Amor Artis Presents ALL-BACH NEW YEAR'S EVE

Amor Artis continues its decades-long tradition of heralding the New Year with exalted music by J.S. Bach. Under the direction of conductor Ryan James Brandau, the Amor Artis Chorus will be joined by a period-instrument orchestra led by violinist Nicholas DiEugenio, of The Sebastians, with continuo led by Ezra Seltzer.

The program features Bach's indelible Magnificat, BWV 243and Emmanuel Coppey, recent winner of the Barbash Family Bach Competition, will play Bach's  Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042. Also on the program are the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048; the Cantata “Ich hatte viel Berkümmernis” BWV 21, and Bach's unparalleled plea for peace, his sublime “Dona Nobis Pacem,” from Mass in B Minor, BWV 232.

The vocalists are Aine Hakamatsuka and Marisa Curcio (sopranos), Sarah Nelson Craft and Eliana Barwinski (mezzo sopranos), Alex Guerrero and Sam Denler (tenors), and Richard Holmes (baritone).  

Held at the beautiful, historic Church of the Holy Trinity (316 East 88th Street, near the Second Avenue Subway), the performance begins at 7:30 PM. All seats are reserved; premium tickets are $65; general admission $50.  To order online: www.amorartis.org. By phone call 212-874-3990.

A graduate of both the Paris Conservatory ,where he studied with Philippe Graffin and Svetin Roussey, and the Royal Academy of Music in London, Violinist Emmanuel Coppey's repertoire ranges from baroque to contemporary music.  It includes all Bach sonatas and partitas with which he won the 2023 Barbash Family Bach Competition. 

A City Music Foundation artist, Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel Artiste en Résidence, Coppey appeared on Belgian National Television for the Royal Christmas Concert, playing Vivaldi's “Four Seasons.” 

He is a member of the Frankfurt Ensemble Modern Academy and London Contemporary Soloists, and has performed in major European chamber music festivals. Since July 2024, Emmanuel is Artist in Residence at the Singer-Polignac Fondationn. He plays a magnificent Guarnerius violin from 1735, from the Guttman Collection.

Ryan James Brandau is best known for dynamic and uplifting choral and orchestral performances, whether he himself is at the podium or his arrangements on the program. The New York Times hailed his recent debut appearance at Trinity Church Wall Street, conducting its iconic annual Messiah, “the gold standard” against which others “paled in comparison.” For both expert and new listeners, his interpretations are at once resplendent with the past and resonant with the present, earning the Times' praise as “urgent and eloquent,” “burning and gladdening,” “intimate, alternately sober and joyous,” and, most essential to Ryan's pervasive artistic intent, “modest yet monumental.” 

Among musicians, he is perhaps better known for a clarity of vision and mastery of craft that is uncommonly equaled by a commitment to collaboration with vocalists and instrumentalists — a potent alchemy that not only produces music of the highest level, but invites participation in his music-made joy. 

In New York City, he is the founder and Director of Res Facta, a vocal ensemble bringing together 14 of the country's finest professional vocalists, and the longtime Artistic Director of Amor Artis, a chamber choir and Baroque orchestra, which specializes in bridging the Renaissance and Baroque to the present day. He is also the Artistic Director of the symphonic chorus and orchestra, Princeton Pro Musica — winner of the 2021 American Price for choral performance — and Monmouth Civic Chorus, both in New Jersey. In addition to leading his own ensembles, he has prepared choruses for the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and New Jersey Symphony.

The  chorus  he prepared  for a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was hailed by the Philadelphia Enquirer as “quite strong . . . unified—yet finely colored.”As a choral and orchestral arranger, Ryan is equal parts artistic innovator and technical practitioner, taking pride in works that are as rewarding for musicians as they are for audiences. His expansive holiday repertoire in particular is lauded as “inventive,” “unfailingly gratifying,” and “in a class by itself” by the directors, vocalists, and instrumentalists of the many volunteer to professional ensembles that showcase their best through his well-crafted arrangements and meticulous orchestrations.

And as a lover and scholar of music, he is committed to collaboration with emerging artists and educational organizations, cross-cultural exploration, and building bridges for new audiences by presenting classical works in dialogue with contemporary themes and new music. He is also a prolific writer and presenter on music, serving for many years as a host of Sounds Choral on WWFM, and creating in-depth program notes and essays for his own and other ensembles.

Ryan has taught and conducted at Westminster Choir College, Santa Clara University, and Smith College. He holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the Yale School of Music, a Master of Philosophy in Historical Musicology from Cambridge University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Princeton University.