| The Choir of Saint Thomas Church produces a polished, powerful and balanced sound that for sacred music is about the best that New York has to offer.
The New York Times |
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| Concerts at Saint Thomas announces its 2018-19 season, the third with Organist and Director of Music, Daniel Hyde. The season welcomes the inauguration of the new Miller-Scott Organ, one of the most significant instruments of its type in the country, which will be showcased in both solo and ensemble performances throughout the year.
The season opens on October 5, with a solo organ recital by Director of Music, Daniel Hyde, introducing this important new instrument with a virtuosic program exploring the organ’s full capabilities and qualities. The organ is featured on five additional recitals given throughout the 2018-19 season.
On October 18, the acclaimed Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys joins forces with Orchestra of St. Luke’s and organist Benjamin Sheen for the Miller-Scott Organ’s orchestral debut in two milestones of the concerto repertoire, Poulenc’s Concerto en Sol mineur and Barber’s Toccata Festiva, as well as Parry’s iconic setting of Milton’s Blest Pair of Sirens, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms (in celebration of Bernstein’s centennial year), and Janáček’s Otčenáš.
Handel’s timeless Messiah returns to mark the Christmas season on December 4 and 6 as the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys and New York Baroque Incorporated present what The New York Times calls “one of the most prominent and special [Messiahs] of the city.” On December 13, the Boys of the Saint Thomas Choir join with harpist Sara Cutler for a modern Christmas tradition, Benjamin Britten’s haunting A Ceremony of Carols, along with other holiday works.
On December 22 the newly inaugurated Miller-Scott Organ returns to center stage with a performance of Olivier Messiaen’s La Nativité du Seigneur, a 1935 cycle of nine mystical and experimental meditations on the birth of Christ and the Christmas story by one of the twentieth century’s most distinctive and devout composers, and one of the most significant contributors to the organ repertoire since Bach.
On April 1 the renowned Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, will return to perform at Saint Thomas. The Times of London said about the group: “I would happily sit in King’s College Chapel listening to [them] sing for the rest of my days,” and for this performance, the men and boys of King’s College will be performing under the baton of Director of Music, Stephen Cleobury, for the last time, on his farewell tour before retirement. Concerts at Saint Thomas is honored to salute and thank Stephen for 37 years of singular music making.
The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys reflect upon the Lenten season with three concerts in April. On April 11, they will be joined by New York Baroque Incorporated in a performance of Bach’s monumental St. John Passion. On April 15 and 16, two organ-centered Musical Meditations will begin Holy Week with two great works for Passiontide, Marcel Dupré’s Symphonie-Passion, Op. 23 (played by Benjamin Sheen), and Paul de Maleingreau’s Symphonie de la Passion, Op. 20 (played by Daniel Hyde). Both works, drawing heavily on Gregorian plainchant, are powerful musical depictions of the life of Christ and the Passion, and will show the full expressive capabilities of the new Miller-Scott Organ.
Closing out the season on May 9 with Now is the Month of Maying, at a special early start time, New York Baroque Incorporated will present Vivaldi’s “Spring” from The Four Seasons, Handel’s Organ Concerto in B flat, Albinoni’s famed Adagio for Strings, and Bach’s fifth Brandenburg Concerto. This concert will showcase Saint Thomas’ recently acquired new harpsichord, celebrating these beloved pillars of the early music repertoire. |
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OCTOBER 5, 2018 | FRIDAY at 7:00 PM
THE IRENE D. AND WILLIAM R. MILLER CHANCEL ORGAN IN MEMORY OF JOHN SCOTT DEDICATION RECITAL
Grand Organ Series I
Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue at West 53rd Street
Daniel Hyde, organ
Additional Organ Recitals:
December 22, 2018 | Grand Organ Series II: Daniel Hyde
January 19, 2019 | Grand Organ Series III: Benjamin Sheen
February 16, 2019 | Grand Organ Series IV: Katelyn Emerson
March 23, 2019 | Grand Organ Series V: Chelsea Chen
May 18, 2019 | Grand Organ Series VI: Ken Cowan
OCTOBER 18, 2018 | THURSDAY at 7:30 PM
PERRY, JANÁČEK, BERNSTEIN, POULENC, AND BARBER
Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue at West 53rd Street
The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys
Orchestra of St. Luke’s
Benjamin Sheen, organ
Sara Cutler, harp
Hyesang Park, soprano
Daniel Hyde, conductor
DECEMBER 4 & 6, 2018 | TUESDAY & THURSDAY at 7:30 PM
HANDEL: MESSIAH
Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue at West 53rd Street
The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys
New York Baroque Incorporated
Elizabeth Weisberg, soprano
Meg Bragle, mezzo-soprano
Thomas Cooley, tenor
Alexander Dobson, bass
Daniel Hyde, conductor
DECEMBER 13, 2018 | THURSDAY at 5:30 PM
BRITTEN: A CEREMONY OF CAROLS
Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue at West 53rd Street
The Boys of the Saint Thomas Choir
Sara Cutler, harp
Daniel Hyde, conductor
DECEMBER 22, 2018 | SATURDAY at 3:00 PM
MESSIAEN: LA NATIVITÉ DU SEIGNEUR
Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue at West 53rd Street
Daniel Hyde, organ
APRIL 1, 2019 | MONDAY at 7:30 PM
THE CHOIR OF KING’S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue at West 53rd Street
Stephen Cleobury, Director of Music
APRIL 11, 2019 | THURSDAY at 7:30 PM
BACH: ST. JOHN PASSION
Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue at West 53rd Street
The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys
New York Baroque Incorporated
Dann Coakwell, evangelist
Sarah Brailey, soprano
Jay Carter, alto
Mark Bleeke, tenor
Andrew Padgett, bass
Daniel Hyde, conductor
APRIL 15, 2019 | MONDAY at 6:45 PM
MUSICAL MEDITATIONS: DUPRÉ
Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue at West 53rd Street
Benjamin Sheen, organ
APRIL 16, 2019 | MONDAY at 6:45 PM
MUSICAL MEDITATIONS: MALEINGREAU
Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue at West 53rd Street
Daniel Hyde, organ
MAY 9, 2019 | THURSDAY at 6:00 PM
NOW IS THE MONTH OF MAYING
Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue at West 53rd Street
New York Baroque Incorporated
Wen Yang, artistic director
Daniel Hyde, conductor |
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| All concerts take place at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue at One West 53rd Street.
