Musica Viva NY Announces 2018-19 Season

Musica Viva NY-a chamber choir under the artistic direction of Dr. Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez, that presents a series of chamber concerts on the Upper East Side-today announces its 2018-19 season.

Highlights of the season include a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I featuring a co-commission for choir and orchestra by acclaimed American composer Joseph Turrin; a celebration of the 100th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein's birth; a performance by the Aeolus Quartet, the organization's quartet-in-residence; a concert featuring Poulenc's Organ Concerto; and a performance of Duruflé's Requiem.

The season kicks off with a benefit concert on Sunday, September 23, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. at All Souls Church entitled Songs of Love, featuring songs by Brahms, Schumann and P.D.Q. Bach, performed by Musica Viva NY soloists together with Artistic Director Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez.

On Sunday, November 11, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. at All Souls Church, Musica Viva NY commemorates the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I with End of the War to End All Wars. The concert includes Ralph Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending; Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin; Gustav Holst's Ode to Death; Radiohead's Harry Patch (In Memory Of), arranged for voice and strings by Artistic Director Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez; and a new work by Joseph Turrin for choir and chamber orchestra based on texts by World War I poets, co-commissioned by Musica Viva NY, Washington Master Chorale, and the New Orchestra of Washington.

In a new partnership with the Dvo?ák Heritage American Society, Musica Viva NY Presents Aeolus Quartet, its acclaimed quartet in residence, on Sunday, January 27, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. at Bohemian National Hall. The program includes works by Dvo?ák and other Czech and Bohemian composers.

Musica Viva NY celebrates Bernstein at 100 and his friendship with Aaron Copland on Sunday, March 10, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. at The Brick Presbyterian Church. The concert includes Bernstein's Make Our Garden Grow and Chichester Psalms, together with Copland's Appalachian Spring (Chamber Suite), and his Concerto for Clarinet, Strings and Harp.

The 2018-19 season concludes on Sunday, May 19, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. at The Brick Church with Homage featuring Lera Auerbach's Eterniday (Homage to W. A. Mozart); Poulenc's Concerto for Organ, Strings, and Timpani in G Minor; Arvo Pärt's Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten, and Duruflé's Requiem, Op. 9.

2018-19 Program Information

Sunday, September 23, 2018 at 5:00 p.m.
SONGS OF LOVE
Songs by Brahms, Schumann, and Bach
Season Benefit Concert

All Souls Church
1157 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10075

Musica Viva NY soloists and Artistic Director Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez collaborate on a program of German lieder by Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms and P.D.Q. Bach

Sunday, November 11, 2018 at 5:00 p.m.
END OF THE WAR TO END ALL WARS
Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the End of WWI

All Souls Church
1157 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10075

RALPH Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending
Maurice Ravel Le Tombeau de Couperin
GUSTAV HOLST Ode to Death (1919)
RADIOHEAD Harry Patch (In Memory Of)
Arranged for voice and strings by Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez
JOSEPH TURRIN Work for choir and chamber orchestra based on texts by WWI poets
Co-commission by Musica Viva NY and the New Orchestra of Washington

Sunday, January 27, 2019 at 5:00 p.m.
MUSICA VIVA NY PRESENTS AEOLUS QUARTET
Co-production with the Dvo?ák Heritage American Society

Bohemian National Hall
321 East 73rd Street
New York, NY 10021

Featuring works by Dvo?ák and other Czech/Bohemian composers

Sunday, March 10, 2019 at 5:00 p.m.
BERNSTEIN AT 100
In friendship with Copland

The Brick Church
1140 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10028

Leonard Bernstein Chichester Psalms
Leonard Bernstein Make Our Garden Grow
Aaron Copland Appalachian Spring (Chamber Suite)
Aaron Copland Concerto for Clarinet, Strings and Harp

Sunday, May 19, 2019 at 5:00 p.m.
HOMAGE
Duruflé, Poulenc, Pärt, Auerbach

The Brick Church
1140 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10028

LERA AUERBACH Eterniday (Homage to W. A. Mozart)
Francis Poulenc Concerto for Organ, Strings, and Timpani in G Minor
ARVO PÄRT Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten
MAURICE DURUFLÉ Requiem, Op. 9

Ticket Information
Subscription tickets, priced at $130, and single tickets, priced at $40, for the four-concert series are available by visiting http://musicaviva.org/tickets/. Single tickets are also available at the door on the evening of the concert. Some discounts apply; please visit the website for more information. The season benefit concert on September 23 is free with donations accepted at the door.

About Musica Viva NY
Founded in 1977, Musica Viva NY, a chamber choir of thirty professionals and highly skilled volunteers, shares the transcendent power of choral and instrumental music with audiences in New York City and beyond, through its annual four-concert series. The choir's broad repertoire includes new compositions and classic masterworks, emphasizing artistic excellence and transformative interpretations.

About Dr. Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez
Esteemed conductor, pianist, and composer Dr. Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez was named Artistic Director of Musica Viva NY and Director of Music of the historic Unitarian Church of All Souls in Manhattan in 2015. He is also Co-Founder of the New Orchestra of Washington and Artistic Director of the Victoria Bach Festival. He has earned accolades from The Washington Post as a conductor "with the incisive clarity of someone born to the idiom," as well as praise from The New York Times for leading "a stirring performance" of Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem. He is featured in El mundo en las manos/Creadores mexicanos en el extranjero (The World in Their Hands/Creative Mexicans Abroad), a book by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs honoring Mexican nationals who are leading figures in diverse artistic fields. He is the recipient of a 2016 Shenandoah Conservatory Alumni of Excellence Award for his exemplary contribution to his profession, national level of prominence, and exceptional integrity. He resides in New York City and Washington, D.C.

Image at top of release by Richard Termine