Musica Viva Performs Choral Music From The Baltic States

New York City's leading chamber choir, Musica Viva NY, will present CURSE UPON IRON, a one-night only concert at Manhattan's All Souls NYC on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at 5:00 p.m., featuring some of the most exquisite choral music from the Baltic States. Led by Musica Viva NY's Artistic Director/Conductor Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez, the Musica Viva NY choir, accompanied by piano and organ, will honor the rich heritage of Baltic choral music with songs by exceptional composers from Estonia (Arvo Pärt and Veljo Tormis), Latvia (Ēriks Ešenvalds, Pēteris Vasks, Imant Raminsh and Andris Dzenītis) and Lithuania (Nomeda Valančiūtė and Onutė Narbutaitė).
 
Though the cultures and languages of the Baltic States are all different, the three nations share common artistic origins that are still vibrant parts of their culture today. The tradition of choral singing in the Baltic countries goes back millennia, becoming the vehicle for resurgent national identity and non-violent protest. The restoration of independence in those countries, after what became known as the “Singing Revolution”, brought this remarkable music to international attention. As well, Baltic composers were influenced by the wave of interest in folk music and traditions that swept the world in the 1960s and 1970, and then in 1991 when Gorbachev was toppled and the Soviet Union was crumbling.
 
“The Baltic States have rich choral traditions that continue to thrive through living composers who work to preserve their musical culture even through the Soviet occupation of the mid 20th-century. Audience members will be exposed to the region's vast musical history and hear their people's resilience, defiance and unity in this music. These songs pass down stories and traditions from one generation to the next, fostering a rich legacy of musical excellence.” - Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez, artistic director/conductor, Musica Viva NY
 
This long-standing tradition of singing and choral music has produced generations of outstanding composers, such as Arvo Pärt, Veljo Tormis and Pēteris Vasks in the last few decades. 47-year-old Latvian Ēriks Ešenvalds explained the success of Baltic music this way. 
 
“If we look back specifically in the Baltic region, we have had this historical heritage. As small nations, we have been ruled by our neighbors for centuries. They affected our culture. We have (in our music) Scandinavian lightness, with whistling tones for tenors and sopranos, the powerful German choral sound and the Russian orthodox basso-profundo.”   - Ēriks Ešenvalds Estonian composer
 
About Musica Viva NY
Musica Viva NY is a non-profit arts organization that was established nearly 50 years ago. Its mission is to bring world-class music to a wide community through an annual concert series, an active community engagement program, and an ambitious artistic vision. Under the baton of Artistic Director Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez since 2015, Musica Viva NY strives to offer joy, solace and renewal in a complex world by presenting new compositions and classic masterworks in transformative interpretations that ennoble the human spirit.
 
Musica Viva NY's superb chamber choir and world class collaborating instrumentalists make their concert home in Manhattan's historic All Souls Church. It regularly combines its presentation of the classical repertoire with less widely known works, as part of its commitment to perform the works of living American composers, women composers and composers of color, including works that address social, racial or environmental issues. Composers whose works have been featured in recent Musica Viva NY performances include Florence Price, Alexandra T Bryant, Steve Reich, Frank Ticheli, Missy Mazzoli, Alice Walker, Joel Thompson and Jesse Montgomery.
 
Musica Viva NY has commissioned and premiered numerous works by contemporary composers including Bora Yoon, Seymour Bernstein, Elena Ruehr, Joseph Turrin, Bruce Saylor, Jean-Louis Petit, Eugenio Toussaint, Gilda Lyons, Richard Einhorn, Trent Johnson and Trevor Weston.
 
Beyond high-quality concert performances, Musica Viva NY also serves the communities of New York City through a growing variety of rich community engagement programs. Currently, Musica Viva NY partners with New York city public schools, extracurricular youth ensembles, New York Public Library branches and the All Souls' Monday Night Hospitality dinner program, offering free performances, artist clinics, interactive workshops, and more. Musica Viva NY has nurtured young artists throughout its half century of existence. Great musicians who have been Musica Viva NY singers and soloists include the Metropolitan Opera stars Samuel Ramey and Renée Fleming, and Broadway's Aladdin, Michael Maliakel.
 
The organization was founded as an annual concert series in 1977 by Walter Klauss, who directed the group for 38 years, and adopted the name “Musica Viva” in 1985. Under Walter Klauss' baton the choir toured in Paris (2004), Germany and Czechoslovakia (2006) and Italy (2012). 

To post a comment, you must register and login.