New York Choral Society to Play Carnegie Hall & More During 2014-15 Season

Music Director David Hayes has announced the New York Choral Society's (NYCS) 56th concert season. For the holiday season the New York Choral Society will present Christmas Around New York on December 10 at 6:30 pm at Saint Peter's Church, Lexington Avenue at 54th St. and on Sunday, December 14, at 3:00 pm at Snug Harbor Cultural Center. The program, performed with brass and organ includes an arrangement of O Come, O Come Emmanuel and a Magnificat by Pachelbel along with more contemporary works by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon and the popular Christmas Cantata by Daniel Pinkham.

On Sunday, January 25, 2015 at 3:00 pm at Carnegie Hall, NYCS will present St. Paul by Felix Mendelssohn. The story of St. Paul is full of drama, action, intrigue, murderous plots and miracles. Mendelssohn, the composer of the popular Oratorio Elijah tells the story through some of the most beautiful and dramatic choral music ever written. The Oratorio tells the story of the conversion of Saul (later known as the apostle Paul). Mendelssohn was deeply influenced by Johann Sebastian Bach and was singularly responsible for the resurgent popularity of his music after his performance of the St. Matthew Passion in 1829. Although the piece is full of nods to Bach, the piece the New York Times called "serenely beautiful" is all Mendelssohn. The Princeton Girlchoir and Metropolitan Opera baritone, Mark Delavan will be joining the NYCS for this performance that will be sung in German with English supertitles.

The season concludes on April 8, 2015 at 8:00 pm at Carnegie Hall with For Those We've Loved. The program includes On the Transmigration of Souls by John Adams joined by The Young People's Chorus of New York City and When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd by Paul Hindemith. .

This concert is a journey into the innermost depths of our hearts, souls and emotions. It transcends the tragic events that are commemorated in John Adams' On the Transmigration of Souls and Paul Hindemith's When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd. It is a transformative journey filled with portraits of everyday life and people that reaffirms and celebrates the strength and durability of the American spirit.

John Adams' On the Transmigration of Souls was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic to commemorate the first anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001.The piece won three Grammy Awards in 2004. The New York Choral Society's performance will be the first in New York City since the world premiere in 2002.

Paul Hindemith's When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd, was commissioned by Robert Shaw in 1946 to write a piece to memorialize President Franklin Delano Roosevelt who died in 1945. The text is by American poet Walt Whitman and his poem When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd was inspired by the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. The piece has been described as Hindemith's "only profoundly American work" and as "a work of genius".

The New York Choral Society will be collaborating with the Mannes Orchestra for this special performance.

Music Director David Hayes says "I'm extremely pleased to be entering my third season as Music Director. This season, we are expanding our concertizing to include performances around New York City and bringing exciting and thought-provoking programming to our Carnegie Hall audiences. I'm especially pleased to be working again with the wonderful Princeton Girlchoir, The Young People's Chorus of New York City and establishing a new collaborative relationship with the Mannes Orchestra and New School University."

2014-15 SCHEDULE

Wednesday, December 10, 2014 at 6:30 pm
Christmas Around New York
David Hayes, conductor
Saint Peter's Church - Lexington Avenue at 54th St.

Sunday, December 14, 2014 at 3:00 pm
Christmas Around New York
Michael Ciavaglia, conductor
Snug Harbor Cultural Center - Staten Island

Sunday, January 25, 2015 at 3:00 pm
David Hayes, conductor
CARNEGIE HALL
St. Paul by Felix Mendelssohn

Wednesday, April 8, 2015 at 8:00 pm
David Hayes, conductor
CARNEGIE HALL
For Those We've Loved
On the Transmigration of Souls by John Adams
When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd by Paul Hindemith

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