Juliette in Roméo et Juliette with Toledo Opera, alongside her husband, tenor Zach Borichevsky, as Roméo. Additional performances include Olympia in Les contes d'Hoffmann at Semperoper Dresden and a debut as Madame Herz/Tonina in Der Schauspieldirektor with the Vienna Philharmonic. Ms. Lewek performs Königin with Semperoper Dresden, The Metropolitan Opera, the Cleveland Orchestra, and at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia. She will also perform in the world premiere of Matthew Aucoin and Peter Sellars' Unsilent Spring, presented by DACAMERA.

Last season included role débuts of Countess Adèle in Rossini's Le comte Ory with Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Heroines in Les contes d'Hoffmann with Deutsche Oper Berlin, as well as a reprisal of the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor for Opéra de Nice. Recent seasons have also included Teresa in Benvenuto Cellini with Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona; Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Deutsche Oper Berlin and subsequently in her house début with the Bayerische Staatsoper; Ginevra in Ariodante with Opera Monte Carlo; the title role of Maria Stuarda with Edmonton Opera; and Angelica in Handel's Orlando on tour throughout Europe. 

About Daniel Moody
Lauded for his “profoundly startling vocal resonance” (The New York Times) and “sweet and melancholy sound” (The Washington Post), countertenor Daniel Moody is celebrated for his interpretations of contemporary and baroque opera and concert repertoire. He recently made debuts at the Metropolitan Opera in Brett Dean's Hamlet as Rosencrantz, Atlanta Opera as Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare, and Cincinnati Opera as Nerone in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea, where the American Record Guide praised his performance for its “utter beauty…where he would start singing ever so sweetly and then just let his voice blossom out into something big and round and smooth.” In 2023-2024, he will sing as Solo Alto Chorus in Acis and Galatea with Philharmonia Baroque, sing as the alto soloist in Messiah with the Oratorio Society of New York and The Trey Clegg Singers, appear in a Dinner with Handel concert with Portland Baroque Orchestra, and returns to the Metropolitan Opera to cover Countertenor 3 in El Niño and Man Under the Arch/Hotel Clerk in The Hours. Moody also covers Jonathan in The Righteous at Santa Fe Opera.

Moody is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory and has won several awards in the Metropolitan National Council Auditions, George London Competition, Handel Aria Competition, New York Oratorio Society Competition, and Russell Wonderlic Competition.

About Martin Bakari
Praised by Opera News as a "vocally charismatic" performer with a "golden tenor", Martin Bakari continues to distinguish himself as a dynamic artist in a wide array of musical and theatrical genres. A 2018 George London Competition award winner, Mr. Bakari's 2023-2024 season includes Mime in Das Rheingold at Seattle Opera and Dr. Caius in Falstaff at Houston Grand Opera, as well as a cover of Wilson in the premiere of Jake Heggie's Intelligence. Then, he will bring his interpretation of Charlie Parker in Charlie Parker's Yardbird to Indianapolis Opera. Mr. Bakari will also sing Frederic in Pirates of Penzance with Kentucky Opera and perform the Messiah with Calvin Oratorio Society and the Oratorio Society of New York, as well as perform in concerts with Seattle Choral Company, Lyric Fest, and Harmonia Orchestra & Chorus.

Mr. Bakari is an alumnus of the master's degree program at Juilliard, the B.M. and Opera Institute programs at Boston University, and the study-abroad program at London's Royal College of Music. In addition to the numerous opera and musical theater roles he performed while in Boston, he was an active concert soloist with performances including Elijah at Symphony Hall and a solo concert of Italian arias with the Salem Philharmonic Orchestra. A Filipino-African American, Mr. Bakari is featured as the cover story of FilAm Magazine's June 2022 issue.

About John Brancy
Grammy Award-winning artist John Brancy is known for his powerhouse baritone and intense communicative depth. Hailed by the New York Times as “a vibrant, resonant presence,” Mr. Brancy is equally at home in staged opera, concert performance, and recital, with a wide-ranging repertoire that includes classical, contemporary world premieres, and musical theater.

