Announcing the 2015-16 Season

 

  • Mahler's "Symphony of a Thousand" with Oratorio Society of New York and Manhattan School of Music at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine
  • World Premiere of Evan Fein's Deborah with Musica Sacra and New York Premiere of Marjorie Merryman's Jonah with Oratorio Society of New York
  • Recording Release and Performance of "Four Quarters of Jerusalem" by the Cathedral Choir of St. John the Divine and Rose of the Compass
  • Tallis's Spem in Alium, Strauss's Deutsche Motette with Musica Sacra
  • Mozart Arrangement of Handel's Messiah with Oratorio Society of New York
  • Residency at Sibelius Academy in Helsinki


You've come to expect no less! Kent's 2015-16 season encompasses a range of music from the Renaissance landmark Spem in Alium by Thomas Tallis, to Mahler's massive "Symphony of a Thousand," to three works for chorus and orchestra written within the past 20 years. And these performances by his four organizations (sometimes in combination with one another) take place in a range of esteemed locations; from his home base of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights, to Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.

 

Some of you may have been there when in March of this year, in an event emblematic of his multiple roles in New York's choral life, Kent led a sweeping, sold-out performance of Verdi's Requiem by the combined forces (numbering more than 350) of the Oratorio Society of New York and the Manhattan School of Music Symphonic Chorus and Orchestra at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Raising the bar for the most ambitious event yet on his Great Music in a Great Space series at the Cathedral, in 2016 Kent will lead the same groups in Mahler's Symphony No. 8, "Symphony of a Thousand," a work for eight soloists, double choir, children's choir, orchestra, and organ; in all, approximately 400-plus performers.

 

On the other end of the intimacy scale is "Four Quarters of Jerusalem," a concert and new recording by Kent leading the Cathedral Choir of St. John the Divine and early/world ensemble Rose of the Compass performing music associated with the Holy Land. In the middle is a program showcasing the choral intricacy of Tallis's 40-part motet Spem in Alium and Strauss's 20-part Deutsche Motette with Musica Sacra, in a look back to the ensemble's acclaimed 1991 RCA recording Songs of the Divine, which included these key masterworks.

 

And in the realm of the new: Tritle leads the world premiere of Evan Fein's Deborah with Musica Sacra, the New York premiere of Marjorie Merryman's Jonah with the Oratorio Society of New York, and the 2002 Requiem "Oratio Spei" by Juraj Filas - the Prague Symphony recording of which he conducted in 2013 - also with the Oratorio Society. He also prepares the Manhattan School of Music Chamber Choir for its performances of Tan Dun's Water Passion After St. Matthew led by the composer at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

 

Some of these highlights are noted below, and some tickets are on sale now! Click here for the full 2015-16 schedule, and here to read the press release about Kent's season.

 

And Kent's most recent CD, Eternal Reflections, choral music of Robert Paterson with Musica Sacra, has received a rave review from Gramophone: "As shaped by Music Director Kent Tritle, the myriad hues, lyricism and nobility in Paterson's music emerge in all their splendour. The choristers of Musica Sacra lift their lines from the page, bringing passionate and lucid life to the varied challenges." It's available both on Amazon and iTunes!

 

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Highlights of the 2015-16 Season

 

Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 7:30 PM

Great Music in a Great Space at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine

St. James Chapel

CATHEDRAL CHOIR OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE

ROSE OF THE COMPASS

     Nina Stern, director

Kent Tritle, conductor

 

"Four Quarters of Jerusalem"

Celebrating the simultaneous release of a recording of the concert, made earlier this year, by the Pro Organo label, the program features choral settings of Sufi songs, Coptic chant and Renaissance works relating to the Holy Land, as well as joyous dance music of Armenian, Sephardic, and Islamic cultures.

