Musica Sacra to Present Handel's MESSIAH at Carnegie Hall

On Thursday, December 21, 2017, at 7:30pm, Musica Sacra returns to Carnegie Hall for its highly acclaimed annual performance of George Frideric Handel's Messiah.

Led by Music Director Kent Tritle, hailed as "NYC's foremost choral conductor" by Time Out New York, these performances feature the Musica Sacra Chorus and Orchestra with a superb cast of soloists: soprano Kathryn Lewek, mezzo soprano Samantha Hankey, tenor Joshua Blue, and bass Adam Lau.

Founded in 1964 by Richard Westenburg, Musica Sacra is the longest continuously performing professional chorus in New York City. Musica Sacra presents performances each year at prestigious venues throughout New York City, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. "Presented with musical skill and stylistic insight" (The New York Times), the chorus and orchestra's performances of Handel's Messiah are a New York holiday tradition. In addition, the Music Sacra Chorus is frequently invited to perform with such ensembles as the New York Philharmonic, Orchestra of St. Luke's, the New York City Ballet, and concert presenters throughout the region.

First presented in 1742, Handel's Messiah is, without question, the most performed oratorio ever written. In addition to annual Christmas and Easter performances across the globe. Compiled by Charles Jennens and based primarily on texts from the King James Bible, Messiah was originally devised as a musical meditation for the Lenten season, when operas were not permitted to be performed. Unlike other dramatic works, Messiah shuns, to a certain extent, the traditional narrative style - a conventional tale with identifiable characters and a clear series of events - in favor of a conceptual meditation on religious themes.

Individual tickets for Messiah range from $100 to $15. For ticket information, please visit MusicaSacraNY.com, e-mail tickets@musicasacrany.com, or call 212-330-7684. Tickets are also available through Carnegie Hall at CarnegieHall.org, at CarnegieCharge: 212-247-7800, or the Carnegie Hall box office: 57th Street and 7th Avenue.

Now in his eleventh season as Music Director of Musica Sacra, Kent Tritle is one of America's leading choral conductors. Concurrently serving as Director of Cathedral Music and organist of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, as well as Music Director of the Oratorio Society of New York, Maestro Tritle was described as "the brightest star in New York's choral music world" by The New York Times. A dedicated educator, Mr. Tritle is Director of Choral Activities at the Manhattan School of Music, where he was also recently appointed Chair of the Organ Department, and he is also a member of the graduate faculty of the Juilliard School. Also an acclaimed organ virtuoso, he is the organist of the New York Philharmonic and the American Symphony Orchestra, and is in demand internationally as a recitalist. Mr. Tritle led the "Mass Appeal Mass" of the "Make Music New York" festival for three years, including the 2012 premiere of a work by Philip Glass in Times Square. And in 2013 Mr. Tritle was the Chorus Director of the Carnegie Hall National High School Choral Festival, preparing three choruses from high schools across the country in Mozart's Requiem. Kent Tritle has made more than a dozen recordings on the AMDG, Epiphany, Gothic, Telarc, VAI, and MSR Classics labels. CDBaby.com recently made available his recording of Juraj Filas' Requiem, Oratio Spei, dedicated to the victims of 9/11, with the Prague Symphony Orchestra. His most recent release is "Four Quarters of Jerusalem" with the Cathedral Choir of St. John the Divine and Rose of the Compass, on the Pro Organo label. For more information, go to www.kenttritle.com.

The mission of Musica Sacra is to create definitive, professional choral performances of the highest caliber for the widest possible audience. It supports its mission by presenting concerts; recording, commissioning and performing new choral works; and educating audiences, students, and the general public in the appreciation and history of choral music. Visit www.musicasacrany.com.