The Cecilia Chorus of New York to Present Bach's CHRISTMAS ORATORIO at Carnegie Hall

The Cecilia Chorus of New York, Mark Shapiro, Music Director, will present J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio on Saturday, December 9, at 8:00 PM at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, 57th St. and 7th Ave in Manhattan.

The concert will be performed by soloists, chorus and full orchestra, under the direction of Maestro Shapiro.

Bach's Christmas Oratorio comprises six cantatas written for the period between Christmas and Epiphany. The Cecilia Chorus of New York will be singing all six, with full orchestra and soloists. Music Director Mark Shapiro's program notes are online at ceciliachorusny.org/updates-contact/2017/9/20/christmas-oratorio-by-js-bach-program-notes-from-mark-shapiro.

Guest artists will include Rebecca Farley, soprano; Renee Tatum, mezzo-soprano; Charles Sy, tenor; and William Guanbo Su, bass. Guest soloist Vivian Yau will sing the role of "echo soprano." An important part of the chorus's mission is to present promising artists in hall and role debuts. This performance marks the Carnegie Hall main stage debuts of Sy, Yau, and Su. Su recently won first prize in the 2017 Gerda Lissner Lieder/Song Vocal Competition and a 2017 Opera Index Encouragement Award. The Cecilia Chorus of New York presented Farley in her Carnegie Hall debut in December 2016.

Single tickets for the December 9 concert range from $25 to $85 and are available online at www.carnegiehall.org, by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or visiting the box office at 57th Street and 7th Avenue. Season subscriptions are also available.

For more information about this concert, visit ceciliachorusny.org/#/oratorio or call 646-638-2535. CCNY Carnegie Hall concerts are ADA accessible. For MTA transportation information, go to tripplanner.mta.info/MyTrip/ui_web/customplanner/TripPlanner.aspx.

The Cecilia Chorus of New York is the 2015 winner of the ASCAP/Chorus America Alice Parker Award; and the 2013 third-place winner for The American Prize in Choral Performance. New York City's Department of Cultural Affairs recently bestowed a generous grant of support on The Cecilia Chorus of New York for its' 2017-18 season.

The Chorus, a secular organization, was founded in 1906 and has evolved into one of the finest avocational performing arts organizations in New York City, described as "reliably venturesome" (The New Yorker, 2017) and "admirable," (New York Times, 2017). Recent performance highlights have included the commission and premiere of Tom Cipullo's Credo for a Secular City at Carnegie Hall in Spring 2014, the New York Premiere of the Mass in D (1892) by Dame Ethel Smyth and revivals of works by Peter Mennin and Isabella Leonarda, as well as the Chorus's first-ever commission/premiere for Carnegie Hall, Divis Cetera by Raphael Fusco in 2012. The Chorus's 2016-17 season included three newly commissioned works, while this season incudes two U.S. premieres: Messe Romane, by Thierry Escaich, and Dame Ethyl Smyth's The Prison (co-premiered with The Experiential Orchestra in Pennsylvania).

Mark Shapiro was appointed the seventh Music Director of The Cecilia Chorus of New York in 2011. He is one of a handful of artistic leaders in North America to have won a prestigious ASCAP Programming Award five times, achieving the unique distinction of winning such an award with three different ensembles. His February 2015 Juilliard performance of Britten's The Rape of Lucretia was characterized in The New York Times as "insightful"; The Times has elsewhere praised his work for its "virtuosity and assurance," and "uncommon polish," and his leadership was characterized by New Jersey's Star-Ledger as "erudite and far-reaching." His bio is at www.ceciliachorusny.org/music-director-mark-shapiro.