New York Choral Society to Present Mendelssohn's ST. PAUL, 1/25 at Carnegie Hall

The New York Choral Society (NYCHORAL) and Orchestra and Music Director David Hayes, on Sunday, January 25, 2015 at 3:00 pm at Carnegie Hall, will present the rarely heard St. Paul by Felix Mendelssohn. Soloists will include soprano Sarah Shafer, mezzo-soprano Haejung Shin, tenor Vale Rideout, baritone Mark Delavan and the Princeton Girlchoir. David Hayes will conduct. This performance will be sung in the original German with English supertitles.

The story of St. Paul is filled with drama, action, intrigue, murderous plots and miracles. Mendelssohn tells the story of the conversion of Saul (later known as the apostle Paul) through some of the most beautiful and dramatic choral music ever written. Mendelssohn was deeply influenced by Johann Sebastian Bach and was singularly responsible for the resurgent popularity of his music after his performance of the St. Matthew Passion in 1829. While St. Paul is full of nods to Bach in form and style, the beauty and expressiveness of this work, which The New York Times has called "serenely beautiful," is Mendelssohn's own.

St. Paul consists of three dramatic sections that take us from the martyrdom of St. Stephen to Saul's conversion to the Roman Paul, and finally to his spreading of the gospel and the creation of the Christian church at Ephesus.

Music Director David Hayes says "I'm extremely pleased with the new direction we are taking at the New York Choral Society. This season, we are expanding our activities to include performances around New York City while continuing to bring exciting and thought-provoking programming to our Carnegie Hall audiences. I'm especially pleased to be working again with the wonderful Princeton Girlchoir for a performance of Mendelssohn's rarely heard masterpiece, St. Paul."

PROGRAM:

Sunday, January 25, 2015 at 3:00 pm

CARNEGIE HALL - Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage

St. Paul by Felix Mendelssohn

David Hayes, conductor

Sarah Shafer, soprano
Haejung Shin, mezzo-soprano
Vale Rideout, tenor
Mark Delavan, baritone

Princeton Girlchoir

THE NEW YORK CHORAL SOCIETY - The New York Choral Society (NYCHORAL), founded in 1958, has become known by audiences and critics for the quality of its performances and the diversity of its repertoire, which encompasses well-known choral masterworks as well as many compositions rarely heard in concert halls. The 175-voice symphonic chorus has been widely recognized for its outstanding performances at prestigious music venues around the world.

For more than half a century NYCHORAL has enriched the cultural life of the New York community by performing a rich variety of choral music from classic to contemporary pieces, including newly commissioned works, to some 10,000 people per year; and by fostering interest and participation in choral music through education and community outreach, especially to children. Since 1984 the singers of NYCHORAL have also served as "ambassadors of music" abroad, with concert tours to Italy, Austria, China, France, Israel, Mexico, Croatia, Greece, and the Czech Republic. In 2014, NYCHORAL toured Central Europe and performed in a high mass in St. Stephens Cathedral, Vienna, in Mátyás-templom, Budapest, and at Banffy Castle in Romania.

DAVID HAYES, Music Director of the New York Choral Society - David Hayes is a conductor with an unusually broad range of repertory, spanning the symphonic, oratorio/choral and operatic genres. His role as Music Director of the New York Choral Society complements his existing roles as Music Director of The Philadelphia Singers; Music Director of the Mannes Orchestra The New School of Music; Interim Director of Orchestras at Temple University; and Staff Conductor of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra. The 2014-2015 season marks Mr. Hayes' third season as Music Director of the New York Choral Society.

Mr. Hayes has served on the conducting staff of The Philadelphia Orchestra from 2001-2011. He has also served as a cover conductor for the New York Philharmonic as well as for Sir André Previn on the Curtis Symphony Orchestra's 1999 European Tour with Anne-Sophie Mutter.

Recent guest-conducting engagements have included a production of Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore for Opera Memphis, conducting Britten's The Rape of Lucretia and the East Coast Premiere performances of Tan Dun's Tea: A Mirror of Soul for the Opera Company of Philadelphia as well as conducting the finals of the Fulbright Piano Competition with the Artosphere Festival Orchestra.

Past seasons have included concerts with such significant ensembles as The Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Company of Philadelphia, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra 2001, Curtis Opera Theatre, European Center for Opera and Vocal Art, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Washington Chorus, Louisiana Philharmonic, Berkshire Choral Festival and the Verbier Festival.

Trained as a violinist and violist, Hayes received his Bachelor of Music in musicology from the University of Hartford and a diploma in Orchestral Conducting from the Curtis Institute of Music where he studied with Otto-Werner Mueller. He also studied with Charles Bruck at the Pierre Monteux School. He served on the Board of Directors of Chorus America from 2000-2009.

For more information, visit www.nychoral.org. Tickets: $30 - $80. Call (212) 247-3878 or visit www.nychoral.org. Box office, 57th Street and 7th Avenue. Call CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or go to www.carnegiehall.org.