Greetings!

The new season is upon us! Join Kent as he starts it off with the unique sonic and artistic experience that is “SurRound,” Musica Sacra’s concert in 360° that this year features the Renaissance masterpiece Spem in Alium by Thomas Tallis, in both the Latin version and Kent’s own transcription of the English version (Oct. 15).

And mark your calendars for some of the great works of the choral literature as well as a world premiere: Mozart’s Great Mass in C Minor (Nov. 10), Handel’s Messiah (Dec. 22) and Handel’s Alexander’s Feast (May 11) with the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (Dec. 31) and Brahms’s A German Requiem (Mar. 7) with the Cathedral Choirs of St. John the Divine. With Musica Sacra, in addition to the SurRound program at the Cathedral, Kent leads a Carnegie Hall holiday program featuring works of Handel, Bach, Poulenc, Rachmaninoff, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and Helena Paish (Dec. 17), and the world premiere of Wayne Oquin’s On the Words of Walt Whitman for soloists, chorus, orchestra, and organ sharing a program with Caroline Shaw’s Ent’racte (Mar. 11). Full season details and programs follow below.

It’s a great season for soloists (though when isn’t it?!): sopranos Jessica Faselt (Beethoven), Kathryn Lewek (Messiah and Musica Sacra holiday concert), Susanna Phillips (Brahms and Oquin), Lauren Snouffer (Alexander’s Feast), and Jennifer Zetlan (Mozart); mezzo-sopranos Samantha Hankey (Mozart) and Lucia Bradford (Beethoven); countertenor Cody Bowers (Messiah); tenors Joshua Blue (Beethoven), Richard Pittsinger (Alexander’s Feast), Alex Richardson (Mozart), and Aaron Sheehan (Messiah); baritones John Michael Moore (Oquin), Sidney Outlaw (Alexander’s Feast), and Joseph Parrish (Mozart, Brahms); bass-baritone Michael Sumuel (Beethoven); and bass Adam Lau (Messiah).

Kent also performs his annual recital on the Great Organ of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, featuring works of Ruth Norman, Jean Demessieux, Vincent Persichetti, Larry King, Undine Smith Moore and David Hurd alongside J.S. Bach and Felix Mendelssohn (Feb. 3). And in a bit of a season preview, Kent plays a recital at Smithfield Presbyterian Church in Amenia, New York, on September 20 to benefit the Oratorio Society of New York.

Cathedral, Musica Sacra, and Oratorio Society tickets are on sale now – see details and click the links below to find out more!

J.S. BACH Prelude and Fugue in D Major, BWV 532

PAUL HINDEMITH  Drei leichte Stücke (Three easy pieces)

ANTONIO VIVALDI Sonata for Cello in E minor, RV 40

FELIX MENDELSSOHN Sonata in A Major, Op. 65, No. 3

JOHANNES BRAHMS Chorale Prelude, Op. 122, No. 3, “O Welt, ich muss dich lassen”

CHARLES-MARIE WIDOR Symphony for Organ, No. 6 in G minor – Allegro

THOMAS TALLIS Sing and Glorify (for 40 solo voices, ed. K. Tritle)

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Mass for Double Choir: Kyrie

ARVO PÄRT Da pacem Domine

FRANK MARTIN Mass for Double Choir: Agnus Dei

ALESSANDRO STRIGGIO Ecce Beatam Lucem (for 40 solo voices)

NANCY WERTSCH Eternae Deus

VALENTIN SILVESTROV Prayer for Ukraine

CAROLINE SHAW and the swallow

TRADITIONAL “I’m gonna sing ‘til the spirit” (arr. Moses Hogan)

THOMAS TALLIS Spem in Alium (for 40 solo voices)

JEAN RITCHIE “Now is the cool of the day”

SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR Christmas Overture

G.F. HANDEL Organ Concerto in B-flat, Op. 4, No. 2

Daniel Ficarri, organ

EMILY HAZRATI “Coventry Carol”

J.S. BACH Magnificat, BWV 243

ALISON WILLIS “There is no rose”

Christmas carols sung by all

J.S. BACH “Gloria in excelsis” from Mass in B minor

RANDALL THOMPSON Alleluia

ALESSANDRO CORELLI Concerto Grosso No. 8 in G minor

G.F. HANDEL Excerpts from Messiah:

Pastoral Symphony

“Glory to God”

“Rejoice greatly”

FRANCIS POULENC O Magnum Mysterium

HELENA PAISH “While Mary Slept”

G.F. HANDEL Concerto for Harp in B-flat Major, Op. 4, No. 6

ADOLPHE ADAM Cantique de Noël*

SERGEI RACHMANINOFF “Bogoroditse Dyevo” from Vespers

G.F. HANDEL “Worthy is the Lamb” from Messiah