May 1-2: Trinity Church Joins with The Dessoff Choirs for Verdi’s Requiem and a World Premiere by Tania León

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Leah Rankin | Morahan Arts and Media
leah@morahanartsandmedia.com | 646.378.9386

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Trinity Church Joins with The Dessoff Choirs to Present
Verdi’s Requiem and a World Premiere by Tania León May 1-2,
In Celebration of Dessoff’s 100th Anniversary

In celebration of its 100th anniversary, The Dessoff Choirs, led by conductor Malcolm J. Merriweather, will be joined by the Trinity Choir, Downtown Voices, and NOVUS to perform Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem, with soloists Angela Meade, soprano; J'Nai Bridges, mezzo-soprano; Won Whi Choi, tenor; Kevin Short, bass-baritone

The evening will also feature the world premiere of a new choral work by Tania León, commissioned for Dessoff's centennial

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

www.dessoff.org

March 25, 2025 (New York, NY) – On Thursday, May 1 and Friday, May 2 at 7:00 PM, Trinity Church will present Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem, IGV 24 in collaboration with The Dessoff Choirs, which is celebrating its 100th Anniversary season. Together, these two venerable organizations have shaped New York City's cultural landscape, fostering a deep appreciation for choral music. These performances celebrate both legacy as well as musical innovation, and will include the world premiere of a new choral work by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Tania León, commissioned by Dessoff for the centennial.

The Dessoff Choirs will be joined by Trinity Choir, Downtown Voices, and NOVUS as well as soloists Angela Meade, soprano; J'Nai Bridges, mezzo-soprano; Won Whi Choi, tenor; and Kevin Short, bass-baritone. Both concerts will be conducted by GRAMMY-nominated conductor Malcolm J. Merriweather, director of the New York Philharmonic Chorus and music director of The Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra.

Tickets and information are available here for the May 1 concert and here for the May 2 concert. Tickets go on sale to the public on April 3.

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Program Information

Verdi Requiem
Thursday, May 1, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.
Trinity Church
Tickets: On sale starting April 3
Link: https://trinitychurchnyc.org/events/verdi-requiem-2025-05-01

Friday, May 2, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.
Trinity Church
Tickets: On sale starting April 3
Link: https://trinitychurchnyc.org/events/verdi-requiem-2025-05-02

Program:
VERDI: Requiem
TANIA LEÓN: New work (world premiere)

Artists:
The Dessoff Choirs
Trinity Choir
Downtown Voices
NOVUS

Malcolm J. Merriweather, conductor
Angela Meade, soprano
J’Nai Bridges, mezzo-soprano
Won Whi Choi, tenor
Kevin Short, bass-baritone

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About The Dessoff Choirs
The Dessoff Choirs, one of the leading choruses in New York City, is an independent chorus with an established reputation for pioneering performances of choral works from the Renaissance era through the 21st century. Founded in 1924 by Margarete Dessoff, the chorus is celebrating its centennial during the 2024-25 season with programs that reflect music from its rich history and move us forward into the next 100 years with new collaborations and commissions.

The ‘s’ in Choirs connotes the group’s various incarnations – from Dessoff’s core group of 50 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.

Dessoff's world-premiere recording of Margaret Bonds's Credo and Simon Bore the Cross was released in February 2023 and received rave reviews. WRTI wrote that “Margaret Bonds: Credo, Simon Bore the Cross brings new luster, and the utmost care of execution. Under the baton of Malcolm J. Merriweather, The Dessoff Choirs has a profound simpatico with Bonds’ mature compositional style...” We are also featured on a new album from Roomful of Teeth, Rough Magic, in a recently commissioned Eve Beglarian work, None More Than You.

Other recent discography includes Margaret Bonds: The Ballad of the Brown King & Selected Songs, a debut recording of Margaret Bonds’s crowning achievement, which was cited as a “Best Classical Recording of 2019” by WQXR-FM Radio; Reflections, featuring music by Convery, Corigliano, Moravec, and Rorem; and Glories on Glories, a collection of American song featuring composers from Billings to Ives.

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.

Learn more at www.dessoff.org.

About Malcolm J. Merriweather
Grammy-nominated conductor, Malcolm J. Merriweather, is the Director of the New York Philharmonic Chorus and Music Director of New York City’s, The Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra. He is a Professor of Music and the Tania León Chair of Music at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York.