Tickets may be purchased at www.saintthomaschurch.org, by calling the Concerts Office at (212) 664-9360, by email at [email protected] or in person at the Concerts Office at One West 53rd Street at Fifth Avenue (enter through the Parish House). |
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| About Daniel Hyde
Born in the UK, Daniel Hyde began his education as a chorister at Durham Cathedral and later continued his studies at Oakham School. While at school he was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists at the age of 17, and won the organ scholarship to King’s College, Cambridge. During his time at Cambridge University, he served under Dr. Stephen Cleobury, performed worldwide with the renowned King’s College Choir and studied the organ with Dame Gillian Weir and Nicolas Kynaston. Upon graduation with First Class Honors in Music, he was appointed as Director of Music at Jesus College, Cambridge, serving five very happy years developing the College’s music program consisting of a choir of men and boys and a mixed-voiced choir. From 2009 until 2016, he held the post of Informator Choristarum at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was also an Associate Professor in the University’s Faculty of Music. In September 2016 he took up the post of Organist and Director of Music at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, New York.
Alongside his roles in Oxford and Cambridge, Daniel is in increasing demand as a choral and orchestral conductor, and has worked with the London Bach Choir, the Britten Sinfonia, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and the City of London Sinfonia. Daniel’s broad-ranging discography can be found on the Opus Arte, Linn, Naxos and EMI labels.
As an organist, Daniel has performed across the UK and the world. Recital engagements have taken him to the USA, Vienna, Finland, Germany, Holland and also Australia, where he has performed at all the major venues including the Sydney Opera House and Adelaide Town Hall. He has been a concerto soloist with the BBC Philharmonic, and with the Britten Sinfonia he has performed the Poulenc Concerto a number of times, and has recorded the Hindemith Concerto to great critical acclaim. He was awarded Second Prize and the Audience Prize in the Royal College of Organists Performer of the Year 2002 competition. A regular accompanist to the BBC Singers on Radio Three, he has appeared at the BBC Proms on numerous occasions, and he made his solo debut there in 2010, performing Bach’s Canonic Variations at the organ of the Royal Albert Hall. In the 2014/15 season, he performed the complete organ works of J S Bach on the new Dobson organ in Merton College, Oxford. As an ensemble player he has appeared with Phantasm, the Britten Sinfonia, Aurora Orchestra, Gabrieli Consort, and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, amongst others. www.danielhyde.co.uk
About The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys
The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys is considered by many to be the leading ensemble in the Anglican choral tradition in the United States. The choir performs regularly with the period instrument ensemble New York Baroque Incorporated, or with Orchestra of St. Luke’s as part of its own concert series. Its primary raison d’être, however, is to provide music for five choral services each week. Live webcasts of all choral services and further information including recordings of the choir may be found at www.SaintThomasChurch.org.
Supplementing its choral services and concert series over the past three decades, the choir has toured throughout the U.S. and Europe with performances at Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, King’s College, Cambridge, Windsor, Edinburgh, St. Albans, and the Aldeburgh Festival. In 2004, the choir toured Italy, and performed for a Papal Mass at the Vatican. During 2007, the choir performed Bach’s St. Matthew Passion for the opening concert of the Mexico Festival in Mexico City as well as at Saint Thomas Church. In February 2012, the Boys of the choir traveled to Dresden to give the premiere of Lera Auerbach’s Dresden Requiem with the Dresden Staatskapelle in the Frauenkirche and Semper Oper. Later in 2012, the choir was invited to perform in the Thomaskirche at the Leipzig BachFest, a highlight of their June 2012 tour to Germany and Copenhagen.
In addition to the annual performances of Handel’s Messiah, concerts at Saint Thomas have included Requiems by Fauré, Brahms, Mozart, Duruflé and Howells; Bach’s Passions and Mass in B Minor; the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610; a Henry Purcell anniversary concert; Rachmaninoff Vespers; the U.S. premiere of John Tavener’s Mass; a concert of American composers featuring works by Bernstein and Copland and a composition by Saint Thomas Choir School Alumnus, Daniel Castellanos; the world premiere of Scott Eyerly’s Spires, and a concert of music by Benjamin Britten.
The Men of the Saint Thomas Choir are professional singers; the Boy choristers attend Saint Thomas Choir School. Founded in 1919, it is the only church-related boarding choir school in the U.S., and one of only a few choir schools remaining in the world. The Choir School offers a challenging pre-preparatory curriculum, interscholastic sports, and musical training for boys in grades three through eight. The Choir School is committed to training and educating talented musicians without regard to religious, economic, or social background. Choristers are sought from all regions of the country. Details of admissions procedures and audition requirements are available at www.ChoirSchool.org. |
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| Voices of New York’s Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys | The New Yorker |
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