Oratorio Society of New York Digitally Releases 'A Nation of Others'

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mallory McFarland | Morahan Arts and Media
mallory@morahanartsandmedia.com | (646) 241-0899

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THE ORATORIO SOCIETY OF
NEW YORK RELEASES
A NATION OF OTHERS

Digital release of Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell’s epic oratorio features Susanna Phillips, Maeve Höglund, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Martin Bakari, Steven Eddy, and Joseph Beutel led by Maestro Kent Tritle

Digital Album Out Today on
Lexicon Classics

 

Purchase and Stream the Album Here

New York, NY (April 26, 2024) —Today, the Oratorio Society of New York (OSNY) digitally releases A Nation of Others on Lexicon Classics. This recording of composer Paul Moravec and librettist Mark Campbell’s oratorio features sopranos Susanna Phillips and Maeve Höglund, mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis, tenor Martin Bakari, baritone Steven Eddy, and bass-baritone Joseph Beutel led by Maestro Kent Tritle, OSNY Music Director. The album also features the talents of Blake Friedman, Henry Griffin, Mark Hanke, Marcus Jefferson, Andrew Jurden, and Ross Macatangay plus the renowned Chorus and Orchestra of the Oratorio Society of New York. Purchase and stream the album here. A limited physical release of A Nation of Others will happen later in 2024.

Moravec and Campbell – the Pulitzer Prize-winning team behind the celebrated Grammy-nominated Sanctuary Road – created A Nation of Others in collaboration with OSNY to develop the new commission. This new album on Lexicon Classics is a live recording from the work’s world premiere on November 15, 2022 at Carnegie Hall, when the Oratorio Society of New York presented A Nation of Others on its season-opening concert to critical acclaim. Broadway World hailed it as “a fine evening, a glowing event” while Opera News praised the chorus and “excellent orchestra” which “responded well to the precise gestures from conductor Kent Tritle, who [...] marshaled his forces impressively. It felt like an event.”

A Nation of Others is an epic work that follows the individual stories of immigrants as they pass through Ellis Island on a single day in 1921. Displaying the power of the oratorio form, these stories act as a reminder that our country is greater and stronger because of its heterogeneity.

According to composer Paul Moravec, “The stories naturally involve the cataclysmic disruptions and traumatic aftermath of World War I. As such, much of the music has a martial character, a stylistic theme running throughout the drama. In addition, each of the characters is associated with his or her own distinctive Leitmotiv or sound-world, the musical development of which conveys the progress of the particular personal narrative. A distinctly different musical sound-world suggests the emotional and physical stress for the crowds of immigrants in the course of official processing and documentation.” He continues, “A Nation of Others is the story of ordinary individuals whose names would be known only to their friends, families, and descendants. In this oratorio, Mark and I intend to acknowledge and illumine the essential sanctity of human existence in its countless manifestations. Here we lend this quiet reality a voice and make it audible.”

Librettist Mark Campbell remarks, “Oratorios don't typically observe the classic unities of time and place. Oratorios usually start big with a full chorus; this one begins quietly with a solo voice. Oratorios commonly use sacred text; this one involves simple, character-driven language and even a dash of humor. These subversions of the form were driven by content more than anything else. I wanted to open the oratorio with a hopeful and humble account rather than a grand statement so that the audience could connect directly with an individual before expanding the story with larger forces.” He further shares, “While A Nation of Others doesn't neglect the darker aspects of the Ellis Island experience, the work is ultimately a plea for compassion – a feeling that is sorely needed in our country at this time.”

“Teaching, rehearsing, and then conducting the premiere of A Nation of Others was the thrill of a lifetime!” shares Music Director Kent Tritle. “This important oratorio dramatically conveys “What Makes America Great” – through a visit to Ellis Island. The stories of our immigrant forebears, from tragic to joyous, combine to create a vibrant celebration of our national fabric. We owe a debt of gratitude to Mark Campbell and Paul Moravec for their creative genius!”