He is a sought-after interpreter of symphonic choral works most recently conducting grand performances of Bach’s St. John Passion, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Handel’s Messiah. In addition to core symphonic works, he is known for the world premiere recordings of The Ballad of the Brown King, Credo, and Simon Bore the Cross by Margaret Bonds (AVIE Records) with The Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra. A frequent guest conductor, he has conducted the Choir of Trinity Wall Street and Novus Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.

Merriweather opens his season conducting works of Mary Lou Williams at Disney Concert Hall for Solange Knowles series, Glory to Glory (A Revival For Spiritual and Devotional Art). At the historic Town Hall he conducts Brahms’s Requiem for the centennial celebration of the Dessoff Choirs with soloists Will Liverman, baritone, and Joélle Harvey, soprano. He leads the Buffalo Philharmonic in performances of Paul Moravec’s Sanctuary Road and Margaret Bonds’s Montgomery Variations. His season concludes with performances of Verdi’s Requiem at Trinity Church, Wall Street.

Highlights from his 2023-2024 included a return to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to conduct choir and orchestra in the world premiere of Handel: Made in America with Terrance McKnight and soloists, Latonia Moore, J’Nai Bridges, Noah Stewart, and Davóne Tines. With the Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra, he conducted Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and two contemporary oratorios about the lives of Sojourner Truth (Valerie Capers) and Anne Frank (James Whitbourn). Continuing in his role as Director of the New York Philharmonic Chorus, he prepared the professional choir for the reprise of Émigré, An Oratorio, and Mahler 2 with the New York Philharmonic. In China with the New York Philharmonic Choir, he prepared the ensemble for the world premiere of Émigré with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.

Maestro Merriweather’s 2022-2023 began leading the Choir of Trinity Wall Street and Novus Orchestra in three performances (staged) of Considering Matthew Shepard. His new appointment as Director of the New York Philharmonic Chorus launched 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 and Orchestra, he conducted Duruflé’s Requiem, Bach’s St. John Passion, and motets by Vicente Lusitano, the first Black composer to have music published. This season included the long-awaited release of the premiere recording of Margaret Bonds’s Credo and Simon Bore the Cross with the AVIE label.

He has served on the faculty at the Manhattan School of Music and 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.

Dr. Merriweather has earned degrees from Eastman, Manhattan School of Music, and Syracuse University and was a fellow at Tanglewood. Connect with him on Twitter and Instagram @maestroweather and at malcolmjmerriweather.com

About Music at Trinity Church
Trinity Church’s groundbreaking music program—“the top of musical life in New York” (The New York Times)—has changed the landscape of performing arts in New York City, re-envisioning the impact arts organizations can have, with its peerless ensembles, uniquely broad range of expertise from early to new music performance, long tradition of championing underrepresented composers, and extensive and growing discography.

About Trinity Church
Trinity Church is an Episcopal parish in New York City founded in 1697. We work for justice, serve our neighbors, and bring people together to experience God’s love in community. Trinity’s outreach in the city includes 20 weekly worship services, food assistance seven days a week for people in need, support for asylum seekers, housing for the elderly and people living with disabilities, youth programs, and a wide array of free music and educational events throughout the year. The church also supports communities and ministries serving the world in Africa, Asia, and across the Americas.

About Trinity Choir
With peerless interpretation of both early and new music, Trinity Choir has redefined the realm of 21st-century vocal music, breaking new ground with artistry described as “blazing with vigour . . . a choir from heaven” (The Times, London). Critics have praised the choir’s performances as “thrilling” (The New Yorker), “musically top-notch” (The Wall Street Journal), and “simply superb” (The New York Times).  

In 2023 and 2024, the choir was featured in two world premiere oratorios: Luna Pearl Woolf’s Number Our Days at the Perelman Performing Arts Center and Benedict Sheehan’s Akathist, recorded alongside NOVUS, Downtown Voices, Artefact Ensemble, and Trinity Youth Chorus. Other recent highlights: Trinity’s yearly performances of Handel’s Messiah (with soloists from the choir); a production of Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard; Shall We Gather at the River, directed by Peter Sellars, and Tyshawn Sorey’s Monochromatic Light (Afterlife), at the Park Avenue Armory; PROTOTYPE Festival’s production of Huang Ruo’s Angel Island; Broken Chord at BAM (created by Gregory Maqoma and Thuthuka Sibisi); a concert in the inaugural Refuge series at the Perelman Performing Arts Center; Handel’s Theodora at Caramoor; Julia Wolfe’s Anthracite Fields; “Notes From Ukraine” at Carnegie Hall; a concert of Bach cantatas at Salle Bourgie in Montreal; and collaborations with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and the American Modern Opera Company.  

