The Cecilia Chorus of New York Marks 120 Years of Performances with A Program For Our Moment Concert at Carnegie Hall on April 17

New York, NY — On Friday, April 17 at 8 PM, The Cecilia Chorus of New York — celebrating its 120th year — presents a timely concert of Premieres and choral masterworks at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. The program, Buller, Sirota, and Haydn, brings together three choral works united by a single, theme: humanity's yearning for peace amid war.

The evening begins with the world premiere of A Call for the Battle to Cease by Robert and Victoria Sirota (https://www.robertsirota.com/) — a new work modeled on Beethoven's Choral Fantasy and performed with pianist Simone Dinnerstein (https://www.simonedinnerstein.com/)), whom The Washington Post has called "spellbinding." It marks Dinnerstein's first performance with the Chorus.

The program continues with the New York Premiere of Mass in Exile by composer Mark Buller (https://www.markbullercomposer.com/) with a libretto by Leah Lax — a reimagining of the traditional mass structure through the lens of displacement, faith, and belonging. Commissioned for the Grammy Award-winning Houston Chamber Choir and recently recorded by Conspirare on the Divine Art label, this will be the works’ New York debut.

The program concludes with excerpts from Haydn's Mass in Time of War, completing a triptych that spans three centuries of composers confronting the same unanswerable question.

"In a world that feels increasingly fractured," says Music Director Mark Shapiro, "these three works don't offer easy comfort — they offer honest witness. That's what great choral music does, and it's what we've been doing for 120 years."

The Cecilia Chorus is joined for this concert by Every Voice Children's Choir (https://everyvoicechoirs.org/), the All-City Chorus, and the Singers' Workshop at Teachers College, Columbia University, with soloists Karen Vuong (soprano), Marcella Astore (mezzo-soprano), Henry Drangel (tenor), and Shavon Lloyd (baritone), and guitarist David Leisner.

For tickets:

Single tickets for April 17 range from $20 to $120 and are available online at https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2026/04/17/The-Cecilia-Chorus-of-New-York-with-Orchestra-0800PM, by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or visiting the box office at 57^th Street and 7th Avenue. 

For more about this concert, visit http://www.ceciliachorusny.org/ or call 646-638-2535. CCNY Carnegie Hall concerts are ADA accessible. For MTA transportation information, visit https://new.mta.info/tripplanner/results.

About the Chorus:

The Cecilia Chorus of New York has received a Cultural Development Fund grant from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.

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