Tyler Duncan Replaces Andrew Foster-Williams in Handel's MESSIAH with the New York Philharmonic

Baritone Tyler Duncan will replace Andrew Foster-Williams, who has withdrawn due to illness, in the remaining performances of Handel's Messiah, conducted by Andrew Manze, Wednesday, December 13, 2017, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, December 14 at 7:30 pm.; Friday, December 15 at 11:00 a.m.; and Saturday, December 16 at 7:30 p.m. Tyler Duncan joins soprano Joélle Harvey, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, tenor Ben Bliss (in his Philharmonic subscription debut), and the Westminster Symphonic Choir, Joe Miller, director.

Tyler Duncan made his New York Philharmonic debut in March 2013 during The Bach Variations: A Philharmonic Festival, performing Bach's Magnificat and Mendelssohn's Christus and Magnificat. The New York Times praised Mr. Duncan as "especially beguiling."

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Andrew Manze is celebrated for his inspirational conducting, extensive and scholarly knowledge of repertoire, skillful communication, and boundless energy. He became principal conductor of Hannover's NDR Radiophilharmonie in the 2015-16 season; his contract has been renewed, for the second time, until the summer of 2021. In addition to a busy touring schedule within Germany and Austria, they toured China and South Korea in 2016 with András Schiff. In 2017-18 they tour the U.K. and return to the Far East in 2019. They have embarked on a recording series for Pentatone, initially focusing on Mendelssohn's orchestral works. As a guest Mr. Manze has relationships with orchestras including the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Munich Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, the Hallé, Camerata Salzburg, and the Scottish and Swedish chamber orchestras. He is also a regular guest at the Mostly Mozart Festival and has a close relationship with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, with which he is in the process of recording the complete Vaughan Williams symphonies for Onyx Classics. In 2017-18 he makes debuts with Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bamberg Symphony, NDR Elbphilharmonie, and the Melbourne Symphony, and returns to the New York and Los Angeles philharmonics. From 2006 to 2014, Mr. Manze was principal conductor and artistic director of the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, with which he made a number of recordings, including Beethoven's Eroica (Harmonia Mundi) and a cycle of Brahms symphonies (CPO). From September 2010 to August 2014 he was associate guest conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and he was principal guest conductor of the Norwegian Radio Symphony Orchestra from 2008 to 2011. After studying classics at Cambridge University, Mr. Manze focused on the violin and rapidly became a leading specialist in the world of historical performance practice. He became associate director of the Academy of Ancient Music in 1996, then artistic director of the English Concert from 2003 to 2007. As a violinist, he has released an array of CDs, many of them award-winners. Andrew Manze, a fellow of the Royal Academy of Music and visiting professor at the Oslo Academy, has contributed to new editions of sonatas and concertos by Mozart and J.S. Bach published by Bärenreiter and Breitkopf & Härtel. He also teaches, edits, and writes about music, and broadcasts regularly on radio and television. In November 2011 he received the Rolf Schock Prize in Stockholm. Andrew Manze made his New York Philharmonic debut leading Handel's Messiah in December 2013.

A native of Bolivar, New York, soprano Joélle Harvey is the recipient of a 2011 First Prize Award from the Gerda Lissner Foundation, a 2009 Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation, and a 2010 Encouragement Award (in honor of Norma Newton) from the George London Foundation. Ms. Harvey began the 2017-18 season in concert with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, performing Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915. She subsequently makes her Pittsburgh Opera debut as Susanna in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, and joins The English Concert as Almirena in Handel's Rinaldo.Additional concert appearances include a return to the New York Philharmonic for Handel's Messiah and an appearance with the Laguna Music Festival. In the summer of 2018 she returns to the Glyndebourne Festival Opera for her role debut as Cleopatra in David McVicar's production of Handel's Giulio Cesare, conducted by William Christie. Last season, Ms. Harvey joined the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra as Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Pat Nixon in John Adams's Nixon in China, and the Glyndebourne Festival Opera as Servilia in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito. In concert she appeared at the Mostly Mozart Festival for Mozart's Mass in C minor and Requiem, which she also sang with the Kansas City and Utah Symphony Orchestras. She also joined the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, Handel & Haydn Society for Handel's Messiah, the National and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras for Mahler's Das klagende Lied,and the London Symphony Orchestra and Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra for John Adams's El Niño. She also appeared in concert with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the North Carolina Symphony. She concluded the season with a return to Glyndebourne Festival Opera as Servilia in La clemenza di Tito, a role she also performed at the BBC Proms. Joélle Harvey made her New York Philharmonic debut in J.S. Bach's Magnificat in March 2013, conducted by Masaaki Suzuki; she most recently appeared with the Orchestra for Handel's Messiah in December 2013, conducted by Andrew Manze.