A Nation of Others Tracklist

1. Caltagirone/We Are Here (7:38)
   Martin Bakari, OSNY Chorus

2. Tralee (3:50)
   Steven Eddy

3. Inspection 1 (0:53)
   Male Sextet

4. Przemysl (3:22)
   Raehann Bryce-Davis, Joseph Beutel

5. I Carry (1:46)
   OSNY Chorus

6. Inspection 2/Zagreb (3:20)
   Maeve Höglund, Male Sextet

7. The Strange New Land (3:04)
   Martin Bakari, Steven Eddy, Joseph Beutel

8. Move Along (2:36)
   All Soloists, Chorus, Male Sextet

9. Proskurov (5:05)
   Susanna Phillips

10. Interview 1 (1:06)
    Male Sextet

11. Kvarnberg (2:41)
    Susanna Phillips, Maeve Höglund, Raehan Bryce-Davis

12. Interview 2 (3:03)
    Male Sextet, OSNY Chorus

13. Detainment (2:12)
    Susanna Phillips, Maeve Höglund, Martin Bakari, Steven Eddy, Joseph Beutel

14. Trabzon/Madrid - Prayer (10:43)
    Steven Eddy, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Maeve Hoglund, Susanna Phillips

15. And So It Is Done/This Strange New Land (10:56)
    All Soloists, OSNY Chorus

Total Time: 64:35

Executive Producer: Gillian Risen
Producers: Adam Abeshouse, Robert Conley, Richard Pace
Mixing, Mastering, Editing: Adam Abeshouse
Artwork design: Gillian Risen, Emitha Studios
images courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

Recorded live on November 15, 2022 at Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall, New York, New York.

About Paul Moravec
Paul Moravec, recipient of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in Music, is the composer of over 200 orchestral, chamber, lyric, choral, and operatic works. A Nation of Others marks his fourth association with OSNY, following Songs of Love and War (2008), and the oratorios The Blizzard Voices (2013) and Sanctuary Road (2018).

His extensive discography includes Northern Lights Electric and The Blizzard Voices on BOP Sound; Music, Awake! with the Bach Society Chorus; Amorisms on Delos/Naxos; and six albums for Naxos American Classics: Tempest Fantasy, The Time Gallery, Cool Fire, Useful Knowledge, Violin Concerto, and the Grammy-nominated Sanctuary Road. A graduate of Harvard and Columbia universities, he holds the distinguished rank of University Professor at Adelphi University, and has served as Artist-in-Residence at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton as well as Composer-in-Residence at the American Academy in Rome.

About Mark Campbell
The Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award-winning operas of librettist/lyricist Mark Campbell are among the most successful in the contemporary canon. Mark has written 41 opera librettos, lyrics for 7 musicals, and text for 11 song cycles and 5 oratorios. His works include Silent Night, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, As One, Elizabeth Cree, Sanctuary Road, The Manchurian Candidate, Stonewall, The Nefarious, Immoral but Highly Profitable Enterprise of Mr. Burke & Mr. Hare, A Thousand Acres, Edward Tulane, Unruly Sun, The Cook-Off, Later the Same Evening, A Year to the Day, and Songs from an Unmade Bed. Mark mentors future generations of librettists and composers at the American Opera Project, American Lyric Theatre, and as a founding member of the American Opera Initiative. He created and funds the annual Campbell Opera Librettist Prize, the first award for opera librettists in the history of the art form and co-created the True Voice Award to support the training of transgender and non-binary singers. He was recently awarded the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Opera Association. www.markcampbellwords.com

About Kent Tritle
Kent Tritle is one of America’s leading choral conductors. Called “the brightest star in New York's choral music world” by The New York Times, he is Director of Cathedral Music and Organist at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City; Music Director of the Oratorio Society of New York, the acclaimed avocational chorus; and Music Director of Musica Sacra, New York’s elite professional chorus. In addition, Kent is a member of the graduate faculty of The Juilliard School, serving its Vocal Arts Department. An acclaimed organ virtuoso, he is also the organist of the New York Philharmonic.

