Music From a Higher Sphere (Double Audio CD) Mahler Symphony 8 in David Briggs’ Organ-Choral Version

SOLOIST BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

AUBIQUITOUS presence on the New York City scene, soprano RACHEL ROSALES has appeared at prestigious venues around town and internationally, including performances with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the “Sacred Music in a Sacred Space” series, American Symphony Orchestra, American Virtuosi/Baroque Opera Theatre, Ensemble PI and has achieved both popular and critical acclaim on international stages in opera, oratorio and solo recital. She participated at the Bard Music Festival and with the “MasterVoices” (formerly The Collegiate Chorale). Her work with The Oratorio Society of New York includes a Carnegie Hall celebrational concert with a world premiere work Song of Solomon by Slovakian composer Juraj Filas and Dvořák’s Stabat Mater as well as touring with The Oratorio Society in Hungary, Rome and Germany. Recent engagements include performances with New York City Opera “Renaissance” at “Jazz at Lincoln Center”, The Ensemble for Early music (NYC) in an 18th century zarzuela La Vida y Muerte de General Malbrú, Mozart’s Requiem with the Stamford Symphony and the OK Mozart Festival, Richard Wilson’s opera Æthelred the Unready as Emma, the nagging wife, at Vassar College and Symphony Space (NYC), Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with the Spokane Symphony and she has also toured in Europe and Israel with The Collegiate Chorale, James Bagwell, director. Along with her active performing career, she currently serves as a member of the music faculty of Vassar College, since 1998, and maintains a vocal studio in New York City.

SOPRANO BRYN HOLDSWORTH is a graduate student at Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Mignon Dunn. She is the proud recipient of the Rodgers and Hammerstein/Richard Rodgers Scholarship and The ASCAP Foundation Fran Morgenstern Davis Scholarship. She was a national finalist in the New York Lyric Opera competition, the Palm Beach Opera competition, and the Classical Singer competition. Ms. Holdsworth trained and performed at the International Vocal Arts Institute from 2011 to 2014 as well as Institut Canadien d’Art Vocal 2014. She was a participant in Marilyn Horne’s program, The Song Continues at Carnegie Hall where she appeared in Ms. Horne’s masterclass and in recital. She recently performed in Don Pasquale (Norina) and Dido and Aeneas (Belinda) as a young artist with Crested Butte Music Festival. Other credits in operatic roles include La Bohème (Mimì), Le tragédie de Carmen (Micaëla), Hänsel und Gretel (Gretel), and La Doriclea (Doriclea). Upcoming engagements include Persée et Andromède (Andromède) at MSM this spring.

SARA MURPHY, “a gorgeous, deep, dark mezzo-soprano” (New York Times), makes her company and role debut at Opera Theater of Rome as Ulrica (Un Ballo in Maschera) under the baton of Jesús López-Cobos in October 2016. Current season highlights include two appearances at Carnegie Hall:
A Prayer for Peace with MidAtlantic Opera and Handel’s Messiah with Oratorio Society of New York (OSNY). Sara appears again with OSNY in performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 and returns to Cincinnati May Festival as Emilia in Verdi’s Otello and mezzo soprano soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah, both with conductor James Conlon. Opera News, The Guardian and Gramophone all praise her portrayal of Mother Bayard and Ermengarde in the recently released recording of Hindemith’s The Long Christmas Dinner: “Sara Murphy’s closing aria as Ermengarde […] is marvellously poignant,” writes Gramophone. saramurphymezzo.com.

