World Premiere Of A NATION OF OTHERS Opens Oratorio Society Of New York's 22-23 Season

The Oratorio Society of New York (OSNY), led by Music Director Kent Tritle, opens its 2022-23 season on Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at 8:00 pm in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall with a newly commissioned World Premiere by Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell, the Pulitzer Prize-winning, composer / librettist team that created OSNY's enormously successful Sanctuary Road.

A Nation of Others explores the individual and collective experiences of immigrants - many of whom are refugees - coming through Ellis Island on a single day in 1921. The 55-minute-long oratorio follows the imagined stories of immigrants from Sicily, Ukraine, Ireland, Croatia, Sweden, Poland, Armenia, and Spain and shows the struggles immigrants can face, while celebrating the fusion of diverse cultures that give our country its identity.

Robert Paterson's Whitman's America, a "quasi-fantasia" of six poems from Whitman's final version of Leaves of Grass, is also included in the program. The selected poems demonstrate the intimate directness, colorful descriptions, and sense of optimism found in many of Whitman's works. With instrumentation designed to be identical to Brahms' Requiem, Whitman's America praises nature and the role humans play in it as both individuals and Americans.

Featured soloists joining OSNY for A Nation of Others include sopranos Susanna Phillips and Maeve Höglund, mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis, tenor Martin Bakari, baritone Steven Eddy, and bass-baritone Joseph Beutel, together with the Orchestra of the Society, led by Music Director Kent Tritle. Phillips and Eddy also join the Society's chorus and orchestra in Whitman's America.

OSNY's 2022-23 season also includes: its 148th performance of Handel's Messiah on Monday, December 19, 2022 at 8:00 pm with soprano Maria Brea, contralto Heather Petrie, tenor Joshua Blue, and baritone Jesse Blumberg; J.S. Bach's Mass in B Minor on Monday, May 8, 2023 at 8:00 pm with soprano Emily Donato, mezzo-soprano Lucia Bradford, tenor Brian Giebler, and baritone Sidney Outlaw, together with the chorus and Orchestra of the Society; and the 46th annual Lyndon Woodside Oratorio-Solo Competition on Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 1:30 pm in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

"The honesty of Mark's libretto voicing immigrant stories is powerfully embraced by Paul's harmonies and captures the true essence of what being an American really is," said soprano soloist Maeve Höglund on delving into the score of A Nation of Others. "It strikes a very personal chord to some of my own family's history, many of whom immigrated alone and without many resources to start a new life."

"My connection to OSNY and Kent goes back 25 years," said Moravec on his collaborations with the Society. "They are on a mission to make great art in a complex medium. And their dedication to championing new music is incredible ... this is my fourth collaboration with Kent and OSNY, and with every piece I write for them, I have the support and freedom to create something really special.

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A Nation of Others

Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at 8:00 pm
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall
57th Street and 7th Avenue
New York, NY 10019
Link: https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2022/11/15/Oratorio-Society-of-New-York-0800PM

Kent Tritle, conductor
Susanna Phillips, soprano
Maeve Höglund, soprano
Raehann Bryce-Davis, mezzo-soprano
Martin Bakari, tenor
Steven Eddy, baritone
Joseph Beutel, bass-baritone
Orchestra of the Society

MORAVEC / CAMPBELL: A Nation of Others
PATERSON: Whitman's America

Tickets, starting at $28, are available at carnegiehall.org. Subscriptions are available at a 15% discount through September 23 at osny.org. Tickets are also available via CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800, or at the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th and Seventh.