Trinity’s long-term commitment to new music has led to many collaborations with living composers, including Julia Wolfe, Du Yun, Ellen Reid, Trevor Weston, Mary Kouyoumdjian, Paola Prestini, Luna Pearl Woolf, Ralf Yusuf Gawlick, and Elena Ruehr. Trinity Choir is featured in recordings of three works that went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music: Julia Wolfe’s Anthracite Fields, Du Yun’s? Angel’s Bone, and Ellen Reid’s p r i s m. 

About Downtown Voices
Praised by? The New York Times for its “incisive, agile strength,” Downtown Voices is a semiprofessional choir conducted by Stephen Sands. Downtown Voices has performed works by Reena Esmail, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Arvo Pärt, Anton Webern, Alberto Ginastera, Leoš Janácek, James MacMillan, and Philip Glass. The choir was recently featured in two world premieres: Luna Pearl Woolf’s Number Our Days at the Perelman Performing Arts Center and Benedict Sheehan’s oratorio Akathist, which was recorded alongside Trinity Choir, Artefact Ensemble, Trinity Youth Chorus, and NOVUS. Downtown Voices made its Carnegie Hall debut in 2022 with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by JoAnn Falletta for the Lukas Foss Centennial Celebration.

Other recent performances include the New York premiere of Reena Esmail’s Malhaar: A Requiem for Water, Carl Orff’s?Carmina Burana?at the Ross Farm, and Beethoven’s Symphony?No. 9 at the Church of St. Paul & St. Andrew. At Trinity Church, the choir has performed at Compline by Candlelight and headlined numerous marquee concerts. Downtown Voices has been featured with Andrea Bocelli and can be heard on the epic recording Philip Glass: Symphony No. 5, released by Orange Mountain Music, as well as Benedict Sheehan’s Akathist on the Bright Shiny Things label.

About NOVUS
Trinity Church’s groundbreaking new-music ensemble, NOVUS, is a key player on the contemporary music scene. These “expert and versatile musicians” (The New Yorker) perform music from all corners of the repertoire, meeting “every challenge with an impressive combination of discipline and imagination” (New York Classical Review).

NOVUS is renowned for its innovative programming that asks audiences to grapple with vital social issues. In 2023, NOVUS launched its Renewal series focused on prison reform and climate change. This season, NOVUS presents Renewal: Shelter, which explores the challenges of being unhoused in America and includes the New York premiere of Gabriel Kahane’s compelling work emergency shelter intake form.  

At the PROTOTYPE Festival, NOVUS and Trinity Church have partnered with Beth Morrison Projects in the development of several major new works.?These include Emma O’Halloran’s opera pairing Trade/Mary Motorhead; two Pulitzer Prize-winning works: Ellen Reid’s p r i s m (2019) and Du Yun’s Angel’s Bone (2017); Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s Breaking the Waves; the East Coast premiere of Reid’s Dreams of the New World; and the world premiere of David T. Little’s revised version of ?Am I Born, which was recorded with NOVUS and Trinity Choir.    

NOVUS has forged strong links with many of today’s leading composers. In 2023–24, NOVUS was featured in two world premiere oratorios: Luna Pearl Woolf’s Number Our Days at the Perelman Performing Arts Center and Benedict Sheehan’s Akathist. The ensemble’s recordings include Sheehan’s Akathist, Grammy-nominated LUNA PEARL WOOLF: Fire and Flood; Prestini’s The Hubble Cantata; Du Yun’s ?Angel’s Bone;?Trevor Weston’s Choral Works;?Elena Ruehr’s Averno; Edward Thomas’s new opera Anna Christie; Ellen Reid’s
p r i s m;?and Philip Glass: Symphony No. 5.?

Photo of The Dessoff Choirs and Malcolm J. Merriweather at top of release by Fadi Kheir

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