CALLED “gifted” by Opera News, and praised for her “powerful, rangy mezzo-soprano” by The New York Times, NORAGH DEVLIN is pursuing her Professional Studies certificate under the tutelage of Ruth Golden at the Manhattan School of Music (MSM), where she also earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees. She is a recipient of the Mae Zenke Orvis Opera Scholarship. Operatic credits include Roméo et Juliette (Gertrude) with the Aspen Music Festival; Die Zauberflöte (Zweite Dame), Thomson’s The Mother of Us All (Susan B. Anthony), I Capuleti e I Montecchi (Romeo) and Orphée aux enfers (L’Opinion Publique and Junon) with MSM; Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Giulio Cesare) with the Bay Area Summer Opera Training Institute, Elektra (Dritte Magd), and The Little Prince (The Geographer). Ms. Devlin’s 2015-2016 season includes The Dangerous Liaisons (Madame de Rosemonde), Luisa Miller (Federica), and Albert Herring (Florence Pike). In March, as the first prize winner of the 2015 Eisenberg-Fried Concerto Competition, Ms. Devlin will perform Elgar’s Sea Pictures with orchestra at MSM. This summer, Ms. Devlin will join Music Academy of the West as a Vocal Fellow, in the role of Elder Constance in the new Matthew Aucoin opera Second Nature.

TENOR JOHN TIRANNO has had his singing called “ardent and mellifluous” by The New York Times. Recent performances have included Berlioz’s Requiem (La Jolla Symphony & Chorus), Bach’s B minor Mass (Sacred Music in a Sacred Space in New York City), Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle (The Dessoff Choirs), Richard Strauss’ Deutsche Motette (Musica Sacra), recitals at King Abdullah University of Science & Technology in Jedda, Saudi Arabia, the Saint-Saëns Requiem (Festival Internazionale di Musica e Arte Sacra in Rome), Mozart’s Missa in C (at Auditório Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil), and creating two roles for Norwegian composer Gisle Kverndokk: Trouble in Max and Moritz and the Man in the Mirror in Supersize Girl (New York Opera Society). johntiranno.com

WISCONSIN-born baritone TIM MURRAY has been praised by The New York Times has having, “…a firm, flexible baritone” and Opera News adds that his sound is, “…pleasant, round.” Previous credits include Le Vicomte de Valmont (The Dangerous Liaisons), Leporello (Don Giovanni), and Le Meurtrier (Bloch’s Macbeth) at Manhattan School of Music, Harlekin (Ariadne auf Naxos) with Twin Cities Fringe Opera, and chorus work with Minnesota Opera (Die Zauberflöte, Manon Lescaut, Hamlet), a company with which Tim has worked as a performer for their elementary school outreach program. Future engagements include the baritone soloist in Berlioz’s Lélio with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Tim won first prize at The Schubert Club Scholarship Competition and is a recipient of the Edgar Foster Daniels Scholarship for Voice. Tim is a second year Master’s degree candidate at Manhattan School of Music and is a student of James Morris.

BASS ADAM LAU has recently made debuts with the Dallas Opera, North Carolina Opera, Opera Naples, and Opera Theatre of St. Louis. He was a member of several of the country’s most prestigious Young Artist Programs, including Santa Fe, Florida Grand Opera, and SFO Merola Program. He also maintains a busy concert schedule with leading orchestras such as the Cincinnati Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic and will be appearing with the San Francisco Symphony, Liverpool Philharmonic, and Orquestra Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica. A recent top-prize winner of the George London Competition, he has also won major awards from the Sullivan Foundation, McCollum Vocal Competition, and Florida Grand Opera’s Young Patronesses of the Opera Competition.

SOPRANO JANA MCINTYRE is pursuing a Master’s degree at Manhattan School of Music studying under Joan Patenaude-Yarnell. This spring she will sing Andromède in MSM’s production of Persée et Andromède. She has sung the roles of Miss Wordsworth (Albert Herring) and Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte), and La Fée (Cendrillon) with Miami Music Festival. She holds degrees in Music and in Psychology from University of California, Los Angeles where she was awarded the Presser Award Scholarship and the UCLA Affiliates Scholarship. Other credits include Maid/Soprano Soloist (L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato), Le Feu/Rossignol (L’Enfant et les Sortilèges), Drusilla (L’incoronazione di Poppea), Clorinda (Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda), Minerva (Orpheus in the Underworld) at UCLA, and Maid of Honor (Trial by Jury) with Santa Barbara Community Opera. Ms. McIntyre was featured in the California premiere of Jonathan Sheffer’s Blood on the Dining Room Floor as Rose 1 and sang Señora Digrazia in the world premiere of Roger Bourland’s new opera The Dove and the Nightingale.

