Kent Tritle is Director of Cathedral Music and Organist at New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the largest cathedral in the world; Music Director of the Oratorio Society of New York, the acclaimed 200-voice volunteer chorus; and Music Director of Musica Sacra, New York's longest continuously performing professional chorus. The 2018-19 season of “New York's choral conducting superstar” (Time Out New York) is marked by the expansion of the Oratorio Society's Carnegie Hall season from three to four concerts, which will include Kullervo, the rarely-performed symphonic poem by Sibelius, Szymanowski's Stabat Mater, and Verdi's Requiem.
German-born conductor Christian Reif, described as "the complete package" by the San Francisco Chronicle, makes his New York conducting debut on Thursday, August 2, 2018 at 7:30 pm at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, part of Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival. A former conducting student of Alan Gilbert at The Juilliard School, Reif leads the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) in a program celebrating the fusion of piano and technology, centered around John Adams's Grand Pianola Music. The concert also includes Courtney Bryan's Songs of Laughing, Smiling, and Crying and a newly revised version of George Lewis's epic chamber piece Voyager using artificial intelligence technology.
Ocean Grove's ever-popular 'Summer Stars Classical Series' kicks off on Thursday, July 5, 2018 with the renowned IMPERIAL BRASS, the NJ-based 28-piece brass ensemble founded in 1991 by Rutgers University alumni. IMPERIAL BRASS performs at 7:30 pm in the Great Auditorium located at Pilgrim and Ocean Pathways in Ocean Grove, NJ. Tickets are $17.00 (plus applicable fees). All facilities are handicapped accessible. Order tickets by phone 800-590-4064 or online at www.oceangrove.org.
Treasures of New York: The Juilliard School explores the rich history and legacy of the world's most prestigious performing arts conservatory, often referred to as simply Juilliard, from its creation to its move to Lincoln Center.
The New York Philharmonic announces Foreign Bodies, a one-night-only multidisciplinary event conducted and hosted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, concluding his tenure as The Marie-Jos e Kravis Composer-in-Residence. The concert, Friday, June 8, 2018, at 8:00 p.m., will feature Esa-Pekka Salonen's Foreign Bodies, accompanied by the World Premiere of a live video installation by Tal Rosner; Dan el Bjarnason's Violin Concerto, with Pekka Kuusisto in his New York Philharmonic debut; and Obsidian Tear, a dance work choreographed by Wayne McGregor performed by members of the Boston Ballet (Philharmonic debut) and set to Mr. Salonen's Nyx and Lachen verlernt. Foreign Bodies will be casual and multi-sensory; drinks and conversation will flow as attendees mingle with the performers, who will give additional impromptu performances throughout the event.
Decca Gold is proud to announce the digital release of Sing Happy, the live performance of the New York Philharmonic's 2018 Spring Gala starring Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald, and conducted by Andy Einhorn. Recorded live on May 1 at David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, the recording represents McDonald's first collaboration with Decca Gold - as well as her first solo recording with full orchestra.
Pianist Makoto Ozone, hailed internationally for both his jazz and classical performances, takes the stage at Japan Society on Thursday, June 7 (7:30 pm). It will be his first NYC solo concert in more than 30 years, following a 1985 recital at Town Hall. Ozone will offer an upbeat, freewheeling program of selections from his wide-ranging repertoire, spanning Gershwin and Bernstein, Piazzolla and Ravel.
On Sunday, May 27, 2018 at 4:00pm, the pioneering International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) presents a program of works by composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir highlighting her unorthodox use of the piano. ICE pianist Cory Smythe, a champion and commissioner of Anna's solo music, is in the center of National Sawdust's stage, circled by the audience, with the audience encircled by ICE musicians, immersed in the music. Conductor Steven Schick, a longtime ICE collaborator, leads the ensemble. This performance is part of ICE's year long participation as a National Sawdust 2017-18 Artists-in-Residence. This project is supported by Nokia Bell Labs Experiments in Art and Technology program.
Decca Gold is proud to announce the forthcoming release of Sing Happy, the live performance of the New York Philharmonic's 2018 Spring Gala starring Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald. Recorded live on May 1 at David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, the recording represents McDonald's first collaboration with Decca Gold - as well as her first solo recording with full orchestra.
Concertmaster Frank Huang will lead the New York Philharmonic from his chair as Concertmaster in a program spotlighting the Orchestra's string section. The concerts will feature Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3, with Principal Associate Concertmaster Sheryl Staples as soloist; Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik; and Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings, and take place on Thursday, May 31, 2018, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, June 1 at 11:00 a.m.; Saturday, June 2 at 8:00 p.m.; Tuesday, June 5 at 7:30 p.m.; and Wednesday, June 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Conductor Jordan Randall Smith has recently been appointed to two new posts in the Baltimore area. Beginning April 2, Smith leads the choir, children's choir, and orchestra at Hunt's Church in Towson and will co-direct the church's new digital media department. In his blog, Jordan wrote, 'I am delighted to join the the staff of this special group of people as we look ahead to a range of new initiatives to expand our musical footprint and community impact.'
