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Press Releases
The Oratorio Society of New York Announces 2026–27 Season
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katlyn Morahan | Morahan Arts and Media
katlyn@morahanartsandmedia.com | 646.378.9386
THE ORATORIO SOCIETY OF NEW YORK
ANNOUNCES ITS 2026-2027 SEASON
New York, NY (June 17, 2026) — The Oratorio Society of New York (OSNY) announces its 2026–27 concert season — its 153rd season, making it one of the oldest performing arts organizations in the country. Season highlights include performances of Fauré Requiem paired with Jasmine Barnes’s Portraits, Handel’s Messiah, and the Bach Mass in B minor. All performances will be led by Maestro Kent Tritle, accompanied by the Orchestra of the Society, and will take place in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall unless otherwise indicated. Subscriptions are available now, starting at $105.
Regarding the upcoming season, Music Director Kent Tritle shares, “This season truly plumbs the spectrum of great choral music from Handel and Bach to Fauré and Brahms to Jasmine Barnes, whose Portraits will receive its Carnegie Hall debut. I am so proud of this chorus as our performances continue to reach new heights of musical excellence and emotional communication. Through the music of these great composers, we will raise the rafters of Carnegie Hall as only a 200-voice chorus can do. I hope you will join us!”
The season opens on Tuesday, November 10, 2026 at 8:00 pm with Fauré’s Requiem anchoring a program that also includes Beethoven’s Elegischer Gesang, Brahms’ Vier Gesänge for women's chorus, horns, and harp, and Jasmine Barnes’ Portraits: Douglass and Tubman, a choral-orchestral song cycle setting the words of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman. Soloists are soprano Zen Wu, making her Carnegie Hall debut, and baritone Jesse Blumberg.
The Oratorio Society of New York will present its annual performance of Handel’s Messiah, now in its 152nd consecutive year. A holiday tradition since 1874, this year’s performance on Monday, December 21, 2026 at 7:00 pm includes soloists Jennifer Zetlan, soprano, Daniel Moody, countertenor, Brian Giebler, tenor, and Jonathan Woody, bass-baritone, making his Carnegie Hall debut.
A special post-Evensong event: excerpts from Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil, performed in the stunning sanctuary of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on Sunday, February 7, 2027 at 5:00 pm under the direction of OSNY Associate Conductor, David Rosenmeyer. This 30-minute concert is free of charge and offers a rare opportunity to hear this 200-voice choir sing a cappella.
This year marks the 50th Anniversary of OSNY's Lyndon Woodside Oratorio Solo Competition – the longest-running and most prestigious competition devoted to oratorio singing in the U.S. The Finals Concert on Saturday, April 10, 2027 at 1:30 pm at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall showcases this season’s prize winners, offering audiences an early encounter with the next generation of great choral voices. The competition's distinguished alumni speak for themselves: recent past winners appearing with OSNY this season include countertenor Daniel Moody and tenor Brian Giebler (Messiah), and soprano Elisse Albian and tenor Maximillian Jansen (Bach B minor Mass).
The season concludes on Monday, May 3, 2027 at 7:00 pm with one of the most magnificent works in all of Western music, Bach’s Mass in B minor. Soloists are soprano Elisse Albian, mezzo-soprano Lucia Bradford, tenor Maximillian Jansen, and bass-baritone Kevin Deas.
Event Information:
Fauré Requiem / Beethoven Elegischer Gesang / Brahms Vier Gesänge / Jasmine Barnes Portraits: Douglass and Tubman
Tuesday, November 10, 2026 at 8:00 pm
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall
Zen Wu, soprano
Jesse Blumberg, baritone
Kent Tritle, conductor
Orchestra of the Society
________________________________________
Handel Messiah
Monday, December 21, 2026 at 7:00 pm
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall
Jennifer Zetlan, soprano
Daniel Moody, countertenor
Brian Giebler, tenor
Jonathan Woody, bass-baritone
Kent Tritle, conductor
Orchestra of the Society
________________________________________
Rachmaninoff Excerpts from All-Night Vigil (Vespers)
Sunday, February 7, 2027 at 5:00 pm
Cathedral of St. John the Divine
David Rosenmeyer, conductor
This concert is free of charge
________________________________________
Lyndon Woodside Oratorio Solo Competition Finals - 50th Anniversary Concert
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
Saturday, April 10, 2027 at 1:30 pm
________________________________________
Bach Mass in B Minor
Monday, May 3, 2027 at 7:00 pm
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall
Elisse Albian, soprano
Lucia Bradford, mezzo-soprano
Maximillian Jansen, tenor
Kevin Deas, bass-baritone
Kent Tritle, conductor
Orchestra of the Society
Ticket Information:
Subscriptions to the three concerts at Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall are available now at osny.org at a 10% discount. Single tickets will be available via carnegiehall.org, 212-247-7800, or the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th and Seventh.
About the Oratorio Society of New York
The Oratorio Society of New York 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 favorite with New York audiences. Our December 2025 performance will mark our milestone 151st consecutive holiday Messiah.
The Society is also committed to commissioning and championing new works, including most recently the American Voices Trilogy by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Paul Moravec and Grammy Award-winning librettist Mark Campbell: Sanctuary Road which was nominated for a 2021 Grammy Award and is available from Naxos Records, A Nation of Others, which saw its premiere in November 2022 and is available from Lexicon Classics, and All Shall Rise, focusing on voting rights in the U.S., which was premiered in May 2025.
About Kent Tritle
Kent Tritle is one of America’s leading choral conductors. 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, including the Grammy-nominated 2018 world premiere performance of the Paul Moravec/Mark Campbell oratorio Sanctuary Road with the Oratorio Society of New York.
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.
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. 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. He was recently featured in the WIRED video series “Masterminds,” an installment titled “What Conductors Are Really Doing”.
Photo at top of release by Brian Hatton
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