Jennifer Johnson Cano is noted for her commanding stage presence and profound artistry with a warm, velvety timbre. Winner of a 2012 Richard Tucker Career Grant and 2014 George London Award, she joined the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at The Metropolitan Opera in 2008 and was the First Prize winner of the 2009 Young Concert Artist International Auditions. Ms. Cano has given more than 100 performances at The Metropolitan Opera, with recent roles including Bersi in Giordano's Andrea Chenier, Emilia in Verdi's Otello, Hansel in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, Meg Page in Verdi's Falstaff, Mercedes in Bizet's Carmen, Nicklausse in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann, and Wellgunde and Waltraute in Wagner's Ring Cycle. Other appearances include Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni with the Boston Lyric and Arizona Operas, the title role in Bizet's Carmen with Boston Lyric Opera, Orfeo in Gluck's Orfeo et Eurydice with Des Moines Metro Opera, Diana in Cavalli's La Calisto with Cincinnati Opera, and Marguerite in Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust with the Tucson Symphony. She has worked with conductors including Marin Alsop, Andrew Davis, Manfred Honeck, James Levine, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Robert Spano, Osmo Vänskä, and Franz Welser-Möst. Last season, she made her European debut performing John Adams's El Niño on tour with Mr. Adams and the London Symphony Orchestra in London and Paris, and with Markus Stenz and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic at Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw. In 2017-18 Ms. Cano portrays Orfeo with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and The Sharp Eared Fox in Janá?ek's The Cunning Little Vixen in concert with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and The Cleveland Orchestra in Cleveland, Vienna, and Luxembourg. Orchestral engagements include Beethoven's Ninth Symphony on tour with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; Handel's Messiah with the New York Philharmonic and Colorado Symphony Orchestra; Bernstein's Jeremiah Symphony with the Atlanta, Phoenix, and Charlotte symphony orchestras; Mozart's Requiem with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra; and Brahms's Alto Rhapsody and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Johnson Cano made her New York Philharmonic debut in November 2010 in Mendelssohn's Elijah, conducted by then Music Director Alan Gilbert; she most recently appeared with the Orchestra in July 2017 during its Bravo! Vail residency, performing Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 led by Alan Gilbert.

In the 2017-18 season American tenor Ben Bliss will sing the role of Ferrando in Mozart's Così fan tutte at The Metropolitan Opera, Seattle Opera, and Oper Frankfurt. He also makes his Opera Philadelphia house debut as Tamino in Mozart's The Magic Flute, and sings the role of Cassio in Verdi's Otello with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he also returns to Santa Fe Opera in his role debut as Robert Wilson in John Adams's Dr. Atomic in a production directed by Peter Sellars, and performs Handel's Messiah with the New York Philharmonic. Ben Bliss's 2016-17 season included a U.S. recital tour with pianist Lachlan Glen, with stops at Carnegie Hall, the Folly Theater in Kansas City as part of the Harriman-Jewell series, and the Theater of the Arts at the University of District of Columbia as part of the Vocal Arts DC Emerging Artists series. Mr. Bliss's operatic appearances included returns to The Metropolitan Opera, first as Tamino and then as Steuermann in Wagner's The Flying Dutchman, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Other opera appearances included Belmonte in Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio with Atlanta Opera; Tom Rakewell in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress in his role and house debuts with Boston Lyric Opera; and Camille, the Count de Rosillon, in Lehár's The Merry Widow in concert for his house and role debut with the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. Ben Bliss appeared with the New York Philharmonic in three performances of Bernstein's West Side Story Concert Suite No. 1 in summer 2015: in the Concerts in the Parks, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer; during the Orchestra's Bravo! Vail residency; and at the Santa Barbara Bowl as part of the New York Philharmonic Global Academy residency at the Music Academy of the West.