Writer Alex Borinsky reunites with the creative team behind Clubbed Thumb's Of Government - director Jeremy Bloom and composer Joe White - for this new piece by their inventive company Rady&Bloom. An arts collective gathers to celebrate their director's birthday; fueled by Moscow Mules, the partygoers sprawl across the apartment, decompressing from their ongoing rehearsal process. They speculate about the end of the world.
PREFORMANCES WITH ALLISON CHARNEY brings its inaugural season at Merkin Concert Hall, Kaufman Music Center to a close with a concert befitting a sonnet on William Shakespeare's Birthday, Monday April 23rd at 1PM.
Semyon Bychkov will return to the New York Philharmonic to conduct two weeks of programs, including the 50th anniversary of a Philharmonic commission, artist debuts, and symphonic cornerstones. In the first week, Mr. Bychkov will conduct Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1, with soloist Bertrand Chamayou in his Philharmonic debut; Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5; and Brahms's Tragic Overture, Thursday, May 17, 2018, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, May 18 at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, May 19 at 8:00 p.m.; and Tuesday, May 22 at 7:30 p.m.
Manfred Honeck will return to the New York Philharmonic to conduct Sibelius's Violin Concerto, with Nikolaj Znaider as soloist; Mr. Honeck's own arrangement of Dvorák's Rusalka Fantasy, orchestrated by Tomáš Ille; and selections from Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty, Thursday, May 3, 2018, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, May 4 at 11:00 a.m.; Saturday, May 5 at 8:00 p.m.; and Tuesday, May 8 at 7:30 p.m. The following week, Nikolaj Znaider will make his New York Philharmonic conducting debut leading Elgar's Cello Concerto, with Jian Wang in his subscription debut, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 1, Winter Dreams, Thursday, May 10, 2018, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, May 11 at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, May 12 at 8:00 p.m.
The GRAMMY Award-winning Brooklyn Youth Chorus presents Silent Voices: If You Listen, the second installment of its multimedia, multi-composer, and multi-year Silent Voices series of concert works with spoken word, conceived, produced and performed by Brooklyn Youth Chorus (April 27-28, at National Sawdust). Silent Voices: If You Listen builds on the success of Silent Voices' 2017 premiere at BAM's Howard Gilman Opera House. Here, eight composers, all women, collaborate with the choristers in amplifying the voices of the marginalized and confronting the challenges of division and categorization, racism, sexism, social and economic disparity, immigration, our environment, and threats to our understanding of truth. Commissioned composers for Silent Voices: If You Listen include Julia Adolphe, Olga Bell, Anna Clyne, Paola Prestini, Toshi Reagon, Shelley Washington, Bora Yoon, and Pulitzer winner Du Yun; the concert will also feature a work with guest artist Shaina Taub. Unifying this work is the distinctively versatile and beautiful sound of the rigorously-trained singers - a chorus of culturally and socioeconomically diverse New York City young people, ages 12-18 - joined by International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE). These are young voices set on resisting the socio-politically retrograde elements of the present in a move towards a more inclusive and compassionate vision of the future.
MasterVoices - dedicated to celebrating the power of the human voice through the art of musical storytelling - presents two performances of a new production of Orphic Moments, in conjunction with producers Anthony Roth Costanzo and Cath Brittan.
Electronic vs. orchestral music? Forget the 'vs.' The Young Musicians Foundation's Debut Chamber Orchestra (DCO), for the final concert of its 2017/18 season, will transcend the boundaries of these sonic landscapes by juxtaposing and combining the music of L.A.-based DJ, electronic musician and film director Flying Lotus alongside the works of Benjamin Britten and Igor Stravinsky.
The New York Choral Society (NYCHORAL) will hold its annual Spring Gala at New York's Metropolitan Club (1 E 60th St, New York, NY 10022) on Thursday evening, April 5, 2018, starting at 6:00 pm. The organization will honor renowned opera singer and recitalist Stephanie Blythe with the NYCHORAL Music Excellence Award for her contributions to the musical profession, as well as Sylvia R. Hoisington who is celebrating her 50th season with the chorus. Produced in partnership with the Richard Tucker Music Foundation, the evening's showcase performance will feature soprano Amanda Majeski and tenor Ben Bliss, both of whom will be participating in the Metropolitan Opera's production of Cosi fan tutte from March 15 to April 9, 2018. Members of the NYCHORAL Chamber Ensemble will also perform. The evening will feature a silent auction of unique items and experiences. The program is as follows:
