Concerts at Saint Thomas Announces its 2017-2018 Season

The second full season with Organist and Director of Music Daniel Hyde will include a <b>concert of music by Pärt, Rutter and Vaughan Williams</b>, the holiday traditions of <b>Handel’s <i>Messiah</i></b> and <b>Britten’s <i>A Ceremony of Carols</i></b>, the ​ two-piano version of <b>Brahms’<i> A German Requiem</i></b>, a guest performance by <b>The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford</b>, and the <b>debut duet organ recital</b> by Daniel Hyde and Associate Organist Benjamin Sheen. ​ <br /><br />The season will also see the continued installation of the <b>new Miller-Scott organ</b>, slated for completion in 2018-19<br />

New York, NY Concerts at Saint Thomas is proud to announce its 2017-18 season, the second with Organist and Director of Music Daniel Hyde, featuring a mix of traditional favorites and exciting new programming from the organization that Sir Simon Rattle recently described as a “jewel” in the crown for the musical life of New York City.

The season opens on October 21 with a concert featuring award-winning carillonneur, Julie Zhu, playing a Carillon Prelude on the twenty-six church bells, followed by Hyde’s handpicked organ recital program of North German and Dutch music by J.S. Bach, Sweelinck, Scheidt, Buxtehude, Böhm, and Bruhns.

October 26 will be the first concert of the season to feature the acclaimed Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys, accompanied by Orchestra of St. Luke’s, in a program featuring Arvo Pärt’s aching Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten, John Rutter’s recent work Visions for solo violin, boys’ choir and strings, and Vaughan Williams’ playful Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus followed by his sweeping plea for peace Dona Nobis Pacem – a work of ever-greater resonance in these uncertain times.

Concerts at Saint Thomas celebrates the Christmas season with Handel’s timeless Messiah December 5 & 7, which The New York Times hails as “king among the innumerable [Messiah] performances in New York,” as well as a December 14 performance of Britten’s haunting A Ceremony of Carols, for boys’ choir and the incomparable Bridget Kibbey on harp.

Spring 2018 concerts will include a March 22 performance of the two-piano version of Brahms’ towering A German Requiem, featuring the Saint Thomas of Men and Boys alongside soloists Hyesang Park (soprano) and John Brancy (baritone), with pianists Michal Biel and Katelan Terrell. Holy Week will be observed with a pair of musical meditations on the organ, with Associate Organist Benjamin Sheen on March 26 and Daniel Hyde on March 27.

April 6 will see a guest appearance by The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, as part of the farewell tour of their beloved Director of Music Stephen Darlington. May 9 will feature a concert of music for the Eve of Ascension, with J.S. Bach’s Cantata 37 and ‘Lutheran’ Mass in G minor, and the lesser known of Vivaldi’s two settings of the Gloria, RV 588, a work which reflected early opera’s influence on sacred music.

The season will conclude on June 16 with the debut duet organ recital by Hyde and Sheen, performing virtuosic transcriptions of well-known Baroque works for orchestra including selections from Max Reger’s arrangements for duet of J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos.

In addition to the performances, throughout the 2017-18 season the installation of the new Miller-Scott organ will continue. The magnificent instrument is planned to be completed in 2018-19.

 

2017/2018 CONCERT SCHEDULE

OCTOBER 21, 2017 | SATURDAY at 1:15 pm
KEYBOARD MUSIC FROM HOLLAND AND FLANDERS: J.S. BACH, SWEELINCK, SCHEIDT, BUXTEHUDE, BÖHM, AND BRUHNS
1:15 pm | Julie Zhu, bells

2pm | Daniel Hyde, Loening-Hancock organ

OCTOBER 26, 2017 | THURSDAY at 7:30 pm
PÄRT, RUTTER, AND VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys with Orchestra of St. Luke’s

Krista Bennion Feeney, violin, Sara Cutler, harp
Clara Rottsolk, soprano, Adrian Timpau, baritone
Daniel Hyde, conductor

DECEMBER 5 & 7, 2017 | TUESDAY & THURSDAY at 7:30 pm
HANDEL: MESSIAH
The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys with New York Baroque Incorporated

Ellie Dehn, soprano, TBD, mezzo-soprano, Lawrence Jones, tenor, Jesse Blumberg, bass
Daniel Hyde, conductor

DECEMBER 14, 2017 | THURSDAY at 5:30 pm
BRITTEN: A CEREMONY OF CAROLS
The Boys of the Saint Thomas Choir

Bridget Kibbey, harp, Daniel Hyde, conductor

MARCH 22, 2018 | THURSDAY at 7:30 pm
BRAHMS: A GERMAN REQUIEM
Version for choir and two pianos
The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys

Hyesang Park, soprano, John Brancy, baritone, Michal Biel
 & Katelan Terrell, piano
Daniel Hyde, conductor

MARCH 26 | MONDAY from 7–8 pm | Benjamin Sheen, organ
MARCH 27 | TUESDAY from 7–8 pm | Daniel Hyde, organ

HOLY WEEK MUSICAL MEDITATIONS:
MENDELSSOHN, BRAHMS, SCHUMANN, AND THE INFLUENCES OF J.S. BACH

APRIL 6, 2018 | FRIDAY at 7:30 pm
THE CHOIR OF CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL, OXFORD
Stephen Darlington, conductor

MAY 9, 2018 | WEDNESDAY at 7:30 pm
MUSIC FOR THE EVE OF ASCENSION: WORKS BY BACH AND VIVALDI
The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys

St. Luke’s Baroque Soloists from the Saint Thomas Choir

JUNE 16, 2018 | SATURDAY at 2 pm
FOUR HANDS, FOUR FEET: DANIEL HYDE AND BENJAMIN SHEEN IN RECITAL: BACH, REGER, AND HANDEL
Daniel Hyde & Benjamin Sheen, organ

 

TICKET INFORMATION

All concerts take place at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue at 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).

 

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 Honours 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 & CHOIR SCHOOL

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 Saint 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 United States, 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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