Our upcoming season features our signature mix of choral gems and contemporary voices, from music of the Renaissance and works by Bach, Brahms, and Britten to the world premiere of a newly commissioned one-act folk opera.
A Season of Light
New Amsterdam Singers begins the season with music of hope and praise from composers both familiar and lesser known, including William Byrd, Heinrich Schütz, and Dietrich Buxtehude. We’ll return to a favorite motet by J.S. Bach, “Lobet den Herrn”, and perform works by the Italian Renaissance composer Salamone Rossi for the first time, presenting two of his psalm settings in Hebrew. The 20th and 21st centuries are represented by Czech composer Petr Eben, Ēriks Esenwalds of Latvia, and Americans John Chorbajian and Zanaida Robles.
Friday, December 1, 2023, at 7:30PM
Sunday, December 3, 2023, at 4PM
Arctic Explorations
This one-act folk opera by composer Michael Dellaira, based on the best-selling 1856 book of the same name by American explorer Elisha Kent Kane, touches on themes as varied as exploration, discovery, spirituality, and our relationship to the natural world. Dellaira’s score for soloists, chorus, and a small ensemble of instruments is inspired by 19th-century American popular and folk tunes, sea shanties, and hymns. Joining us at this world premiere, a co-production with the Cell Theatre, will be members of The Harlem Chamber Players and Nuka Alice, an Inuk drum dancer who collaborated in the creation of the work.
Saturday, March 9, 2024, at 7:30PM
Sunday, March 10, 2024, at 4PM
Threads of Joy
We close out the season with a selection of a cappella classics, including lushly Romantic works by Johannes Brahms and Benjamin Britten’s “Hymn to St. Cecilia”, an exuberant ode to the patron saint of music based on a poem by W.H. Auden. This program explores many facets of joy. With her 2018 setting of a poem by Laura Foley, “Threads of Joy”, composer Dale Trumbore reveals the duality of pain and happiness. In “A Drinking Song”, Matthew Harris provides a lively and ebullient setting of a poem by W.B. Yeats. And composer Jake Runestad calls his “Alleluia” from 2014 “a rhythmic declaration of joy.”