Kent Tritle’s discography features more than 20 recordings on the Telarc, Naxos, AMDG, Epiphany, Gothic, VAI, and MSR Classics labels. Recent releases include the Grammy-nominated Naxos recording of the Paul Moravec/Mark Campbell oratorio Sanctuary Road with the Oratorio Society of New York; Mahler's Symphony No. 8 in David Briggs's organ-choral version, and Eternal Reflections: Choral Music of Robert Paterson with Musica Sacra. Other releases include the 2013 recording of Juraj Filas’ Requiem, Oratio Spei dedicated to the victims of 9/11, with the Prague Symphony Orchestra and the Kühn Choir; Messages to Myself, an acclaimed recording with Musica Sacra of five new works; and recordings – including Cool of the Day, an a cappella program of music ranging from Gregorian chant, Palestrina, and spirituals to Strauss’s Deutsche Motette, and Ginastera’s The Lamentations of Jeremiah with Schnittke’s Concerto for Choir – with the Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola.

Kent Tritle is renowned as a master clinician, giving workshops on conducting and repertoire; he leads annual choral workshops at the Amherst Early Music Festival, and recent years have included workshops at Berkshire Choral International, Summer@Eastman, and at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. As Director of Choral Activities at the Manhattan School of Music from 2008 to 2022, Kent established the school’s first doctoral program in choral conducting. A Juilliard School faculty member since 1996, he currently directs a graduate practicum on oratorio in collaboration with the school’s Vocal Arts Department.

Kent Tritle founded the Sacred Music in a Sacred Space concert series at New York’s Church of St. Ignatius Loyola and led it to great acclaim from 1989 to 2011. From 1996 to 2004, he was Music Director of New York’s The Dessoff Choirs. Kent hosted “The Choral Mix with Kent Tritle” on New York’s WQXR, a weekly program devoted to the vibrant world of choral music, from 2010 to 2014. Among his recent honors are the 2020 Chorus America Michael Korn Founders Award for Development of the Professional Choral Art, the 2017 Distinguished Achievement Award from Career Bridges, and the 2016 President’s Medal for Distinguished Service from the Manhattan School of Music. Kent is on the advisory boards of the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective (C4) and the Clarion Music Society, and was the 2016 honoree at Clarion’s annual gala. He was recently featured in the WIRED video series “Masterminds,” an installment titled, “What Conductors Are Really Doing”.

About Susanna Phillips
Alabama-born soprano Susanna Phillips is one of today's most sought-after singing actors and recitalists. Ms. Phillips is a recipient of The Metropolitan Opera's 2010 Beverly Sills Artist Award. Known for her sparkling portrayal of Musetta in La Bohème, Ms. Phillips has sung at the Met as Musetta, Pamina, Donna Anna, Rosalinde, Antonia/Stella, Micaela, Donna Elvira, and most recently in her role debut as Mimi. Role highlights at the Met under James Levine include Fiordigili, which The New York Times called a "breakthrough night", and Clémence in the Met premiere of Kaija Saariaho's L'amour de Loin. Ms. Phillips was also a featured artist in the Met's Summer Recital series.

In the current season, Ms. Phillips joins Boston Baroque for Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra for Beethoven 9. She joins both Music of the Baroque and Oratorio Society of New York for the Mozart Requiem and Bach Magnificat, and returns to OSNY later in the season for Beethoven 9 and Mahler 2. In addition, she presents recitals with Myra Huang, Gloria Chein, and Anthony McGill at Dallas Chamber Music Society, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Spivey Hall in Atlanta, and other venues and dates to be announced. Last season, Ms. Phillips returned to the Metropolitan Opera for role debut as Mimi in La Bohème. She joined the Dallas Symphony for Mendelssohn's Lobgesang and the Utah Symphony for Elijah with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Other concert and recital engagements included Strauss's Vier letzte Lieder with the Amarillo Symphony, a recital with True Concord at the Tuscon Desert Song Festival, Vaughan Williams's Sea Symphony with Oregon Bach Festival, and a recital with Chamber Music Northwest.

