The Cecilia Chorus of New York to Present OEDIPUS THE KING

The Cecilia Chorus of New York, Mark Shapiro, Music Director, will present Oedipus The King, a World Premiere of a commissioned work by The Brothers Balliett for chorus, speaker and instrumental ensemble on Sunday, March 12 at 3:00 PM at Church of the Holy Trinity, 316 E. 88th St., between 1st and 2nd Aves. in Manhattan.

The concert will be presented with The Deviant Septet, The Boston City Singers youth chorus, and two-time Tony Award Winner Stephen Spinella reading Oedipus.

The Brothers Balliett describe Oedipus The King as "something between an oratorio and an opera." The hour-long piece will tackle the tale of Oedipus Rex, an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC. It is regarded by many scholars as the masterpiece of ancient Greek tragedy. A later, more visceral version of the play by the Roman philosopher Seneca, served as the basis for the Ballietts' new translation.

Taking on the challenging role of Oedipus will be two-time Tony Award Winner Stephen Spinella. He, as the Narrator, will play the role in a spoken voice, while the 180-member Cecilia Chorus will play all the other roles in song. "This requires extremely precise timing," says Spinella, "but I'm excited to take up the challenge." To read more about Stephen Spinella, visit IMDb.

Composers/librettists Brad Balliett and Doug Balliett - identical twin composers and performers from Massachusetts - have been performing together and collaborating for nearly thirty years. As bassoonist and double bassist (respectively) they perform separately and with groups all around New York, including the new music ensembles Deviant Septet, Metropolis Ensemble, Argento, Signal, and Alarm Will Sound, with chamber ensembles The Declassified and Ensemble ACJW, with symphonies such as Handel & Haydn and the Hartford Symphony, and a host of other diverse ensembles. Brad and Doug also co-host the weekly radio program The Brothers Balliett on WQXR's Q2 Music.

Performing with the Chorus will be The Deviant Septet, a new-music ensemble co-founded by The Brothers Balliett. Consisting of clarinet, trumpet, violin, bassoon, double bass, trombone and percussion, the Deviant Septet will accompany The Cecilia Chorus of New York in the world premiere of Oedipus The King. Additionally, The Deviant Septet will play two short pieces from their repertoire, Recovering by Chris Cerrone and Focusing by David Liptak. For more information on Deviant Septet, visit www.deviantseptet.com.

Tickets for the March 12 event are $30 general admission ($35 at the door), $25 for students/seniors, and can be purchased online at ceciliachorusny.org/oedipustheking. For more information about this concert, visit www.ceciliachorusny.org or call 646-638-2535.

The Cecilia Chorus of New York is the 2015 winner of the ASCAP/Chorus America Alice Parker Award; and the 2013 third-place winner for The American Prize in Choral Performance. New York City's Department of Cultural Affairs recently bestowed a generous grant of support on The Cecilia Chorus of New York for its' 2016-17 season.

The Chorus, a secular organization, was founded in 1906 and has evolved into one of the finest avocational performing arts organizations in New York City. Recent performance highlights have included the commission and premiere of Tom Cipullo's Credo for a Secular City at Carnegie Hall in Spring 2014, the New York Premiere of the Mass in D (1892) by Dame Ethel Smyth and revivals of works by Peter Mennin and Isabella Leonarda, as well as the Chorus's first-ever commission/premiere for Carnegie Hall, Divis Cetera by Raphael Fusco in 2012. The Chorus's 2016-17 season will include three newly commissioned works throughout the year.

Mark Shapiro was appointed the seventh Music Director of The Cecilia Chorus of New York in 2011. He is one of a handful of artistic leaders in North America to have won a prestigious ASCAP Programming Award five times, achieving the unique distinction of winning such an award with three different ensembles. His February 2015 Juilliard performance of Britten's The Rape of Lucretia was characterized in The New York Times as "insightful"; The Times has elsewhere praised his work for its "virtuosity and assurance," and "uncommon polish," and his leadership was characterized by New Jersey's Star-Ledger as "erudite and far-reaching." His bio is at www.ceciliachorusny.org/music-director-mark-shapiro.