The New York Choral Society Partners with the Angel Band Project for One Voice Virtual Choir Performance at the United Nations, November 19, 2018

This performance is part of the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, hosted by UN Women’s UNiTE to End Violence Against Women Campaign.

The New York Choral Society (NYCHORAL) will join forces with the Angel Band Project’s One Voice Virtual Choir on Monday, November 19, 2018 to perform Ruth Moody’s One Voice as part of the opening for the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. NYCHORAL members led by Associate Conductor Michael Ciavaglia will sing alongside sexual violence survivors as well as the Angel Band Project’s virtual choir. The opening will take place in the United Nations Trusteeship Council Chambers (on 1^st Avenue between E. 42^nd and E. 43^rd Streets) from 10 am to 12:30 pm, with the performance slotted for 11:05 am.  

The Angel Band Project’s One Voice Virtual Choir is made up of hundreds of recordings of sexual assault and domestic violence survivors, guided and recorded individually with licensed music therapists. Begun in 2014 as an extension of the Angel Band Project’s music therapy program, One Voice Virtual Choir seeks to raise hope and awareness for victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse, while also generating empathy and solidarity among survivors and the general public.

In preparation for this upcoming collaboration, the New York Choral Society released the following statement: “NYCHORAL believes in the power of choral music to bring communities together and impact all lives. We are honored to join voices with the Angel Band Project to raise hope and awareness for victims of sexual and domestic violence all over the world.”

This event is part of the UN Women’s Commission’s UNiTE Campaign, the annual UN interagency campaign aimed at raising public awareness, increasing political will and resources for preventing and ending all forms of violence against women and girls in all parts of the world.

The event is open to the public, but guests must RSVP at this link no later than Monday, November 12, 2018.

The Angel Band Project uses the power of music to provide healing, raise awareness and create positive social change for survivors of sexual violence. The Angel Band partners with local organizations that work with victims of sexual and domestic abuse, making their music therapy programs available to all they can. Based in St. Louis, Missouri since its inception, The Angel Band Project has been slowly expanding to other states; to reach other victims who find solace, comfort and healing through music. The Angel Band Project has a vision of a world free from gender-based violence. More information at www.angelbandproject.com.

Launched in 2008, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign is a multi-year effort aimed at preventing and eliminating violence against women and girls around the world.

UNiTE calls on governments, civil society, women’s organizations, young people, the private sector, the media and the entire UN system to join forces in addressing the global pandemic of violence against women and girls.

The campaign builds on existing international legal and policy frameworks and works to synergize the efforts of all UN offices and agencies working to end violence against women. It sets out five key outcomes to be achieved in all countries by 2015:

• Adoption and enforcement of national laws to address and punish all forms of violence against women and girls, in line with international human rights standards.
• Adoption and implementation of multi-sectoral national plans of action that emphasize prevention and are adequately resourced.
• Establishment of data collection and analysis systems, on the prevalence of various forms of violence against women and girls.
• Establishment of national and/or local campaigns and the engagement of a diverse range of civil society actors in preventing violence and in supporting women and girls who have been abused.
• Systematic efforts to address sexual violence in conflict situations and to protect women and girls from rape as a tactic of war, and the full implementation of related laws and policies.

For further information on this project, please visit http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/take-action/unite.

An essential force in the New York choral scene since its founding in 1959, The New York Choral Society (NYCHORAL) is widely known for the outstanding artistic quality of its performances of choral music. NYCHORAL’s mission is guided by its commitment to present a diverse repertoire, including well-known choral masterworks, great compositions that are rarely heard in concert halls, and newer, culturally significant choral works in New York. In addition to its regular season appearances at Carnegie Hall, the 180-voice strong New York Choral Society has appeared at every major venue in the New York City area, including Avery Fisher Hall, the Metropolitan Opera House, Madison Square Garden, NJPAC, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Under the visionary artistic leadership of Music Director David Hayes since the 2012-2013 season, the New York Choral Society has expanded its artistic mission to present a wide variety of choral repertory alongside masterworks of the 20^th and 21^st century, including John Adams’s On The Transmigration of Souls, Hindemith’s When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d, and the New York premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s The Singing Rooms, featuring noted violinist Jennifer Koh. Dedicated to carrying its tradition of musical excellence and community engagement beyond the Manhattan cultural centers, the New York Choral Society launched Christmas Around New York in December 2014, bringing family-friendly Christmas concerts to new audiences in all the boroughs of New York City.

In the 2017-18 season, The New York Choral Society continued its long association with the Richard Tucker Foundation and performed at the annual Richard Tucker Gala at Carnegie Hall alongside renowned soprano Nadine Sierra. The choir also returned to its traditional December engagement of singing in Andrea Bocelli’s Madison Square Garden concert with conductor Eugene Kohn, soprano Larisa Martinez, and Broadway sensation Heather Headley. February brought the choir back to Carnegie Hall and joined by noted baritone Jarrett Ott for a program that included Sir Charles Stanford’s Songs of the Fleet, Op. 117 and the East Coast premiere of American composer Frank Ticheli’s Symphony #3 “The Shore.” The season closed in May 2018 with a performance of J.S Bach’s choral masterwork Mass in B Minor at Carnegie Hall.

In the 2016-17 season, NYCHORAL gave the New York City Premiere to James MacMillan’s St. Luke Passion at the St. Bartholomew’s Church, performed Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, and returned to Lincoln Center for Christmas at Alice Tully Hall. The choir took part in the American Premiere of Joseph Vella’s The Hyland Mass: A Prayer for Unity in Diversity at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in a performance presented by the Order of Malta, American Association.

Highlights of previous seasons include performances of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s 1985 Te Deum, Beethoven’s Mass in C Op. 86, Handel’s oratorio Israel in Egypt, Mendelssohn’s St. Paul, Berlioz’ L'Enfance du Christ, Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony, Holst’s rarely- performed Hymn of Jesus, and Beethoven’s Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, all at Carnegie Hall conducted by Music Director David Hayes. The 2011-2012 season included world premieres of two compositions commissioned by the New York Choral Society, Robert De Cormier’s Legacy and Morton Gould’s Quotations, as part of an all-American program at Carnegie Hall.

A sought-after guest artist in New York City for many decades, the New York Choral Society has collaborated with the Lincoln Center Festival, Cirque de Soleil, New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, New York Youth Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Juilliard Symphony, and the Opera Orchestra of New York and has performed with conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Sergiu Comissiona, Dennis Russell Davies, Placido Domingo, Fabio Luisi, Zubin Mehta, Yehudi Menuhin, Julius Rudel, Robert Shaw, Leonard Slatkin, Patrick Summers, Robert Spano, and Michael Tilson Thomas.

International tours have included the Chinese premiere of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony in Beijing in 2002; performances of Mahler’s Symphonies No. 2 and 8 in Mexico City with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería conducted by Carlos Miguel Prieto in 2010 and 2011; a return to Beijing for performances at the Olympic Cultural Festival in 2008; and several European tours with appearances in France, Austria, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Greece, the Czech Republic, and Israel.

Each summer since 1960 NYCHORAL has produced a popular series of NYCHORAL Sings, participatory performances of choral music that are open to the public and feature emerging soloists from the New York area.

For further information, please contact Hemsing Associates at (212) 772-1132 or visit www.hemsingpr.com
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