 


 

Wednesday, October 21, 2015, 7:30 PM

Cathedral of St. John the Divine

MUSICA SACRA 

Kent Tritle, conductor

 

TALLIS  Spem in Alium

STRAUSS  Deutsche Motette

BRUCKNER  Os Justi

ALICE PARKER  An American Kedusha

ROBERT CONVERY  The Lamb

RANDALL THOMPSON  Alleluia

 


 

Monday, November 2, 2015, 8 PM

Carnegie Hall

ORATORIO SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 

Kent Tritle, conductor

Susanna Phillips, soprano

Matthew Plenk, tenor

John Michael Moore, baritone

 

FILAS  Requiem "Oratio Spei" (2002)

 


 

Wednesday, November 18, 2015, 7:30 PM

Great Music in a Great Space at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine

KENT TRITLE, Organ

 

PAULUS  Tryptich

DURUFL�  Prelude and Fugue "sur le nom d'Alain"

FRANCK  Cantabile

WIDOR  Symphony No. 7 in A Minor, Op. 42, No. 3

 

 


 

Monday, December 21, 2015, 8 PM

Carnegie Hall

ORATORIO SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 

Kent Tritle, conductor

Emalie Savoy, soprano

Sara Murphy, mezzo-soprano

Nicholas Phan, tenor

Matt Boehler, bass

 

HANDEL  Messiah (arrangement by Mozart)

 


 

Tuesday, December 22, 2015, 7:30 PM

Carnegie Hall

MUSICA SACRA 

Kent Tritle, conductor

Kathryn Lewek, soprano

Christopher Ainslie, countertenor

Mingjie Lie, tenor

Matt Boehler, bass

 

HANDEL  Messiah

 


 

Thursday, February 25, 2016, 7:30 PM

Great Music in a Great Space at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine

MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC SYMPHONIC CHORUS AND ORCHESTRA

ORATORIO SOCIETY OF NEW YORK

Kent Tritle, conductor

Sara Murphy, mezzo-soprano

Adam Lau, bass

Cathedral Choristers of St. John the Divine

 

MAHLER  Symphony No. 8, "Symphony of a Thousand"

 

(In a related event, organist David Briggs presents the world premiere of his organ transcription of Mahler's Symphony No. 8 on the Cathedral's "Great Organ" recital series on Thursday, April 7, 2016)

 


 

Wednesday, March 9, 2016, 7:30 PM

Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center

MUSICA SACRA 

Kent Tritle, conductor

(Soprano to be announced)

Helen Karloski, mezzo-soprano

Marc Day, tenor

Kevin Deas, bass

 

EVAN FEIN  Deborah (World Premiere)

MOZART  Solemn Vespers, K.339

 


 

Tuesday, March 15, 2016, 7:30 PM

Great Music in a Great Space at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine

CATHEDRAL CHOIR AND ORCHESTRA OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE

Kent Tritle, conductor

Amy Justman & Michele Kennedy, sopranos

Katie Geissinger & Kirsten Sollek, mezzo-sopranos

Michael Steinberger & Marc Day, tenors

Malcolm J. Merriweather & Peter Stewart, baritones

 

J.S. BACH  Cantata No. 4, "Christ lag in Todesbanden"

SCH�TZ  Musikalische Exequien

VIVALDI  Stabat Mater

 


 

Monday, April 25, 2016, 7:30 PM

Great Music in a Great Space at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine

 
GODSPELL

Kent Tritle, conductor

Julia Whitworth, director

 

 


 

Monday, May 9, 2016, 8 PM

Carnegie Hall

ORATORIO SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 

Kent Tritle, conductor

Rachel Rosales, soprano

Rachel Calloway, mezzo-soprano

John Matthew Myers, tenor

Philip Cutlip, baritone

 

MERRYMAN Jonah (New York Premiere)

HAYDN Nelson Mass - Missa in Angustiis

 

About Kent Tritle
  
Kent Tritle is one of America's leading choral conductors. Called "the brightest star in New York's choral music world" by The New York Times, he is Director of Cathedral Music and Organist at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City; Music Director of the Oratorio Society of New York, the acclaimed 200-voice volunteer chorus; and Music Director of Musica Sacra, the longest continuously performing professional chorus in New York City. In addition, Kent is Director of Choral Activities at the Manhattan School of Music and is a member of the graduate faculty of The Juilliard School. An acclaimed organ virtuoso, he is also the organist of the New York Philharmonic.

 

For more information, visit www.kenttritle.com.