An Evening of Maurice Duruflé: Complete Organ Works and Chamber Masterpiece

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

AN EVENING OF MAURICE DURUFLÉ: COMPLETE ORGAN WORKS AND CHAMBER MASTERPIECE
Featuring Raymond Nagem, Melissa Brassard, Bart Feller and Kal Sugatski

NEW YORK, NY - Dr. Raymond Nagem and friends will present an evening devoted to the music of Maurice Duruflé on Tuesday, April 21st at 7pm at The Brick Presbyterian Church (1140 Park Ave., New York, NY).
Renowned for his exacting standards, Duruflé left behind only a small body of work, each piece a finely honed masterpiece. The program will also feature Duruflé’s only chamber composition, the rarely performed Prélude, Récitatif, et Variations, Op. 3 for flute, viola, and piano. Featured performers will include Dr. Raymond Nagem and Melissa Brassard, performing on organ and piano respectively, Bart Feller on flute, and Kal Sugatski on viola.

Tickets are available at $35 for general admission and $15 for students, and all proceeds will benefit the Worship & Arts concert series at The Brick Presbyterian Church. For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit the church’s website.

This performance is part of Nagem’s 2026 national tour of Duruflé’s complete organ works, with appearances scheduled from February through June. A highly regarded interpreter of this repertoire, Nagem brings exceptional sensitivity and insight to these works, illuminating their intricate beauty and expressive depth. See a review of Dr. Nagem’s recital in La Jolla here.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Raymond Nagem is Minister of Music at The Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City, and a member of the organ faculty at Manhattan School of Music. He completed his D.M.A. at The Juilliard School in 2016, where he was a student of Paul Jacobs.

Dr. Nagem attended the Boston Archdiocesan Choir School and began organ lessons there with John Dunn. He earned his B.A. from Yale University in 2009, studying the organ with Thomas Murray, and his M.A. in 2011 from Juilliard.

Prior to his appointment at Brick, he served for eleven years at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, where he was Associate Director of Music and Organist. His album Divine Splendor, recorded on the Great Organ of St. John the Divine, is available on the Pro Organo label. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring of 2020, Dr. Nagem began a weekly online recital series from the cathedral, “Tuesdays at 6,” featuring a diverse range of music spanning the entire organ repertoire. In his spare time, he enjoys running, cycling, and crossword puzzles.

Beginning her studies at the age of 5, Melissa Brassard is an accomplished soloist, accompanist, and chamber musician from the Los Angeles area. Currently, Melissa is a student of Martin Jean at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, and serves as the Wilson Family Sacred Music Intern at Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City. She graduated from Oberlin College and Conservatory in 2024 with a Bachelor of Music degree, studying piano and organ performance.

Melissa was the recipient of the Music Teachers' Association of California’s Memorial Music Scholarship, a finalist in the 2021 Rudolf Serkin Piano Competition, and a recipient of the Colburn Merit Scholarship. She has served as organist and accompanist at the Church of Saint Clarence, North Olmsted and First United Methodist Church, Pasadena. Melissa’s previous teachers include Jonathan Moyer and Alvin Chow.

Bart Feller is principal flute of the New Jersey Symphony, New York City Opera Orchestra, and Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. He has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Bargemusic, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and has also appeared as concerto soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Jupiter Symphony.

A graduate of the Juilliard Pre-College Division, Feller holds a BM from the Curtis Institute of Music, where his teachers included Julius Baker and John Krell. He has also worked extensively with Keith Underwood. Among the summer festivals he has participated in are the Marlboro Music Festival, OK Mozart International Festival, Colorado College Chamber Music Festival, Napa Valley Chamber Music Festival, and the Grand Teton Music Festival. Feller has been a faculty member at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University since 1994 and joined Juilliard’s Pre-College Division faculty in 2004.

Violist Kal Sugatski performs regularly with the New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, New York City Ballet, International Contemporary Ensemble, New Jersey Symphony, and on Broadway. They have also appeared with Stevie Wonder, Ben Folds, Norah Jones, Andrea Bocelli, and The National. Their playing can be heard on over 50 recordings and soundtracks, including Judas and the Black Messiah, and other Grammy-winning albums.

Kal was a 2021-2022 season musician with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. They were a member of New World Symphony, where they were co-principal violist under the baton of Michael Tilson-Thomas and gave their solo debut. They have been featured on NPR twice, both as a soloist and chamber musician. Their 2022-2023 season highlights include performances with the New York Philharmonic, concerts with ChamberQUEER, international touring with American Contemporary Music Ensemble and Max Richter, and community concerts all over NYC with Orchestra of St. Luke’s.

Kal is a native of Portland, Maine and holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Manhattan School of Music. In their spare time they are a long-distance backpacker, winter hiker, ocean swimmer, and nature enthusiast.

ABOUT WORSHIP & ARTS

Brick Church’s concert series, Worship & Arts, welcomes all to experience the joyous, uplifting power of the performing arts. Worship & Arts offers concerts and special worship services throughout the year, featuring Brick’s superb Chancel Choir, recitals on the church’s magnificent Casavant organ, as well as performances by extraordinary guest artists and ensembles from New York City’s vibrant artistic scene. Now in its second season, the program has grown to become an important part of the Brick congregation’s offerings, and a valued part of the New York City arts community. To view the entire 2025–26 season, please visit this page.

At Brick Church, we believe that music, dance, and drama can comfort, inspire, challenge, and bring us closer to the divine, showing us God’s glory reflected in all beautiful things. Join us and share in the warmth, excellence, and energy of the performing arts at Brick!

ABOUT THE BRICK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Brick Church is a lively and growing congregation of the Presbyterian Church (U. S. A.) that has been meeting to worship God and serve the New York community since 1767. We welcome all people to our worship services, Sundays at 11 am followed by a coffee hour, and all seasonal weekday services. Brick Church sponsors thriving preschool programs that feed the hungry, as well as community outreach to the Upper East side neighborhood and beyond.

Our congregation, members and visitors have worshipped in three locations in New York City. The first church was on Beekman Street across from today’s City Hall. The church moved to Fifth Avenue and 37th Street in 1858, and remained there until 1940, when we built its present sanctuary at Park Avenue and 91st Street and opened a privately-funded preschool.

Every year since 1945, the Christmas trees on Park Avenue have been lit on the first Sunday in December, during a ceremony on the church steps. Church members, neighborhood residents, and visitors from near and far gather to sing carols and honor those who have died in all of our country's wars.