The Cathedral of St. John the Divine presents its ninth season of Great Music in a Great Space under the direction of Kent Tritle, Director of Cathedral Music and Organist. With choral and organ performances ranging from the U.S. premiere of Patrick Zimmerli’s Instrument of Destiny to the world premiere of Artist in Residence David Briggs’ Variations on Take the A Train, this season provides a diverse offering of classical, Romantic, and contemporary music inside the Cathedral’s grand space, located at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue (at 112th Street) in Harlem, NY.
The season begins with Musica Sacra’s Music for a Gothic Space: Machaut, Josquin, and Gregorian Chant on October 21. The Oratorio Society of New York joins the Cathedral on November 5 with a performance of works by Rachmaninoff and Duruflé. On November 20, the Cathedral Choir with piano, percussion and vocal soloists present the U.S. premiere of Instrument of Destiny, an oratorio celebrating the life of WWI soldier and poet Alan Seeger (uncle of folksinger Pete Seeger).
The month of December sees the return of two annual Cathedral traditions. The Cathedral Christmas Concert, on December 14, features works of Handel, Gabrieli, and Vaughan Williams. On December 31, join us for the New Year’s Eve Concert for Peace with special guests and Cathedral Artists in Residence.
In February 2020, the Cathedral welcomes back world music ensemble Rose of the Compass, who will collaborate with the Cathedral Choir on This Fragile Earth, a program marking the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Musica Sacra returns with a second concert on March 18, featuring compositions by Bach, Brahms, Bruckner, and Rheinberger. On March 31, the Cathedral Choir presents J. S. Bach’s monumental St. John Passion in the Cathedral’s Gothic grandeur.
The Great Organ series features two virtuoso recitals from Artist in Residence David Briggs, who will give the world premiere of his Variations on Take the A Train in October. Briggs will also present two Sunday evening performances on October 20 and February 23, offered free to the public following Sunday Evensong. Director of Music Kent Tritle, organist of the New York Philharmonic, will perform a concert of works by Bach, Bruhns, and Vierne on January 28, and in April, Associate Music Director and Organist Raymond Nagem closes the season with a recital of organ music by women composers, including Clara Schumann, Florence Price, and Nadia Boulanger.
Students are admitted free to select performances with valid school ID. Visit the Cathedral’s website for more information about the 2019-20 season of Great Music in a Great Space.
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, Tritle is in his sixth
season as Director of Cathedral Music and Organist at New York’s Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine. He is also Music Director of the Oratorio Society of New York and of Musica Sacra. He is Director of Choral Activities and Chair of the Organ Department at the Manhattan School of Music and on the graduate faculty of The Juilliard School. He is organist of the New York Philharmonic and the American Symphony Orchestra.
Tritle holds graduate and undergraduate degrees from the Juilliard School in organ performance and choral conducting. He has been featured on ABC World News Tonight, National Public Radio, and Minnesota Public Radio, as well as in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine is the Cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. It is chartered as a house of prayer for all people and a unifying center of intellectual light and leadership.
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People from many faiths and communities worship together in services held more than 30 times a week; the soup kitchen serves roughly 25,000 meals annually; social service outreach has an increasingly varied roster of programs; the distinguished Cathedral School prepares young students to be future leaders; Advancing the Community of Tomorrow, the renowned preschool, afterschool and summer program, offers diverse educational and nurturing experiences; the outstanding Textile Conservation Lab preserves world treasures; concerts, exhibitions, performances and civic gatherings allow conversation, celebration, reflection and remembrance—such is the joyfully busy life of this beloved and venerated Cathedral.
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