About Maeve Höglund
The New York Times praised Maeve Höglund as "a striking soprano," and Opera News quoted her having "a wealth of dynamic control and formidable florid technique." She is currently a Fest ensemble member with Theater Freiburg in Germany and will debut this season: Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, Anne Trulove in Rake's Progress, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, and Jenny in Stephen Sondheim's Company. She returns to Chicago this summer to sing Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with the Grant Music Festival. Recent work includes her debut at Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Lola in the world premiere of David Hertzberg's The Wake World with Opera Philadelphia, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro with Michigan Opera Theatre, Leila in Les pêcheurs de perles with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Lucia di Lammermoor (title role) and Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Maryland Lyric Opera, Strauss's Vier letzte Lieder (Oregon Symphony), Vaughn Williams's Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant Music Festival in Chicago), Haydn's The Creation (Aspen Music Festival), and Mahler's Symphony No. 4 with the Portland Symphony Orchestra.

Recordings include: David Hertzberg's opera, The Wake World, released by Tzadik Records, Stefan Weisman's opera, Darkling, released by Albany Records, as well as a collection of works for the voice by Mira J. Spektor, Summer and Winter Songs, released by Navona Records. Distinctions include an Opera Awards Foundation Grant and a Giulio Gari Foundation Scholarship; Ms. Höglund is also a Gerda Lissner Award recipient and a Bel Canto Vocal Scholarship Competition winner.

About Raehann Bryce-Davis
Raehann Bryce-Davis has been hailed by The New York Times as a "striking mezzo soprano" and by the San Francisco Chronicle for her "electrifying sense of fearlessness."

In the 2023-2024 season, Ms. Bryce-Davis debuts at Santa Fe Opera as Jezibaba in Rusalka in a new production directed by Sir David Pountney and conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya, and at Opera Philadelphia as Lizzie in the world premiere of 10 Days in a Madhouse. Raehann will return to the Metropolitan Opera as Ella in X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X in a new production by Robert O' Hare and Dutch National Opera to sing La Zia Principessa in Il Trittico, a new Barrie Kosky production conducted by Lorenzo Viotti.

Ms. Bryce-Davis is a recipient of the George London; the 1st Place and Audience Prize-winner of the Concorso Lirico Internazionale di Portofino, chaired by Dominique Meyer; winner of the 2016 Richard F. Gold Career Grant at the Merola Opera Program; winner of the 2015 Hilde Zadek Competition at the Musikverein in Vienna; and the 2015 Sedat Gürel - Güzin Gürel International Voice Competition in Istanbul. She holds a Master of Music and Professional Studies certificate from the Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Texas at Arlington.

About Martin Bakari
Praised by Opera News as a "vocally charismatic" performer with a "golden tenor," Martin Bakari's recent engagements include the title role in Charlie Parker's Yardbird (Atlanta Opera, Arizona Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Dayton Opera, New Orleans Opera), the tenor soloist in Carmina Burana (Cecilia Chorus of New York at Carnegie Hall, Symphony San Jose) and the premiere of Paul Moravec's A Nation of Others (Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall), Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance (Virginia Opera), Pong in Turandot (Opera Colorado), Jalil/Wakil/Guard in the premiere of Sheila Silver's A Thousand Splendid Suns (Seattle Opera), Don Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro (Seattle Opera, Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival), Goro in Madama Butterfly (Dallas Opera), The Cartography Project (Washington National Opera, The Kennedy Center), and a United Kingdom recital tour (Mirror Visions Ensemble). Internationally, he has also appeared at major venues in Munich, Hamburg, Dresden, Frankfurt, Cologne, Tel Aviv, and Bari.

Mr. Bakari's 2023-24 season includes Mime in Das Rheingold (Seattle Opera), the tenor soloist in Messiah (Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall), and Kodály's Psalmus Hungaricus (Grant Park Music Festival), Dr. Caius in Falstaff and Wilson (cover) in the premiere of Jake Heggie's Intelligence (Houston Grand Opera), Charlie Parker in Yardbird (Indianapolis Opera), Goro in Madama Butterfly (Opera Philadelphia), and Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance (Kentucky Opera).