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ABOUT THE ORATORIO SOCIETY OF NEW YORK

Founded in 1873 by Leopold Damrosch, the Oratorio Society of New York is one of the city’s oldest musical organizations. From its earliest days, the Society played an integral role in the musical life of the city, presenting its own concerts and performing at musically and historically significant events. It also created a fund to finance building a concert hall. When Andrew Carnegie became the Society’s fifth president in 1888, he adopted the cause, enlisting fellow board member, architect William Tuthill, to design a “Music Hall” that would provide a suitable artistic home for the Society. In 1891, singing under Tchaikovsky’s baton, the Society helped inaugurate the concert hall that came to be known as Carnegie Hall. It has performed there ever since.

On its 100th anniversary the Society was presented with the Handel Medallion, New York City’s highest cultural award, in recognition of these contributions. It made its European debut in 1982 and has since performed in Europe, Asia, and Latin and South America. In March 2003, the Society received the UNESCO Commemorative Medal and the Cocos Island World Natural Heritage Site Award for its series of benefit concerts in Costa Rica.
In 1977, the Society inaugurated a solo competition to encourage the art of oratorio singing and to give young singers an opportunity to advance their careers. In 2006 it was renamed the Lyndon Woodside Oratorio-Solo Competition in honor of Dr. Woodside’s dedication to the competition. International in scope, the competition attracts more than 100 singers each year. The Solo Competition is, however, only one example of the Society’s commitment to the next generation’s involvement in choral music. Its Choral Scholars Program provides financial support and coaching experience to young professionals who work with the chorus on a weekly basis and its Education Program introduces teens to classical choral music through classroom presentations and complimentary tickets to Oratorio Society performances. Encouraging young artists, teachers, and audiences is an essential part of the Society’s heritage and mission, and one of its proudest achievements.

These programs and the Society’s concerts receive no public support; they rely on ticket sales and the generosity of friends. The Society’s thanks go to all of you tonight. To purchase the Society’s recent CD, Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Three a capella Motets by Bruckner and for information on forthcoming programs, the Solo Competition, gift-giving opportunities, chorus auditions, or purchasing Society memorabilia, visit our website at www.osny.org or write to: The Oratorio Society of New York, 1440 Broadway, 23 Floor, New York, NY 10018.

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ABOUT MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC

NE of the world’s leading music conservatories, Manhattan School of Music is deeply committed to excellence in education, performance, and creative activity; to the humanity of the School’s environment; and to the cultural enrichment of the larger community. Founded as a settlement music school by Janet Daniels Schenck in 1918, today it is recognized for its superbly talented undergraduate and graduate students who come from more than 40 countries; a world- renowned artist-teacher faculty; and innovative curricula. Manhattan School of Music presents more than 800 concerts and recitals each year, which are recognized as some of the finest musical events in New York City.

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MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC SYMPHONIC CHORUS AND WOMEN’S CHORUS

Symphonic Chorus membership is primarily made up of freshmen and sophomores at Manhattan School of Music. The Symphonic Chorus has recently performed Haydn’s The Creation, Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem, Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, Mozart’s Requiem, Schubert’s Mass in G, Poulenc’s Gloria, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, the world premiere of David Briggs’s transcription for organ, chorus, and soloists of Mahler’s Second Symphony, Bach’s B Minor Mass, Mozart’s C Minor Mass, Honegger’s Le Roi David, and Verdi’s Requiem.

