In Celebration Of International Women's Day, DCINY Features All-female Choirs In Works Written For Female Voices

In celebration of International Women's Day, DCINY guest conductor Nancy Menk leads an orchestra and all-female choir in various choral works for women's voices. DCINY Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Jonathan Griffith conducts John Rutter's Magnificat with the Distinguished Concerts Orchestra and Distinguished Concerts Singers International. The concert takes place on Sunday, March 17, 2 PM at Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall. Tickets start at $20. For tickets and information, visit DCINY's website.

Magnificat - Music for Women's Voices, conducted by Nancy Menk, who leads the Women's and Collegiate Choirs at Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN, will feature Brahm's popular Ave Maria, M. Haydn's Magnificat (Magnify the Lord), Vaughan Williams' Magnificat, Libby Larsen's Canticle of Mary, Ola Gjeilo's Gloria, and Zachary J. Moore's Always Keep This Close. Featured soloists are Jennifer Zetlan, Claire Leyden, Soprano, and Lindsey Anderson, Mezzo-Soprano. 15 all-female choirs, including Saint Mary's College Women's Choir and Saint Mary's College Alumnae Women's Choir, will join the concert.

"We are so thrilled to host a concert featuring all women's voices and conducted by Nancy Menk, an outstanding conductor, and educator. Nancy loves working with women's voices and is constantly on the lookout for interesting new music and unique performing opportunities for female choirs. This will be a special concert celebrating music made and presented by women", says Iris Derke, Co-founder and General Manager of DCINY, "a perfect event honoring International Women's Day."

Opening the concert will be DCINY Co-founder and Artistic Director, Maestro Jonathan Griffith who leads the Distinguished Concerts Orchestra and Distinguished Concerts Singers International in John Rutter's 1990 work, Magnificat. The extended composition in seven movements is based on the Latin text, interspersed with "Of a Rose, a lovely Rose", an anonymous English poem on Marian themes, the beginning of the Sanctus and prayer to Mary. The music includes elements of Latin American music.

NANCY MENK conducts the Women's and Collegiate Choirs at Saint Mary's and teaches courses in conducting techniques. Menk is also the founder and conductor of the South Bend Chamber Singers and serves as conductor of the Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus. Avid proponents of interesting and unusual programming, the Chamber Singers won the 2004 ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming and were finalists for the prestigious Margaret Hillis Award, given annually by Chorus America, in 2000. In February 2010 she made her fifth appearance at Carnegie Hall, conducting a sold-out performance of Morten Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna for chorus and orchestra. Dr. Menk serves regularly as a guest conductor and choral adjudicator throughout the United States. She has conducted All-State Choirs in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, North Dakota, Delaware, and Indiana.

DISTINGUISHED CONCERTS INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK (DCINY)
Founded in 2007 by Iris Derke and Jonathan Griffith, with its first public performance in January 2008, DCINY is a leading producer of dynamic musical entertainment in renowned international venues. Over 40,000 musicians representing 47 countries and all 50 states have participated in DCINY productions. Since the inception of the company, DCINY has produced 17 world premieres and more than 200 concerts for over 200,000 audience members.

With unforgettable, world-class concert experiences, empowering educational programs, and a global community of artists and audiences, DCINY changes lives through the power of musical performance. In addition to being selected four times for Inc. 5000, DCINY has received national recognition with multiple American Prizes: Jonathan Griffith, Founder and Music Director of Distinguished Concerts Orchestra (Winner 2014 American Prize in Conducting, Professional Orchestra Division), DCINY's General Director and Co-Founder Iris Derke and the DCINY Team (Winner 2015 American Prize in Arts Marketing), and Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) has been awarded by LUX Life Magazine with the Most Outstanding Musical Education Programs 2019 - New York.