The Dessoff Choirs to Open 100th Anniversary Season With SOME ENCHANTED EVENING in October

The Dessoff Choirs, led by Music Director Malcolm J. Merriweather, will open its 2023-2024 and 100th Anniversary season with Some Enchanted Evening on Friday, October 13, 2023 at 7:30pm at Roulette in Brooklyn. The Dessoff Chamber Choir and Maestro Merriweather dazzle the audiences with beloved selections from Rodgers & Hammerstein's iconic American musicals.

To celebrate the season opener and milestone year, Dessoff's centennial celebration will kick off with a Centennial Launch Party. Arrive early to enjoy a lively reception with hors d'oeuvres, wine, and a sneak preview into the exciting 100th anniversary season. The performance of Some Enchanted Evening will follow immediately after the celebration.

Music Director Malcolm J. Merriweather shares, "I remember the joy and excitement of performing the great musicals of Rodgers and Hammerstein in high school. While the music is timeless, we also acknowledge and reconcile some of the dated thematic material. In the end, I think that there is something for everyone to connect with in this show!"

The next performance of the 23-24 season takes place on Thursday, November 2, 2023 at 7:30pm, as Dessoff joins forces with the Cathedral Choir of Abyssinian Baptist Church to present Mendelssohn's Elijah at Abyssinian's landmark location in Central Harlem. Maestro Merriweather leads The Dessoff choirs, soloists, and full orchestra in this enduring masterpiece.

Concert Information

Some Enchanted Evening
Friday, October 13, 2023 at 7:30pm
Roulette | 509 Atlantic Ave | Brooklyn, NY
Tickets: $20 - $100
Link: https://www.dessoff.org/events/some-enchanted-evening

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II - Selected works

The Dessoff Chamber Choir|
Malcolm J. Merriweather, conductor

Centennial Launch Party precedes the concert, available only at the $100 ticket level.

About The Dessoff Choirs

The Dessoff Choirs, under the baton of Malcolm J. Merriweather, music director, is one of the leading choruses in New York City, with an established reputation for pioneering performances of choral works from the Renaissance era through the 21st century. The 's' in Choirs connotes the group's various incarnations - from Dessoff's core group of 60 singers, to the Symphonic Choir assembled for larger engagements and Chamber Choir selected to present more intimate works. Since its founding in 1924, Dessoff's mission is to enrich the lives of its audiences and members by giving voice to new or rarely heard, forgotten music and composers; and to bring great choral works to New York audiences in new ways. Dessoff concerts, professional collaborations, community outreach, and educational initiatives are dedicated to stimulating public interest in and appreciation of choral music as an art form that enhances the culture and life of these times.

With repertoire ranging over a wide variety of eras and styles, Dessoff's musical acumen and flexibility has been recognized with invitations from major orchestras for oratorios and orchestral works. Past performances include Britten's War Requiem and Mahler's Symphony No.8 with Lorin Maazel in his final performances as Music Director with the New York Philharmonic. Over the course of its near-100-year history, Dessoff has presented many world premieres, including works by Virgil Thomson, George Perle, Paul Moravec, and Ricky Ian Gordon; the first American performance in nearly 100 years of Montemezzi's opera La Nave with Teatro Grattacielo; and the American premieres of Philip Glass's Symphony No.5 and John Tavener's all-night vigil, The Veil of the Temple.

The Dessoff Choirs is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

About Malcolm J. Merriweather

Grammy nominated conductor and baritone Malcolm J. Merriweather is the ninth Music Director of New York City's Dessoff Choirs, known for its performances of great choral works from the pre-Baroque era through the 21st century.

In addition, Merriweather is the Director of the New York Philharmonic Chorus. He is an Associate Professor at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York and has also joined the faculty at Manhattan School of Music. He was the founding Artistic Director of "Voices of Haiti," a 60-member children's choir in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, operated by the Andrea Bocelli Foundation.

He enjoys a versatile career with performances ranging from the songs of Margaret Bonds to gems of the symphonic choral repertoire. The baritone can be heard on the GRAMMY nominated recording of Paul Moravec's Sanctuary Road (NAXOS). Hailed by Opera News as "moving...expertly interpreted", Margaret Bonds: The Ballad of the Brown King & Selected Songs and Credo & Simon Bore the Cross by Margaret Bonds (AVIE Records) has earned considerable praise around the world. At the invitation of Solange Knowles, he joined the interdisciplinary studio and creative agency, Saint Heron, for performances with Voices of Harlem and The Clark Sisters in Glory to Glory: A Revival of Devotional Art.

Highlights from his 2023-2024 season include a trip to China with The New York Philharmonic Choir for the world premiere of Émigré, An Oratorio with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. He returns to The Metropolitan Museum of Art for the world premiere of Handel: Made in America with soloists, Latonia Moore, J'Nai Bridges, Noah Stewart, and Davóne Tines. Continuing in his role as Director of The New York Philharmonic Chorus, he prepares the professional choir for the reprise of Émigré, An Oratorio and Mahler 2 with The New York Philharmonic. With the Dessoff Choirs he conducts Mendelssohn's Elijah, and two contemporary oratorios about the lives of Sojourner Truth (Valerie Capers) and Anne Frank (James Whitbourn).

Maestro Merriweather's 2022-2023 began leading The Choir of Trinity Wall Street in three performances (staged) of Considering Matthew Shepard. His new appointment as Director of The New York Philharmonic Chorus launched preparing the professional choir for three programs throughout the season for Maestro Jaap van Zweden including Beethoven's Ninth Symphony for the reopening of David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. With The Dessoff Choirs he conducted Duruflé's Requiem, Bach's St. John Passion, and motets by Vicente Lusitano, the first Black published composer. Last season included the long-awaited release of the premiere recording of Margaret Bonds's Credo and Simon Bore the Cross with the AVIE label. His solo baritone engagements included Messiah at Carnegie Hall, and Sanctuary Road with the Cincinnati May Festival and the Penn Square Music Festival.

Merriweather has been featured as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Dessoff Choirs, the New York Choral Society, and Bach Vespers Choir and Orchestra at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New York City. The baritone has premiered contemporary solo works by Eve Beglarian, John Liberatore, Ju Ri Seo, Douglas Fisk, and James Adler. He has been a fellowship recipient at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and at the Tanglewood Music Center.

Merriweather holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Conducting from the studio of Kent Tritle at the Manhattan School of Music, where his doctoral dissertation "Now I walk in Beauty, Gregg Smith: A Biography and Complete Works Catalog" constituted the first complete works list for the composer and conductor. He received Master of Music degrees in Choral Conducting studying with William Weinert and in Vocal Performance from the studio of Rita Shane at the Eastman School of Music. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Syracuse University, summa cum laude.

His professional affiliations include membership in Pi Kappa Lambda, the American Choral Directors Association, and Chorus America.

He was previously Music Director of the West Village Chorale, Organist and Choirmaster at the Church of St. Luke and St. Simon of Cyrene (Episcopal) in Rochester, NY, and, for five years, Associate Choirmaster at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City.

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