British Columbia-born and America-based baritone Tyler Duncan's 2017-18 season includes recitals in Houston, New York, and Montreal; return engagements with Les Violons du Roy, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Toronto's Tafelmusik, and Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra; debuts with the Minnesota Orchestra, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, and National Philharmonic; and two engagements with Ottawa's National Arts Centre Orchestra. Mr. Duncan's roles at The Metropolitan Opera have included Yamadori in Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Fiorello in Rossini's The Barber of Seville. At Spoleto Festival USA he sang Friendly in the 18th-century ballad opera Flora and the Speaker in Mozart's The Magic Flute. He has sung Dandini in Rossini's La Cenerentola with Pacific Opera Victoria; Demetrius in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream at The Princeton Festival; roles in Lully's Armide with Mercury (Houston); and Purcell's The Fairy Queen and King Arthur with Early Music Vancouver. He has also appeared as the Speaker in The Magic Flute at Angers-Nantes Opéra and Raimondo in the Boston Early Music Festival production of Handel's Almira, and recently made his Japanese debut in Bizet's Carmen under Seiji Ozawa. Performances in the realm of art song have earned him prizes from the Wigmore Hall, ARD (Munich), Joy in Singing, Naumburg, and Oratorio Society of New York competitions; Prix International Pro Musicis; and the Bernard Diamant Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts. Tyler Duncan holds music degrees from the University of British Columbia; Germany's Hochschule für Musik (Augsburg), and Hochschule für Musik und Theater (Munich). He is a founding faculty member of the Vancouver International Song Institute. His recordings include the title role in John Blow's Venus and Adonis, J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion with the Portland Baroque Orchestra, Purcell works and Carissimi's Jephte with Les Voix Baroque, and a DVD of Handel's Messiah with Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. Tyler Duncan made his New York Philharmonic debut in March 2013 during The Bach Variations: A Philharmonic Festival, performing Bach's Magnificat and Mendelssohn's Christus and Magnificat.

Recognized as one of the world's leading choral ensembles, the Westminster Symphonic Choir is composed of students at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey. It has recorded and performed with major orchestras under many internationally acclaimed conductors for the past 84 years, and the choir has sung more than 500 performances with the New York Philharmonic alone. In addition to the Philharmonic's performances of Messiah, the ensemble's 2017-18 season includes Holst's The Planets with The Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Cristian M?celaru; the World Premiere of Tod Machover's Philadelphia Voices with The Philadelphia Orchestra, led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Mozart's Mass in C minor with Orchestra of St. Luke's, led by Pablo Heras-Casado; Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, led by Rossen Milanov; and Walton's Belshazzar's Feast, led by Joe Miller. Recent seasons have included performances of Bernstein's Mass with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Villa-Lobos's Choros No. 10 with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela and Gustavo Dudamel, and Christopher Rouse's Requiem with the New York Philharmonic and then Music Director Alan Gilbert. Westminster Choir College is a division of Rider University's Westminster College of the Arts, which has campuses in Princeton and Lawrenceville, New Jersey. A professional college of music with a unique choral emphasis, Westminster prepares students for careers in teaching, sacred music, and performance. The Westminster Symphonic Choir made its Philharmonic debut in January 1959 in Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius conducted by John Barbirolli; its most recent appearances were in May 2017 in Schoenberg's A Survivor from Warsaw and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, led by Alan Gilbert. Joe Miller is conductor of two of America's most renowned choral ensembles - the Westminster Choir and the Westminster Symphonic Choir - and is director of choral activities at Westminster Choir College of Rider University. Dr. Miller also serves as artistic director for choral activities for the Spoleto Festival USA and director of the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir. His 2017-18 season with the Westminster Choir includes a concert tour of the Midwest, performances and broadcasts at its home in Princeton, its annual residency at the Spoleto Festival USA, and the release of a new recording. As conductor of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, Dr. Miller has collaborated with some of the world's leading orchestras and conductors, earning him critical praise. He is also founder and conductor of the Westminster Summer Choral Festival Chamber Choir, a program that offers professional-level choral and vocal artists the opportunity to explore challenging works for one week each summer on the Westminster campus in Princeton.

Single tickets for this performance start at $32. Tickets may be purchased online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) 875-5656, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday; 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 5:00 p.m. Sunday. Tickets may also be purchased at the David Geffen Hall Box Office. The Box Office opens at 10:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and at noon on Sunday. On performance evenings, the Box Office closes one-half hour after performance time; other evenings it closes at 6:00 p.m. A limited number of $18 tickets for select concerts may be available for students within 10 days of the performance at nyphil.org, or in person the day of. Valid identification is required. To determine ticket availability, call the Philharmonic's Customer Relations Department at (212) 875-5656. (Ticket prices subject to change.)

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PROGRAM:

HANDEL'S MESSIAH

Presented by Gary W. Parr

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center

Wednesday, December 13, 2017, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, December 14, 2017, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, December 15, 2017, 11:00 a.m.
Saturday, December 16, 2017, 7:30 p.m.

Andrew Manze, conductor
Joélle Harvey, soprano
Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano
Ben Bliss**, tenor
Tyler Duncan, baritone
Westminster Symphonic Choir
Joe Miller, director

HANDEL Messiah

** New York Philharmonic subscription debut

Pictured: Tyler Duncan. Photo by Tatiana Daubek.