This summer Brancy will make his debut at the Aix en Provence Festival 75th Anniversary in the world premiere of Picture A Day Like This by George Benjamin and Martin Crimp; this production will immediately travel to London where Brancy will make his Royal Opera House debut. Further into the future, John will return to Opéra de Montreal for a major role debut, and he makes debuts at the Pairs Opéra Comique, Opéra national du Rhin, Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, and Teatro di San Carlo.

During the 22/23 season, Brancy made his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra as Jake Wallace in La Fanciulla del West, made his role debut as Escamillo in Carmen with MasterVoices at Jazz at Lincoln Center in a newly translated english version by Broadway legend Sheldon Harnick directed by Sammi Cannold; took on the role of Franz Wolff-Metternich in the world premiere of La Beauté du Monde, by playwright Michel Marc Bouchard and composer Julien Bilodeau, at Opéra de Montréal; and performed as a soloist with Theater Erfurt in conductor/composer Alexander Prior's arrangement of Schubert's Winterreise for orchestra. Brancy reprised HEROES for NYFOS in collaboration with Charles Yang and Peter and Kara Dugan and he also recently made his Café Carlyle debut with Peter, ushering in a new era of classical cabaret at the famous venue.

About the Oratorio Society of New York
Celebrating its 150th anniversary during the 2023-2024 season, the Oratorio Society of New York (OSNY.ORG) is one of the oldest musical organizations in the United States and has become New York City's standard for grand choral performance. Founded in 1873 by Leopold Damrosch, the Society has played an integral role in the musical life of the city. In its early years, the Society established a fund to finance the building of a new concert hall, a cause taken up in earnest by the Society's fifth president, Andrew Carnegie. In 1891, and under the direction of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, the Society helped inaugurate this new Music Hall, which would be renamed Carnegie Hall several years later.

The Society continues to perform several times each season at Carnegie Hall. Its annual performances of Handel's Messiah, a New York holiday tradition unbroken since 1874, have become a holiday favorite with New York audiences. In addition to its collaborations with the New York Philharmonic and Orchestra of St. Luke's, as well as other performing arts institutions, the Society performs internationally every few years – including recent concerts in Japan, Uruguay, Germany, Italy, and Brazil.

The Society is also committed to commissioning and championing new works, including most recently two pieces by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Paul Moravec and Grammy Award-winning librettist Mark Campbell: Sanctuary Road, the recording of which was nominated for a 2021 Grammy Award and is available from Naxos Records, and A Nation of Others, which saw its premiere in November 2022 after multiple pandemic-related delays.The recording of the premiere will also be commercially released.

The OSNY membership consists of avocational and professionally trained singers as well as non-singing members. Auditions are held twice annually at the beginning of the fall and winter terms. OSNY is a not-for-profit 501c3 corporation governed by a volunteer board of directors with a professional music staff and executive director.

OSNY was awarded the Handel Medallion in 1974, and helped found the New York Choral Consortium.

About Kent Tritle
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 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 avocational chorus; and Music Director of Musica Sacra, New York's elite professional chorus. In addition, Kent 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. 

Kent Tritle's discography features more than 20 recordings on the Telarc, Naxos, AMDG, Epiphany, Gothic, VAI and MSR Classics labels. Recent releases include the Grammy-nominated Naxos recording of the Paul Moravec/Mark Campbell oratorio Sanctuary Road with the Oratorio Society of New York; Mahler's Symphony No. 8 in David Briggs's organ-choral version, and Eternal Reflections: Choral Music of Robert Paterson with Musica Sacra. Other releases include the 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 recordings – including 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 – with the Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola.

Kent Tritle is renowned as a master clinician, giving workshops on conducting and repertoire; he leads annual choral workshops at the Amherst Early Music Festival, and recent years have included workshops at Berkshire Choral International, Summer@Eastman and at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. As Director of Choral Activities at the Manhattan School of Music from 2008 to 2022, Kent established the school's first doctoral program in choral conducting. A Juilliard School faculty member since 1996, he currently directs a graduate practicum on oratorio in collaboration with the school's Vocal Arts Department.

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 2020 Chorus America Michael Korn Founders Award for Development of the Professional Choral Art, 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. He was recently featured in the WIRED video series “Masterminds,” an installment titled, “What Conductors Are Really Doing”.

Photo at top of release by Brian Hatton

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