Sacred Music In A Sacred Space Explores Sacred, Secular Dualities Of Poulenc In Final 17-18 Concert

Two sides of the same coin-culminating concert in 17-18 Season of Sacred Music in a Sacred Space explores secular, sacred dualities of Francis Poulenc on May 23rd at 8pm

25th anniversary celebration of the kingly N.P. Mander Organ at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola concludes with Poulenc Organ Concerto, featuring soloist Renée Anne Louprette

Francis Poulenc is often remembered as a comic composer, whose entertaining, buoyant works captured the excitement and possibility of the Roaring Twenties. Though it was his high-spirited nature that defined Poulenc when he first gained public notice, personal tragedy would lead the composer to a more reflective space that inspired a renewed interest in Catholicism and the creation of liturgical works. Sacred Music in a Sacred Space (SMSS) explores how the composer embraced and comingled these sources of inspiration in Poulenc Gloria & Organ Concerto at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola (980 Park Avenue) on Wednesday, May 23, 2018 at 8pm. Repertoire includes Mass in G Major, the Organ Concerto, and Gloria. Tickets are $25-$80; purchase at www.smssconcerts.org or call 212-288-2520.

This performance concludes Sacred Music in a Sacred Space's 17-18 Season and concurrent 25th anniversary celebration of its impressive N.P. Mander Organ, featuring the sublime musicality of organist Renée Anne Louprette, recently commended in the New York Times for an "excellent" recital performed on this very instrument, where, "One virtuosic run follow[ed] another, perhaps best typified by finger-busting scurryings gathering speed along a single keyboard, soon countered by deft clambering on the pedals." In addition, the sanctuary will be filled with the lush, joyous sounds of soprano Wendy Baker, the Choir and Orchestra of St. Ignatius Loyola, as well as the Parish Community Choir. SMSS Artistic Director and Director of Music Ministries at St. Ignatius Loyola K. Scott Warren and Associate Director of Music Robert Reuter conduct.

This performance opens with Mass in G major, Poulenc's first liturgical composition. Scored for a cappella mixed chorus, solo women's voices are spotlighted-most prominently the solo soprano at the beginning of the Agnus Dei, sung by Sarah Griffiths. The composer's "rough and direct style" takes the form of widely disjunct choral lines that lend a vigorous, dancing character to the music.

This flows into Poulenc's Organ Concerto featuring soloist Renée Anne Louprette. Though it is a secular work, its vocabulary is allied to the "spiritual" side of Poulenc's creative persona-the organ providing a logical bridge because of its elemental attachment to the church.

Poulenc's Gloria concludes the concert featuring soprano soloist Wendy Baker and brings the program full-circle. This and the Mass in G major share inspiration from artist Benozzo Gozzoli's angel frescoes, painted ca. 1460 in the Chapel of the Magi of the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence. Premiered by the Boston Symphony, the piece's cheeky reference to an angel sticking out its tongue-something Poulenc swore he saw in Gozzoli's frescoes-caused a stir. The composer divides the liturgical text of the Gloria into six sections, organized in pairs. The second and fourth movements reveal Poulenc in his lighthearted mood, while the third and fifth are pious in their bearing. These are bookended by the first and sixth movements, creating what the composer described as "a large choral symphony."

Hailed by The New York Times as "splendid," and "one of New York's finest organists," Renée Anne Louprette has established an international career as organ recitalist, accompanist, conductor, and teacher. She is University Organist and Coordinator of the Organ Department at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, and a former member of the organ faculty of the Manhattan School of Music, The Hartt School of the University of Hartford, and the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University. Renée Anne Louprette was appointed Associate Director of Music and Organist of the Unitarian Church of All Souls in New York City in 2015. She has previously served as Director of Music at the Church of Notre Dame, Organist and Associate Director of Music and the Arts at Trinity Wall Street, and Associate Director of Music at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola. An active freelance keyboardist, Ms. Louprette has performed with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Voices of Ascension, Clarion Music Society, American Symphony Orchestra, The Dessoff Choirs, New York Choral Society, Oratorio Society of New York, and Piffaro. In New York City she has appeared in Carnegie, Zankel, Avery Fisher, Alice Tully and Merkin Halls, and Miller Theatre of Columbia University. In February 2015, she collaborated with the Los Angeles Dance Project in a performance at Verizon Hall of the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. Renée Anne Louprette has performed throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, including Westminster Abbey and the Temple Church in London, St. Giles Cathedral Edinburgh and Dunblane Cathedral (Scotland), Galway Cathedral and Dún Laoghaire (Ireland). Her recording of the "Great Eighteen Chorales" of J. S. Bach on the Metzler Organ in the chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge, England, was named a classical music Critics' Choice 2014 by The New York Times.

