Musica Viva NY Presents VOICES IN MOTION, 3/5

Musica Viva NY, led by Artistic Director Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez, presents Voices in Motion--a program celebrating vibrant and inspirational choral works, including Tomás Luis de Victoria's timeless late-renaissance motet O Vos Omnes from Tenebrae Responsories, and Dvo?ák's Goin' Home, arranged by William Arms Fisher, part of the New York Philharmonic's 175th anniversary New World Initiative--on Sunday, March 5 at 5:00 p.m. at All Souls Church.

Additional choral works by Arvo Pärt, Morten Lauridsen, Henrik Górecki, ?riks Ešenvalds, John Tavener, and Imant Raminsh are paired with solo organ works by composers including Dan Locklair and Jehan Alain that showcase the many sonic colors of the Holtkamp pipe organ. All Souls' historic sanctuary is used in dynamic ways as the choir moves throughout the space during the program in varying configurations.

Founded in 1977, Musica Viva NY-a chamber choir of thirty professionals and highly skilled volunteers-is driven by a desire to share the transcendent power of choral and instrumental music with audiences in New York City and beyond. With a broad repertoire that includes new compositions and classic masterworks, Musica Viva NY emphasizes artistic excellence and transformative interpretations to ennoble the human spirit. Its imaginative programming offers joy, solace and renewal in a complex world.

Additional concerts in Musica Viva NY's 2016-17 season include An Elegy for all Humanity: Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem and Seymour Bernstein's Song of Nature (Sunday, May 7 at 5:00 p.m.) at All Souls Church, and Forever Young: Great American Songs on Thursday, April 6 at 7:30 p.m. at NY 229, a townhouse in midtown Manhattan.

Tickets for Voices in Motion, priced at $30, are available by visiting http://musicaviva.org/tickets/ or at the door on the evening of the concert.

Program Information

Voices in Motion
Sunday, March 5 at 5:00 p.m.
All Souls Church
1157 Lexington Avenue (at 80th Street)
New York, NY 10075

Musica Viva NY
Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez, Artistic Director
Renée Anne Louprette, organ

OLIVER MESSIAEN Apparition de l'église éternelle
TOMÁS LUIS DE VICTORIA O vos omnes
ARVO P?RT Nunc dimittis
DAN LOCKLAIR Rubrics: IV. The peace may be exchanged
HENRIK GÓRECKI Totus tuus
ANTONIN DVORÁK Goin' Home, arranged by William Arms Fisher
KENNETH LAYTON Paean
JOHN TAVENER Mother and Child
MORTEN LAURIDSEN O Magnum mysterium
JEHAN ALAIN Le jardin suspendu
ERIKS EŠENVALDS Stars
JOHN TAVENER Mother and Child
IMANT RAMINSH Put Vejini (Blow, Wind!)
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About the Artists
Hailed by The Washington Post as a conductor "with the incisive clarity of someone born to the idiom," Dr. Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez is an acclaimed conductor and pianist.

Since August 2015, Dr. Hernandez-Valdez has served as the Artistic Director of Musica Viva NY. Musica Viva NY is a choral ensemble founded in 1977 with a long tradition of top-caliber performances, innovative programming, and a strong dedication to the commissioning of new works. He also serves as the Director of Music at the historic Unitarian Church of All Souls in Manhattan. Founded in 1819, the Unitarian Church of All Souls is the most influential Unitarian Universalist congregation in the United States.

As Artistic Director, Co-Founder, and Conductor of the New Orchestra of Washington (NOW), he has collaborated with many International Artists and has premiered numerous works.

Dr. Hernandez-Valdez's profile has been included in a book by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs entitled El mundo en las manos/Creadores mexicanos en el extranjero (The World in Their Hands/Creative Mexicans Abroad), which features successful Mexican nationals residing in various parts of the world who are leading figures in diverse artistic fields, including music.

In April, Dr. Hernandez-Valdez was presented with the Shenandoah Conservatory Alumni of Excellence Award for 2016, which is bestowed to alumni who have made exceptional contributions to their profession, attained a national level of prominence within their fields, and demonstrated exceptional integrity.

In September 2016, Dr. Hernandez-Valdez began his tenure as Artistic Director of the Victoria Bach Festival, replacing Grammy Award-winning conductor and composer Craig Hella Johnson who led the Festival as Artistic Director from 1992 to 2015.

Praised by The New York Times as "splendid," and "one of New York's finest organists," Renée Anne Louprette has established an international career as an organ recitalist, accompanist, conductor, and teacher. She is university organist and coordinator of the organ department at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, and a former member of the organ faculty at the Manhattan School of Music, The Hartt School at the University of Hartford, and the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University.

In 2015, Ms. Louprette was appointed Associate Director of Music and Organist of the Unitarian Church of All Souls. She previously served as Director of Music at the Church of Notre Dame, Organist and Associate Director of Music and the Arts at Trinity Wall Street, and Associate Director of Music at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola.

An active freelance keyboardist, Ms. Louprette has performed with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Voices of Ascension, Clarion Music Society, American Symphony Orchestra, The Dessoff Choirs, and the Los Angeles Dance Project. She has appeared at musical festivals throughout Europe in Magadino, Switzerland; In Tempore Organi, Italy; Ghent and Hasselt, Belgium; Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark; and Toulouse Les Orgues, France. She appeared as organ soloist with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Brisbane, Australia in a performance of Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony broadcast live on ABC radio. She has also performed throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, and her début recording of J. S. Bach's "Great Eighteen Chorales" performed on the Metzler Organ in Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge, England, was named a 2014 classical music Critics' Choice by The New York Times.

(Photo Credit: MusicaViva.com)