St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble Performs VIVALDI: CHURCH AND STAGE

Orchestra of St. Luke's opens its 2018 Chamber Music Season with the first of two Baroque Music programs: Vivaldi: Church & Stage, in two concerts: January 28 at Brooklyn Museum, and January 29, at The Church of St. Luke in the Fields. Vivaldi's sacred and secular music is the focus of this lyrical showcase featuring the psalm setting Nisi Dominus, instrumental works, and arias from his rarely performed operas sung by rising American mezzo-soprano Avery Amereau, making her OSL debut.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018, 2 PM Brooklyn Museum* 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11238 MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 2018, 8 PM The Church of St. Luke in the Fields 487 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014 TICKETS Tickets, priced at $40 for each concert ($32.00* for Brooklyn Museum members) are available OSLmusic.org. Visit OSLmusic.org/Baroque for more details, including upcoming Baroque Music concerts The Musical Offering and Frederick the Great on April 23 and 29, 2018.

Orchestra of St. Luke's began in 1974 as a group of virtuoso musicians performing chamber music concerts at Greenwich Village's Church of St. Luke in the Fields. Now in its 43rd season, the Orchestra performs diverse musical genres at New York's major concert venues and has collaborated with artists ranging from Renée Fleming and Joshua Bell to Bono and Metallica. In the fall of 2018, internationally celebrated expert in 18th-Century music, Bernard Labadie, will join the Orchestra as Principal Conductor, continuing the Orchestra's long tradition of working with proponents of historical performance practice.

OSL's signature programming includes a subscription series presented by Carnegie Hall, now in its 31st season; an annual multi-week collaboration with Paul Taylor American Modern Dance at Lincoln Center; an annual summer residency at Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts; and a chamber music festival featuring appearances at The Morgan Library & Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center. The Orchestra has participated in 118 recordings, four of which have won Grammy Awards, has commissioned more than 50 new works, and has given more than 175 world, U.S., and New York City premieres.

Nearly half of OSL's performances each year are presented free of charge through its education and community programs, reaching over 10,000 New York City public school students. Additionally, OSL provides free instrumental coaching and presents student performances through its Youth Orchestra of St. Luke's and its Mentorship Program for Pre-Professional Musicians. OSL built and operates The DiMenna Center for Classical Music in Hell's Kitchen, New York City's only rehearsal, recording, education, and performance space expressly dedicated to classical music. The Center serves more than 500 ensembles and more than 30,000 musicians each year. For more information, visit OSLmusic.org.

Avery Amereau has garnered much attention for the unique quality of her timbre and sensitive interpretations. The New York Times called her "a rarity in music" and "an extraordinary American alto on the rise." Amereau holds a Master's Degree from The Juilliard School, where she earned a prestigious Kovner Fellowship. While at Juilliard, she came to public attention singing the roles of Olga in Eugene Onegin, Mme. de la Haltiere (Cendrillion), Dritte Dame (Die Zauberflöte), and the title role in The Rape of Lucretia. In 2016, she made operatic debuts with Opera Columbus, The Glyndebourne Festival, and the Metropolitan Opera, and concert debuts with the American Classical Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Santa Fe Pro Musica. She returned to the Metropolitan Opera in fall 2017 as Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly.

This February, Amereau will make her debut with the Seattle Opera singing Ursule in Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédict, led by Ludovic Morlot. In June 2018, Amereau will sing her first performances at the Salzburg Festival. Her upcoming 2018 concert appearances include the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra under Nicholas McGegan in Beethoven's Mass in C Major and Choral Fantasy, and the American Classical Orchestra in an Alice Tully Hall concert conducted by Thomas Crawford, where she'll be heard in Brahms Alto Rhapsody. An avid recitalist, Amereau has performed recitals in New York, Florida, and Germany, the latter broadcast on Bavarian Radio.