New York Choral Society kicks off new season on a high note
A gala of special guests and a world premiere showcases the best of choral music.
The New York Choral Society, New York’s pioneering symphonic chorus that explores unique collaboration and dynamic repertory, celebrates their virtual Spring season on a high note on May 11 with a Gala of special musical guests and the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s Invitation to Love With two events streaming back-to-back, the evening invites friends and supporters to celebrate new works and the resilience of local and multi-disciplinary artists, while also raising funds to sustain their mission for next season and beyond.
A 2020-2021 season that has been hallmarked by the production of collaborative video performances of reimagined and socially relevant a cappella choral music, NYCHORAL will host Celebrating Our Voices a live stream 60-minute virtual gala that will feature performances by soprano Gabriella Reyes, straight the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House, famed counter-tenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, the internationally acclaimed bass-baritone Brandon Cedel and surprise appearances by Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning guests as the chorus celebrates a successful and creative season of innovation and resilience with a hopeful look to the future.
Ticket holders will also have a first look at the chorus’ latest art collaboration, Invitation to Love, by Pulitzer Prize and multi-Grammy winning composer Jennifer Higdon, and sculptor and performance maker Gordon Hall. Guests are invited to participate in a silent auction to win prizes that include vacation rentals, art and virtual concerts while having a front row seat to an exclusive discussion between the company’s most recent collaborators Higdon, Hall and NYCHORAL Music Director David Hayes.
Following the Gala, the company will stream Invitation to Love on their YouTube channel, offering wider audiences the chance to view the fifth and final installation of their Our Voices digital season. Rooted in Paul Laurence Dunbar’s Civil War era poem titled Invitation to Love, the work, composed by Higdon in 2016 reflects the vulnerability in desire, the longing for connection, and the relief from alienation in both easy and hard times. Highlighting beauty in the action of wanting, Hall, through layered videos of moving bodies and objects piling up on the desktop computer screen, creates a choreography between disparate times and places, while defining the personal computer screen as an important site of desire and connection—an object we have relayed on implicitly over the last year.
A 60-minute program streaming on May 11 at 7:00pm, tickets to this virtual gala start at just $20 and available for purchase at http://bit.ly/CelebratingOurVoices
ABOUT THE NEW YORK CHORAL SOCIETY
Founded in 1959, the NY Choral Society is hailed as one of the mainstays of the city’s music scene, known for its adventurous repertoire. Committed to presenting a diverse repertoire that spans from well-known choral masterworks, great compositions rarely heard in concert halls, and newer culturally significant choral works, innovative collaborations and exceptional artistry highlight the essential joy and power of live choral music for New York patrons each season. Made up of more than 150 voices, ages 19-90, the chorus is led by Music Director David Hayes and has performed at prestigious venues throughout the New York metropolitan area such as Carnegie Hall, and partnered with major arts institutions like American Ballet Theatre, Lincoln Center, the New York City Ballet and Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and many others. From their debut concert at the David Geffen Hall, formerly known as Philharmonic Hall with just over a dozen singers in 1965, the New York Choral Society continues to expand its artistic mission, educational commitment and legacy, bringing choral music into the twenty-first century and beyond.
