The Dessoff Choirs, with soloists and orchestra, opens its 92nd season at Alice Tully Hall on Monday, November 7, at 7:30 p.m., at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City. Dessoff presents “We Remember” including Mozart’s Requiem and contemporary choral works reflecting on the lives of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and paying tribute to composer Steven Stucky, a champion of new music. The concert is the first for Malcolm J. Merriweather, Dessoff’s newly appointed ninth music director.
The program pairs Franz Beyer’s reorchestration of Mozart’s Requiem (1791) with Steven Stucky’s Take Him, Earth (2012) and Whispers (2002), and the world premiere of the orchestrated version of In Honor of Martin (2016), by composer/organist David Hurd. Merriweather states, “This concert is rather auspicious. I am honored to be taking the podium for the first time as Dessoff’s Music Director on what would have been Steven Stucky’s 69th birthday.”
The Dessoff Choirs, founded in 1924 and one of the leading choruses in New York City, is an independent chorus with an established reputation for pioneering performances of choral works from the Renaissance era through the 21st century. Over the course of its 92-year history, Dessoff has presented numerous world premieres, including pieces by Virgil Thomson, George Perle, Paul Moravec, and Ricky Ian Gordon, as well as the first American performance in nearly 100 years of Montemezzi’s opera "La Nave" with Teatro Grattacielo; and the American premieres of Philip Glass’s "Symphony No. 5," and Sir John Tavener’s over seven-hour work "The Veil of the Temple."
Dessoff’s recent discography includes Reflections, featuring music by Convery, Corigliano, Moravec, and Rorem, and Glories On Glories, a collection of American song featuring composers ranging from Billings to Ives.
Malcolm J. Merriweather, newly appointed as the ninth Music Director and conductor of the Dessoff Choirs, is presenting his first season with The Dessoff Choirs. Conductor, baritone, and educator, he is also the current Director of Choirs at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York, Artist in Residence at Union Theological Seminary, and the Music Director of the “Voices of Haiti,” a 60-member children’s choir in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, funded by the Andrea Bocelli Foundation. Merriweather was previously associate choirmaster at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine under Kent Tritle.
A protégé of Kent Tritle, Merriweather holds a DMA in Conducting from the Manhattan School of Music, and Master of Music degrees in Choral Conducting and in Vocal Performance from the Eastman School of Music, as well as his Bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University.
For information: dessoff.org
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