Sir Karl Jenkins To Kick Off DCINY 2024 Season With 80th Birthday Bash At Carnegie Hall

On Monday, January 15, 2024, Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) will present The Best of Sir Karl Jenkins, DCINY's 2024 season kick-off performance celebrating the renowned Welsh composer's 80th Birthday. The concert will be conducted by DCINY's own Artistic Director, Dr. Jonathan Griffith, and will feature singers from around the world for a once-in-a-lifetime performance opportunity. The monumental event will bring this new collection of Sir Karl's most beloved pieces to life on stage in the Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall. Longtime WQXR host, Jeff Spurgeon, will serve as emcee. 

Sir Karl Jenkins is DCINY's original, and longest-performing composer-in-residence. “We are proud to be kicking off next year's season celebrating his 80th year,” says DCINY Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Jonathan Griffith, who co-founded the company with General Director Iris Derke. “Jenkins is one of the most frequently performed composers in the world, and this concert will be his 17th performance with us. I am particularly honored to conduct his work for this event.”

One act will feature works from ‘Songs of Sanctuary' (Adiemus, Kayama, Hymn), ‘Requiem” (Dies Irae) and ‘Stabat Mater ‘And the Mother Did Weep, Virgo Virginum, Ave Verum, Paradisi Gloria), and a second act will feature The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace. Now nearly 25 years old, this popular composition is one of Sir Karl's–and the world's–most performed compositions.

DCINY conducted extensive auditions for singing and choral groups for Sir Jenkins' milestone concert celebration, welcoming inquiries from schools and communities around the world. Several of the selected groups have participated in Sir Jenkins' concerts over the past 15 years, including: VOENA (Annabelle Marie, Director; CA); Pennsbury High School (James Moyer, Director; PA); Chor Capriccio; and Birgit Ensminger-Busse, Director; Germany).

Along with Chor Capriccio, performers for The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace include: KlangKunst Chor Iffeldorf (Andrea Fessmann, Director, Germany); Grand Union Community Choir (Susan Jane Cox, Director; UK); The Village Singers (Rachel McCorry, Director; UK); Meininger Kantorei (The Meiningen Lutheran Church Choir) (Sebastian Fuhrmann, Director; Germany); Hochschulchor Sankt Georgen, Frankfurt/Collegium Vocale Bad Homburg (Dr. Helmut Föller, Director; Germany); Singgemeinschaft Salzkotten e.V. (Thomas Rimpel, Director; Germany);  Karl-Rehbein School Choir (Frank Hagelstange, Director; Germany); and Johannes Brahms Chor Hamburg (Kazuo Kanemaki, Director; Germany).

Joining VOENA and Pennsbury Choirs in other acts throughout the evening will be: Lutherkantorei Bad Harzburg (Karsten Krüger, Director; Germany); The Lorilee Singers (Lorilee Bajema, Director; CA); Sheppard Academy of Vocal Arts (Bettina Sheppard, Director; NY); and Mosaïque Musicale Malouine (Isabelle Ginet Besnard, Director; France).

Sir Karl Jenkins has famously and comically received global media attention after he was suspected of being Meghan Markle in disguise at the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, which he attended to witness the crowning and hear the coronation orchestra perform his original work, Tros y Garreg. “It was a piece I was commissioned to compose almost two decades ago, when the King was the Prince of Wales” Jenkins said. He was recently included in the New York Times list: Styles's 71 Most Stylish People in 2023.   

As part of the celebratory event, DCINY will be presenting the DCINY Educator Laureate award to James Moyer, who is a Director and serves as a Program Consultant for the organization. The DCINY Educator Laureate Award acknowledges an individual's contribution to music education. It recognizes a personal commitment to instilling a life-long love of making music. A native of Easton, Pennsylvania, Mr. Moyer is a veteran teacher of 37 years and is in his 25th year as Director of Choral Activities at Pennsbury High School. Choirs under Mr. Moyer's direction have performed throughout the United States and across Europe. Past recipients of the award are Dr. Donald D. Donaldson, professor emeritus of Asbury College and former choral director at Shawnee Mission South High School and chair of the music department at Kansas Wesleyan University, and Dr. Eph Ehly, formerly the Director of Choral Studies at the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

For more information on DCINY's unforgettable 2024 season opener with Sir Karl Jenkins, click here.

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