The MSM Women’s Chorus was established in 2014 to explore the repertoire written and arranged for women’s voices. The membership is made up of first-year undergraduates majoring in voice, piano, and composition. For their inaugural performance, they performed Brahms’s Vier Gesänge, Op. 17, for women’s voices, harp, and horns.

The Symphonic Chorus and Women’s Chorus are excited to join forces again with the Oratorio Society of New York in this performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8. These choruses will come together again in April to perform and record the world premiere of David Briggs’s transcription of the Mahler 8.

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ORCHESTRAL STUDIES AT MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC

In the tradition of the classical music conservatory, the orchestral studies program at Manhattan School of Music forms the heart of the performing experience for instrumentalists. All students, placed by audition, participate in at least one of the School’s three major orchestras—the MSM Symphony, Philharmonia, and Chamber Sinfonia—under the guidance of George Manahan, Director of Orchestral Activities. In addition to Maestro Manahan and resident conductor David Gilbert, the orchestras have worked with guest conductors such as Philippe Entremont and Kurt Masur. In 2008, celebrating the School’s 90th anniversary, the Chamber Sinfonia made its Carnegie Hall debut in Zankel Hall under the baton of Pinchas Zukerman. Other orchestral highlights have included readings with distinguished conductors such as David Robertson, Yuri Temirkanov, and Charles Dutoit; a week-long residency in Caracas, Venezuela during which the MSM Symphony worked side by side with musicians of the Simón Bolivar Youth Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela; and a residency under the baton of Philippe Entremont at the Académie Internationale d’Eté de Nice’s “les concerts du Cloître.” April 2014 marked the debut of the MSM Symphony in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium performing under the baton of Maestro Leonard Slatkin.

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ABOUT THE CATHEDRAL

The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine is the Cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. It is chartered as a house of prayer for all people and a unifying center of intellectual light and leadership. People from many faiths and communities worship together in services held more than 30 times a week; the soup kitchen serves roughly 20,000 meals annually; social service outreach has an increasingly varied roster of programs; the distinguished Cathedral School prepares young students to be future leaders; Adults and Children in Trust, the renowned preschool, afterschool and summer program, offers diverse educational and nurturing experiences; the outstanding Textile Conservation Lab preserves world treasures; concerts, exhibitions, performances and civic gatherings allow conversation, celebration, reflection and remembrance.

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CATHEDRAL FRIENDS OF MUSIC

The Cathedral’s Friends of Music is comprised of dedicated and generous music lovers who know that these splendid concerts are not possible without ongoing financial support. Ticket sales cover only a small portion of the cost of presenting this great music in such a grand space. Donations from our generous Friends also help keep our ticket prices affordable. Friends of Music who contribute $250 or more are invited to exclusive pre-concert talks and post-concert receptions. Friends who donate $1,000 are invited to additional special receptions and events. Friends who contribute $10,000 will be invited to join the Dean’s Circle. Please contact Priscilla Bayley, Director of Individual Giving, at pbayley@stjohndivine.org or 212.316.7570 for more information.

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ABOUT GREAT MUSIC IN A GREAT SPACE

The Great Music in a Great Space (GMGS) concert series seeks to utilize the full potential of the massive Gothic design of the Cathedral to present music, both familiar and not so familiar, in unique and spiritual settings. In addition the more common performance areas of the Cathedral such as the Great Choir and the Crossing, GMGS concerts may also take place in the nave or along the Cathedral’s eastern periphery in on of the Chapels of the Seven Tongues. Three c oncert series comprise GMGS: the Great Choir choral series, the Great Organ recital series, and our holiday concerts A Cathedral Christmas and The New Year’s Eve Concert for Peace. The repertoire of the choral series ranges from Renaissance polyphony to contemporary compositions to explorations of less familiar traditions, such as Eastern Orthodox hymnody. The Great Organ recital series features evening organ recitals, given by both Cathedral organists and internationally acclaimed guest artists.

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