A 2018 George London Competition award winner, Mr. Bakari's recording of Grigory Smirnov's Dowson Songs (Naxos) was featured by Opera News as a "Critic's Choice" album.

About Stephen Eddy
An accomplished concert artist and Baroque music specialist, baritone Steven Eddy has appeared both as a soloist and as a professional choral singer with The Oratorio Society of New York, Seraphic Fire, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, True Concord Voices and Orchestra, The Clarion Choir, Spire Chamber Ensemble, Lancaster Symphony Orchestra, American Classical Orchestra, Sacred Music in a Sacred Space, and Choral Arts Philadelphia, among many others. Mr. Eddy made his New York Philharmonic debut in David Lang's prisoner of the state and has appeared on the opera stage with Fort Worth Opera, Opera Saratoga, Opera Birmingham, LoftOpera, and the Tanglewood Music Center. Mr. Eddy is the 1st Prize winner of the 2019 Oratorio Society of New York Competition and the 2015 Joy in Singing Debut Artist Award, which led to his recital debut at New York's Merkin Concert Hall. He was a Regional Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

About Joseph Beutel
"An imposing bass-baritone," as reviewed by Opera News, Joseph Beutel is often praised for his "deep well-rounded tone," and overall richness of voice and versatility on stage. Making his career across five continents, Beutel enjoys performing traditional operas and originating roles in new and experimental works. He also has had the privilege of a concert career in oratorio and other concert works. Some roles of note include originating the role of the British Major in Silent Night, Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell's Pulitzer Prize-winning opera, and in 2018 originating the role of Sir in Mila, an opera commissioned by Asia Society Hong Kong. Most recently he made his Figaro debut in Marriage of Figaro with Intermountain Opera in Bozeman, MT. Beutel has performed with companies that include the Santa Fe Opera, NYCO, the New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, Mark Morris Dance Company, English Concert, Seattle Opera, Minnesota Opera, and Sarasota Opera. He also enjoys performing musical theater with credits from Encores! at City Center and Live at Lincoln Center featured on PBS. Recordings include the Grammy-nominated Memory Eternal to the Fallen Heroes (Requiem) by Alexander Kastalsky, performed live on the 100th anniversary of the WWI armistice in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., released on the Naxos label.

About the Oratorio Society of New York
Celebrating its 150th anniversary during the 2023-2024 season, the Oratorio Society of New York (OSNY.ORG) is one of the oldest musical organizations in the United States and has become New York City’s standard for grand choral performance. Founded in 1873 by Leopold Damrosch, the Society has played an integral role in the musical life of the city. In its early years, the Society established a fund to finance the building of a new concert hall, a cause taken up in earnest by the Society’s fifth president, Andrew Carnegie. In 1891, under the direction of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, the Society helped inaugurate this new Music Hall, which would be renamed Carnegie Hall several years later.

The Society continues to perform several times each season at Carnegie Hall. Its annual performances of Handel’s Messiah, a New York holiday tradition unbroken since 1874, have become a holiday favorite with New York audiences. In addition to its collaborations with the New York Philharmonic and Orchestra of St. Luke’s, as well as other performing arts institutions, the Society performs internationally every few years – including recent concerts in Japan, Uruguay, Germany, Italy, and Brazil.

The Society is also committed to commissioning and championing new works, including most recently two pieces by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Paul Moravec and Grammy Award-winning librettist Mark Campbell: Sanctuary Road, the recording of which was nominated for a 2021 Grammy Award and is available from Naxos Records, and A Nation of Others, which saw its premiere in November 2022 after multiple pandemic-related delays. The recording of the premiere will also be commercially released.

The OSNY membership consists of avocational and professionally trained singers, as well as non-singing members. Auditions are held twice annually at the beginning of the fall and winter terms. OSNY is a not-for-profit 501c3 corporation governed by a volunteer board of directors with a professional music staff and executive director.

OSNY was awarded the Handel Medallion in 1974 and helped found the New York Choral Consortium.

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