PIPES to Open 2025-2026 Music Season at Trinity Church Concerts

Trinity Church announced its 2025-2026 music season, featuring world premieres of new works by Andrew Yee and David Hurd; a split presentation 0f Trinity’s acclaimed “gold standard” rendition of Handel’s Messiah; and PIPES, a season-long celebration of the historic inauguration of Trinity’s new organ by Glatter-Götz/Rosales.

PIPES will open on September 14 with a performance by the genre-defying British organist and luminary Anna Lapwood. Additional highlights include a performance by the Trinity Choir featuring organist and composer David Hurd; Avi Stein exploring the full expressive capabilities of the organ with Poulenc’s Organ Concerto and Walter Piston’s rarely performed Prelude and Allegro for Organ and Strings; and Alcée Chriss III weaving jazz and gospel improvisations through timeless works by Bach, Rachmaninoff, and Max Reger. Janet Yieh, in collaboration with Downtown Voices, offers beloved music from the Anglican and American tradition; and Stephen Tharp transforms the organ into a symphonic force with transcriptions of pieces by Liszt, Wagner, and Jongen, and his powerful organ arrangement of Stravinksy’s The Rite of Spring.

A special Jazz at One fall series presented in collaboration with JAZZ HOUSE KiDS gives a nod to the organ celebration by spotlighting the jazz organ’s evolution from sacred spaces to soul-infused clubs. Each week, Jazz at One will feature preeminent keyboard artists and Hammond B3 masters, including Mike LeDonne and Matthew Whitaker, among others. Curated by JAZZ HOUSE KiDS Artistic Director Christian McBride, the Jazz Icons series returns with a set of duet performances: legendary vocalist Dianne Reeves with Brazilian guitarist Romero Lubambo and acclaimed pianist and composer Fred Hersch with alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón. 

Also for the fall of 2025, the Bach at One series moves into Trinity Church to join the celebration of the new landmark organ. Bach’s masterpiece Mass in B Minor will be complemented by cherished organ works and concertos by Bach and other composers.

NOVUS, Trinity’s groundbreaking new-music ensemble, continues its Renewal series on September 18 with a concert called “Undivided,” a program celebrating the trans community. Centered around the world premiere of Trans Requiem, a major new work by Andrew Yee, the performance affirms the beauty, strength, and resilience of trans identity. Commissioned by Trinity Church, Trans Requiem brings together trans voices, choirs, and orchestra. The program also features Barber’s Agnus Dei (Adagio for Strings) and a participatory performance of Sonic Meditations by Pauline Oliveros.

On December 3, Downtown Voices will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a festive concert featuring alumni from the past decade in a powerful musical homecoming. The program will feature Benjamin Britten’s Saint Nicolas, the very first work performed by Downtown Voices in its inaugural concert in 2015.

For the first time, Trinity’s renowned annual performance of Handel’s Messiah, named the "gold standard" by The New York Times, will be presented in two liturgically aligned parts presented around Christmas and Easter. Part I, depicting the prophecies and birth of Christ, will be presented during Trinity’s holiday programming lineup in December (including a free, special outreach performance for students), and selections from Parts II and III will be presented in the spring for Easter performances, signifying Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection.

On March 11, Downtown Voices and NOVUS will perform Johannes Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem – a setting of biblical texts that is considered one of the most profound choral masterworks ever composed and a timeless meditation on grief, hope, and transcendence.