Wendy Baker, soprano, has performed predominantly in the operatic and oratorio repertories, recently having had success singing works as wide-ranging as Bach, Mozart and Poulenc. She has a Master in Music Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music and she obtained a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance (cum laude) from Clayton State College. Ms. Baker has been sought out for the soprano solos in the Poulenc Gloria, Vivaldi Gloria, Faure Requiem, Rutter Requiem, Haydn's Stabat Mater, and Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music. In 2006, she sang the World Premiere of Laura Karpman's Heebie Jeebies, commissioned by the Julliard Choral Union, at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Ms. Baker has sung the roles of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Suor Angelica in Suor Angelica, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, Giuletta in I Capuletti e I Montecchi, Gilda in Rigoletto, Madame Heartthrob in The Impresario, and Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro. She has performed with the Atlanta Opera, Atlanta Savoyards, Regina Opera, and Caramoor and Anchorage Opera Studio Theatre, Young Artists Programs.

Hailed by the New York Times as "a finely polished, stylistically nimble ensemble," the Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola is comprised of New York's finest professional choral singers. The Choir's "tremendous expressive and dynamic range" and "remarkable vocal discipline and finesse" (the New York Times) is featured in the Sacred Music in a Sacred Space concert series, now in its 27th season. Each member is a soloist in his or her own right in a variety of genres including early music, opera, oratorio and contemporary repertoire. The core group of 20 members sings a demanding schedule of weekly parish worship services in a wide range of repertoire, with particular emphasis on new works, the sacred Renaissance repertoire, and Gregorian chant. The Choir may be heard on recordings for the MSR Classics and AMDG labels. In March 2006, the Choir was invited as the headline chorus at the Southwestern American Choral Directors Association convention in St. Louis, Missouri. In April 2009, the Choir performed in the opening festival of radio station WNYC's new Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, on a concert bill with René Pape, John Zorn, Ute Lemper, and Nico Muhly. The Orchestra of St. Ignatius Loyola, lauded by the New York Times for their "lean, taut and fiery playing," participates in the Sacred Music in a Sacred Space concert series and enhances a number of parish worship services throughout the year. Members are drawn from among New York City's most talented and stylistically versatile freelance musicians and have often been heard in the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the orchestras of the New York City Opera and New York City Ballet, and various period-instrument orchestras.

Since 2011, St. Ignatius Loyola Director of Music Ministries K. Scott Warren has led a dynamic music team consisting of over 150 individuals, professional and volunteer, in providing music at approximately 400 liturgies annually. He is the principal conductor of the 20-voice professional Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola, which sings a demanding schedule of services throughout the year, with repertoire spanning Gregorian chant to 21st-century masterpieces. The choir, along with the Orchestra of St. Ignatius Loyola, form the backbone of the parish's critically acclaimed concert series, Sacred Music in a Sacred Space, whose recent performances have been lauded by the New York Times as "stirring... positively thrilling" and "broad, wide-ranging, and powerful." In addition to the vast choral spectrum presented at St. Ignatius, Mr. Warren presides over the four manual, 91-rank N. P. Mander Organ, the largest mechanical action organ in the New York metro area, and an instrument of international stature.

Sacred Music in a Sacred Space at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in New York City is committed to presenting the finest sacred choral and organ repertoire spanning over 1,000 years of music history. Known for their artistic excellence, the renowned Choir and Orchestra of St. Ignatius Loyola present exhilarating performances of large-scale choral masterpieces as well as more intimate and reflective settings by lesser-known composers. Internationally acclaimed organists may also frequently be heard on the Church's magnificent N.P. Mander Pipe Organ, the largest tracker organ in New York City.