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The Dessoff Choirs Presents
J.S. Bach's St. John Passion

Saturday, May 6, 2023 at Mother AME Zion Church in Harlem

“Full-bodied sound and suppleness” –The New York Times

www.dessoff.org

March 29, 2023 (New York, NY) – The Dessoff Choirs, led by Music Director Malcolm J. Merriweather, concludes its 2022-23 season with a performance of J.S. Bach’s iconic St. John Passion, sung in English, at Mother AME Zion Church (140 W 137th St) on Saturday, May 6, 2023 at 4:00pm.

Committed to expanding the audience for great choral classics, Dessoff is excited to bring a new English translation of Bach’s masterpiece to Mother AME Zion Church in Central Harlem. This new English translation of St. John Passion is by Madeleine Marshall, commissioned by the Bach Society of Houston and their music Director, Rick Erickson. Merriweather sang the role of Jesus and the bass solos in the Bach Society of Houston premiere. By using this new, contemporary English translation, all audience members will be able to have an immediate understanding of the Passion story.

Accompanying the Dessoff Choirs will be a period orchestra organized by concertmaster Katie Hyun, and joining as soloists are tenor Noah Stewart as the Evangelist, soprano Sonya Headlam, tenor Elliott James Encarnación, and bass Kevin Thompson. The alto soloist will be announced at a later date.

“I can't wait to bring this new English translation to our audiences,” Music Director Malcolm J. Merriweather shares. “When I premiered this version with the Bach Society of Houston, I was struck by the immediacy of the experience ranging from misery, betrayal, and relief. This impactful experience moved me to bring this new addition and option in the repertory to New York.”

On February 3, 2023, at the start of Black History Month, Dessoff released the world premiere recordings of two cantatas, Credo and Simon Bore the Cross, by 20th-century African American composer Margaret Bonds. Credo is set to the W. E. B. Du Bois’ prose poem of the same name. Simon Bore the Cross was one of several collaborations between Bonds and her close friend, poet Langston Hughes. The recording, which is the ensemble’s second for AVIE Records, spotlights The Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra, conducted by Malcolm J. Merriweather, along with soloists Janinah Burnett, soprano, and Dashon Burton, bass-baritone. The Dessoff Choirs’ performance of Credo is from an authoritative edition by Temple University music professor Rollo Dilworth; the edition and orchestration of Simon Bore the Cross are by Malcolm J. Merriweather.

Concert Information
J. S. Bach's St. John Passion
Saturday, May 6, 2023 at 4:00pm
Mother AME Zion Church | 140 West 137th Street | NY, NY 10030
Tickets: $24-$50
Link: https://www.dessoff.org/events/st-john-passion

J.S. BACH: Passion According to Saint John

English translation by Madeline Marshall

Noah Stewart, tenor and Evangelist
Sonya Headlam, soprano
Elliott James Encarnación, tenor
Kevin Thompson, bass
Malcolm J. Merriweather, conductor
Katie Hyun, concertmaster
The Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra

Proof of Covid-19 vaccination is required for entry and will be confirmed at the door of the venue upon arrival; vaccination card or NY State Excelsior Pass must be presented. Masks are required for the entire duration of all Dessoff events for all members of the audience.

About The Dessoff Choirs
The Dessoff Choirs, under the baton of Malcolm J. Merriweather, music director, is one of the leading choruses in New York City, with an established reputation for pioneering performances of choral works from the Renaissance era through the 21st century. The ‘s’ in Choirs connotes the group’s various incarnations – from Dessoff’s core group of 60 singers, to the Symphonic Choir assembled for larger engagements and Chamber Choir selected to present more intimate works. Since its founding in 1924, Dessoff’s mission is to enrich the lives of its audiences and members by giving voice to new or rarely heard, forgotten music and composers; and to bring great choral works to New York audiences in new ways. Dessoff concerts, professional collaborations, community outreach, and educational initiatives are dedicated to stimulating public interest in and appreciation of choral music as an art form that enhances the culture and life of these times.

With repertoire ranging over a wide variety of eras and styles, Dessoff’s musical acumen and flexibility has been recognized with invitations from major orchestras for oratorios and orchestral works. Past performances include Britten’s War Requiem and Mahler’s Symphony No.8 with Lorin Maazel in his final performances as Music Director with the New York Philharmonic. Over the course of its near-100-year history, Dessoff has presented many world premieres, including works by Virgil Thomson, George Perle, Paul Moravec, and Ricky Ian Gordon; the first American performance in nearly 100 years of Montemezzi’s opera La Nave with Teatro Grattacielo; and the American premieres of Philip Glass’s Symphony No.5 and John Tavener’s all-night vigil, The Veil of the Temple.

The Dessoff Choirs is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

About Malcolm J. Merriweather
Conductor and baritone Malcolm J. Merriweather is the ninth Music Director of New York City’s Dessoff Choirs, known for its performances of great choral works from the pre-Baroque era through the 21st century.

 Merriweather enjoys a versatile career, with performances ranging from the songs of Margaret Bonds to gems of the symphonic choral repertoire. The baritone can be heard on the GRAMMY-nominated recording of Paul Moravec’s Sanctuary Road (NAXOS). Hailed by Opera News as “moving…expertly interpreted,” Margaret Bonds: The Ballad of the Brown King & Selected Songs (AVIE) has earned considerable praise around the world.

In addition, Merriweather is the Director of the New York Philharmonic Chorus. An Associate Professor and Director of Choral Studies and Voice Department Coordinator at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, he has also joined the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music. He was the founding Artistic Director of “Voices of Haiti,” a 60-member children’s choir in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, operated by the Andrea Bocelli Foundation.

Maestro Merriweather’s 2022–23 season opened with the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, where he led three staged performances of Considering Matthew Shepard. He began his new appointment as Director of the New York Philharmonic Chorus by preparing the professional choir for three programs throughout the season for Maestro Jaap van Zweden, including Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony for the reopening of David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. With the Dessoff Choirs he conducts Duruflé’s Requiem, Bach’s St. John Passion, and motets by Vicente Lusitano, the first published Black composer. This season includes the long-awaited release of the world premiere recordings of Margaret Bonds’ Credo and Simon Bore the Cross (AVIE Records). Merriweather’s solo baritone engagements include Handel’s Messiah at Carnegie Hall and Sanctuary Road with the Cincinnati May Festival and the Penn Square Music Festival.

Merriweather has been featured as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Dessoff Choirs, the New York Choral Society, and the Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New York City. The baritone has premiered contemporary solo works by Eve Beglarian, John Liberatore, Juri Seo, Douglas Fisk, and James Adler. He has been a fellowship recipient at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and at the Tanglewood Music Center.

Merriweather holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Conducting from the studio of Kent Tritle at the Manhattan School of Music, where his doctoral dissertation, “Now I Walk in Beauty, Gregg Smith: A Biography and Complete Works Catalog”, constituted the first complete works list for the composer and conductor. He received Master of Music degrees in Choral Conducting and in Vocal Performance from the studio of Rita Shane at the Eastman School of Music, as well as his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Syracuse University, summa cum laude.

His professional affiliations include memberships in Pi Kappa Lambda, the American Choral Directors Association, and Chorus America. He was previously Music Director of the West Village Chorale, Organist and Choirmaster at the Church of St. Luke and St. Simon of Cyrene (Episcopal) in Rochester, NY, and, for five years, Associate Choirmaster at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City. Connect with him on Twitter and Instagram @maestroweather and at www.malcolmjmerriweather.com.

Photo at top of release by Stephanie Berger

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