The New York Virtuoso Singers Presents Thea Musgrave at 90: A Birthday Concert on May 27 at NYC’s Church of St. Mary the Virgin

The New York Virtuoso Singers, Harold Rosenbaum, Conductor and Artistic Director, will present Thea Musgrave at 90: A Birthday Concert, the second event of their 2017-18 concert season on Sunday, May 27 @ 8:00 PM Church of St. Mary the Virgin, 145 W 46th St, New York, NY.

Repertoire will be the music of Scottish-American composer Thea Musgrave, one of the world’s most distinguished and prolific composers. She will celebrate her seventy-year career with a 90th birthday concert including the U.S. Premiere of The Voices of our Ancestors, performed by The New York Virtuoso Singers and Maestro Rosenbaum, Tadeusz von Moltke, narrator, the American Brass Quintet: Kevin Cobb, Louis Hanzlik, Michael Powell, Eric Reed, John D. Rojak and organist James Adams, Rorate Coeli, performed by The New York Virtuoso Singers and conductor Harold Rosenbaum, the World Premiere of Whirlwind and the U.S. Premiere of Dawn -  two Musgrave solo oboe works performed by Nicholas Daniel, and the World Premiere of La Vida es Sueño, A Dramatic Monologue with baritone José Adán Pérez and pianist Michael Fennelly.

 The program will also include excerpts from Musgrave operas: Three Heroines from Three Continents, with the New York Premiere of Manuela’s Aria, from Simón Bolívar, Duet and Rit’s Lament from Harriet, the Woman called Moses, and Mary’s Lament and the Final Ensemble from the end of Act II of Mary, Queen of Scots. Performers will be The New York Virtuoso Singers and Harold Rosenbaum, sopranos Jenny Sandelin and Christine Lyons, mezzo Geraldine McMillian, baritone José Adán Pérez, narrator Tadeusz von Moltke, pianist Michael Fennelly.

More about the concert at http://nyvirtuoso.org/season.html.

Tickets for the May 27 concert are $50 premium seating, $35 general admission, $25 Students/Seniors. For tickets or more information, visit https://cvi.yapsody.com/event/index/105776/thea-musgrave.

Thea Musgrave’s oeuvre is comprised of more than 160 pieces, including 13 operas, 11 choral works, and 21 orchestral works. Rich and powerful musical language and a strong sense of drama have made this Scottish-American composer one of the most respected contemporary composers in the Western world. Her works are performed in major concert halls, festivals, and radio stations on both sides of the Atlantic. 

In honor of her distinguished and varied catalogue and over 70-year career, the BBC presented Total Immersion: Thea Musgrave with three concerts of her chamber, choral, and symphonic works performed and recorded at the Barbican in a single day -- February 15, 2014. Much more about her at http://www.theamusgrave.com/.

Founded in 1988 by conductor Harold Rosenbaum, The New York Virtuoso Singers has become the country's leading exponent of contemporary choral music. Although the chorus performs music of all periods, its emphasis is on commissioning, performing and recording the music of American composers. The choir appears on 45 commercial CDs, including releases on Bridge, Albany, Sony Classical, Navona and Koch International Classics. Their latest release is Songs of Peace and Praise: Choral Works from Queens College on the Naxos label. More about the Virtuoso Singers at http://nyvirtuoso.org/about.html. Join their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-New-York-Virtuoso-Singers/130509011774.

This program is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Additional funding is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Irving Caesar Fund of the ASCAP Foundation, and several generous individual donors in support of Thea's 90th Birthday Celebrations.