Experiential Orchestra to Perform MUSIC IN THE CRYPT at St. John's Cathedral

The GRAMMY️-winning Experiential Orchestra (EXO) will continue its 2025-2026 season, titled Origins, running from November 2025 through June 2026. Led by founding Music Director James Blachly, EXO will present four immersive programs this season, each reflecting the origins and mission of the organization – to curate programs that embrace the unique acoustics and characters of each venue, creating a one-of-a-kind listening environment and a new experience of sound. In three performances on Friday, April 10, 2026 at 7:30pm and Saturday, April 11, 2026 at 5pm and 7:30pm, EXO and Blachly present Music in the Crypt: Out of the Shadows at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in the seldomly seen Crypt (1047 Amsterdam Ave., NYC).

The concerts offer a rare glimpse into the subterranean level of the world's largest Gothic Cathedral, in a space with three tombs and an open arched vault. In this umbrous space, EXO performs Jessie Montgomery's Source Code, Caroline Shaw's Punctum for string orchestra, Franz Schreker's Intermezzo, Blachly's Emerging, and Ludwig van Beethoven's uniquely sacred movement for string quartet, the Heiliger Dankgesang, from Opus 132, arranged for string orchestra by James Blachly.

EXO and Blachly invite audiences to listen deeply in this profound and mysterious setting. With these concerts, EXO continues its ongoing exploration of the relationship between sound and architecture throughout the Cathedral. Each piece reflects the theme of “origins,” with Schreker's work launching his career, Montgomery's work reflecting on artistic influences, Shaw's music referring to Bach's St. Matthew Passion, and the Beethoven reflecting the source of inspiration for so many musicians. The performances are also a homecoming for Blachly – more than 20 years ago, he recorded his first string quartet in this very space.

The final event of EXO's 2025-2026 season is a reprise of its celebrated collaboration with composer Brad Balliett in his A Field Guide to Imaginary Birds, to be held once again outdoors in Brooklyn's Prospect Park on June 6, 2026.

The GRAMMY️-winning Experiential Orchestra (EXO) brings audiences close to the music by engaging listeners through imaginative, immersive, and interactive concert experiences. 

EXO was founded on collaboration and co-creation, and each curated performance is imbued with a generous spirit of celebration, facilitating the exploration of what Blachly calls, “a new experience of sound” by audiences. The orchestra's performances take place in and outside the concert hall with audiences invited to participate in unorthodox ways. EXO has performed the music of Arvo Pärt in the Temple of Dendur at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, invited audiences to dance during Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker at National Sawdust, enveloped the audience in concerts at Lincoln Center with audience and orchestra members sitting together, and presented  Symphonie fantastique and Petrushka with circus choreography at The Muse in Brooklyn.  

Recent highlights have included a subscription concert at The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, an immersive performance of Strauss's Four Last Songs with cellist Andrew Yee and soprano Sarah Brailey, and the New York premiere of Julia Perry's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra with soloist Curtis Stewart. In January 2024, EXO performed Pärt's masterwork Passio at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, offering audiences the opportunity to experience the concert while reclining on yoga mats. In March 2024, the orchestra co-presented a four-day Julia Perry Centenary Celebration and Festival in New York, coinciding with Perry's 100th birthday that month.

EXO is known for imaginative and groundbreaking programming that frequently advocates for under-celebrated masterpieces and composers. The orchestra's world premiere recording of Dame Ethel Smyth's The Prison (1930) was released on Chandos Records in 2020 to international critical acclaim in The New York Times, Gramophone, The New Yorker, The Guardian, and many other publications. The album won the GRAMMY for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album in 2021 – the first GRAMMY ever awarded for Smyth's music. EXO's world premiere recording of Julia Perry's Violin Concerto, with soloist Curtis Stewart, was released on the Bright Shiny Things label in March 2024 and earned two GRAMMY nominations.

EXO is led by Founder and Music Director James Blachly, General Manager Sandy Choi, Creative Partner Catherine Gregory, Concertmasters Alex Fortes and Henry Wang, Personnel Manager Arthur Sato, and Artistic Advisors Patrick Castillo, Brad Balliett, and Doug Balliett. Leila Amineddoleh serves as Board Chair.