The Cecilia Chorus Of New York Presents SHAKESPEARE...AND MORE! A Musical Dreamscape

In its final concert of the season, The Cecilia Chorus of New York, Mark Shapiro, Music Director, will present Shakespeare...and more! The program features the World Premiere of Caroline Mallonee's cantata With Streaks of Light, and includes chamber works inspired by and relating to Shakespeare. Wednesday, May 25 at 7:30 PM at The Church of St. Francis Xavier, 46 W. 16th St., between 5th and 6th Aves in Manhattan.

With Streaks of Light, for chorus, tenor solo, violin, bass clarinet, and harp, is a four-part, 30-minute cantata comprising seventeen movements on texts of Shakespeare. The concert also features the U.S. premiere of Nicolas Bacri's Ophelia Solo for unaccompanied bass clarinet, excerpts from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet arranged for violin and piano by D. Grjunes, and Vaughan Williams's rarely heard Along the Field for tenor and violin, on words by A.E. Housman. Our performance coincides with the centenary of the publication of Housman's Last Poems.

"Each of the composers is inspired by poetry in a different but compelling way," said Maestro Shapiro. "Their music is rich in detail, color, and emotions that strike both ear and heart as beautiful and true. We are fortunate to have outstanding artists as partners on this program. Hearing world-class clarinetist Mark Dover give the U.S. premiere of the mesmerizing Ophelia Solo by French superstar contemporary composer Nicolas Bacri will be worth the price of admission all by itself!"

Soloists will be tenor Michael St. Peter, violinist Doori Na, bass clarinetist Mark Dover, harpist Tomina Parvanova Lyden, and pianist Marijo Newman.

Caroline Mallonee (b. 1975) is an award-winning composer and performer based in Buffalo, NY. Inspired by scientific phenomena, visual art, and musical puzzles, Mallonee has been commissioned to write new pieces for prominent ensembles including the New York Philharmonic, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Spektral Quartet, Firebird Ensemble, Present Music, Wet Ink Ensemble, Antares, PRISM Quartet, Ciompi Quartet, Ethos Percussion, and the Buffalo Chamber Players, for whom she serves as composer-in-residence. Mallonee's music has been programmed at venues in New York City including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, Merkin Hall, Bargemusic, Tenri Cultural Center, Town Hall, Roulette, and Tonic, as well as further afield at the Long Leaf Opera Festival (NC), Carlsbad Music Festival (CA), Bennington Chamber Music Conference (VT), Cambridge Music Festival (UK), Tokyo Opera City (Japan), the Corcoran Gallery (Washington, DC), Turner Ballroom (Milwaukee, WI) and Jordan Hall (Boston, MA). Visit her at https://www.carolinemallonee.com/.

Tickets start at $25 and are available at https://ceciliachorusny.org/products/shakespeare-ticket. For more information about this concert, visit https://ceciliachorusny.org/shakespeare or call 646-638-2535. CCNY concerts are ADA accessible. (Details subject to change due to the ongoing health risks of COVID-19. Check https://ceciliachorusny.org for the most up-to-date information.

For MTA transportation information, visit http://tripplanner.mta.info/MyTrip/ui_web/customplanner/TripPlanner.aspx.

Founded in 1906, The Cecilia Chorus of New York, winner of the ASCAP/Chorus America Alice Parker Award, has evolved into one of the finest avocational performing arts organizations in New York City. The 150-voice chorus has been described as "reliably venturesome" (The New Yorker, 2017) and "admirable," (New York Times, 2017). Recent highlights have included commissions from The Brothers Balliett, Jonathan Breit, Tom Cipullo, and Raphael Fusco; collaborations with five-time Obie Award-winning actor Kathleen Chalfant, two-time Tony Award-winning actor Stephen Spinella, and opera singers Julia Bullock and Ryan Speedo Green; the New York premieres in Carnegie Hall of the Mass in D and The Prison by Dame Ethel Smyth; the world premiere of Fifty Trillion Molecular Geniuses by The Brothers Balliett; and the US premiere of Messe Romane by Thierry Escaich. Much more at http://ceciliachorusny.org/.

Mark Shapiro was appointed the seventh Music Director of The Cecilia Chorus of New York in 2011. Music Director of The Prince Edward Island Symphony and Artistic Director of Cantori New York, he is one of a handful of artistic leaders in North America to have won a prestigious ASCAP Programming Award six times, achieving the unique distinction of winning such an award with three different ensembles. The New York Times has characterized his conducting as "insightful" and acknowledged its "virtuosity and assurance" and "uncommon polish." The Star-Ledger calls his artistic leadership "erudite and far-reaching." Bio at https://ceciliachorusny.org/about#tabpanel-music-director.