Past Concerts

Held Thursday, April 25, 2024 at 8pm at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. The New York premiere of Scott Ordway’s critically acclaimed The End of Rain.
A deeply personal response to the California wildfires of the last five years, Ordway’s symphony takes us on a multimedia journey, blending photography with choral music and a text crowdsourced from the people closest to the heart of this environmental maelstrom.
With its ultimate message of hope and renewal, it is the centerpiece of this Earth Month concert which also includes Alberto Grau’s Kasar Mie La Gaji (“The Earth is Tired”) and an encore performance of John Luther Adams’s hushed and haunting “Night Peace.”

Held Thursday, December 14, 2023, at 8 pm. St. Bartholomew’s Church, 325 Park Ave (betw. 50th and 51st Sts. in midtown)

Contemporary and classic 20th-century choral music performed together in our year-end concert, when vanguard composers of the new generation complemented the forward-looking music of Britten and Bernstein. Each uses a unique vocabulary of tonality, harmony and rhythm; all gift us with messages of peace and unity.

Featured Britten’s “Rejoice in the Lamb” and Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms” with organ, percussion, and harp accompaniment. Also presented stirring and expressive works of the next generation, from Nico Muhly and John Luther Adams, along with Kenneth Lampl’s “Jerusalem.”

Presented by RIVERSIDE CHORAL SOCIETY with the
RUTGERS KIRKPATRICK CHOIR and the RUTGERS GLEE CLUB
PATRICK GARDNER, DIRECTOR

A Celebration of Love & Joy at Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, April 4, 2023, at 8 pm
Ludwig van Beethoven’s Mass in C: Jennifer Check, Soprano, Margaret Lattimore, Mezzo-Soprano, Lawrence Jones, Tenor and Andrew Nolan, Bass
Johannes Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody: Margaret Lattimore, Mezzo-Soprano
Andre Thomas’ Mass: A Celebration of Love & Joy: Joel Dyson, Soprano, Jason Dungee, Tenor

A reflection of the unpredictability of love; a mass in the classical style; a gospel-inflected mass by an American choral luminary - all presented in one of the world’s most iconic concert venues. The program will go straight to your heart. Be there for this night of world-class music-making as the voices of three choruses raise the roof at Carnegie Hall!

with William Grant Still We Sang Our Songs and Plain Chant for America
Adolphus Hailstork When Storms Arise and Lead Gently, Lord

Soloists: Courtenay Budd, soprano;
Lawrence Jones, tenor;
Margaret Lattimore, mezzo-soprano;
and David Salsbery Fry, bass

As the winter solstice and season of light approach, join RCS for a performance of Mozart’s immortal Requiem. A work he was composing even as he was dying, this piece speaks to the eternal light inside all of us. How fitting that we raise our voices under the luminous Great Dome and soaring, vaulted ceiling of St. Bartholomew’s. Inspirational and stirring works by Adolphus Hailstork and William Grant Still serve as a prelude to what is certain to be an incandescent evening of musical celebration.

Because of the Coronavirus pandemic, Riverside Choral Society was on hiatus from March 2020 to September 2021.

An English Christmas Present

Saturday, December 14, 2019 | 8 pm
Church of the Heavenly Rest, Fifth Ave at 90th Street

Elgar (arranged Donald Fraser) — Sea Pictures (NYC premiere)
Vaughan Williams — Fantasia on Christmas Carols
Finzi — In Terra Pax
“Today the Virgin” by John Tavener, “Myn Lyking” by R.R. Terry,
“My Lord Has Come” by Will Todd, “There Is No Rose” by Jonathan Lane
Organ Improvisations

Elena T. Bird, Soprano
Randall Scarlata, Baritone
Justin Bischof, Organ
Riverside Choral Society Orchestra

Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem

Saturday, April 6, 2019 | 8 pm
Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center

Riverside Choral Society
Rutgers University Kirkpatrick Choir
Rutgers University Symphony Orchestra

Annelies
A setting by James Whitbourn of The Diary of Anne Frank

Sunday, November 11, 2018 | 3 pm
Congregation Rodeph Sholom | 7 West 83rd Street

Ilana Davidson, soprano
Sunghae Anna Lim, violin
Gregory Hesselink, cello
Maureen Hurd, clarinet
Margaret Kampmeier, piano

No Common Mortal

Saturday, May 12, 2018 | 8 pm
Holy Trinity Church | 213 West 82nd Street

Bruckner Mass in E minor and motets

The Riverside Choral Society and the Riverside Choral Society Orchestra
Patrick Gardner, Conductor

A Celebration of Carols

Friday, December 15, 2017 at 8 pm
Holy Trinity Church | 213 West 82nd Street

Benjamin Britten – A Ceremony of Carols, with Jacqueline Kerrod, Harp

Conrad Susa – Carols and Lullabies, with Jacqueline Kerrod, Harp; Yen Lee, Guitar; Minhye Ju, Marimba 

Johannes Brahms – O Heiland, reiss die Himmel auf

Fredrik Sixten – Barnet Som Flykter, er Jesus

Fall 2016 Concert | A Christmas Rose

Haydn  Missa Cellensis
Finzi In Terra Pax
Britt  There Is No Rose
         I Wonder As I Wander

The Riverside Choral Society and the Riverside Choral Society Orchestra
Patrick Gardner, Conductor
Friday, December 17, 2016 | 8pm | Church of St. Mary the Virgin | 145 W 46th St

Soloists Mary Ellen Callahan, Kirsten Sollek, John Tiranno, and Randal Scarlata

Spring 2016 Concert | A Collaboration in Celebration of the 250th anniversary of Rutgers University

Duruflé Requiem
Poulenc Gloria
Robert Aldridge Variations for Piano and Orchestra

The Rutgers University Kirkpatrick Choir, The Rutgers University Symphony Orchestra, The Riverside Choral Society
Patrick Gardner, Conductor, Distinguished Professor, Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University
Saturday, April 16th, 2016 | 8pm | Alice Tully Hall | Lincoln Center

soloists: Jennifer Bird, soprano; Rebekah Daly, mezzo soprano; Edward Parks, baritone (Mr. Parks appears courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera); Min Kwon, piano

Winter 2015 Concert | The Creative Spirit

Haydn Theresien Mass
Colin Britt House of Clouds
Copland Quiet City

The Riverside Choral Society and the Riverside Choral Society Orchestra
Patrick Gardner, Conductor
Friday, December 18, 2015 | 8pm | Church of the Heavenly Rest | 2 East 90th Street

soloists, from left: Nacole Palmer, soprano, Debi Wong, alto, John Tiranno, tenor, Daniel Mobbs, bass

Spring 2015 Concert

Rossini Stabat Mater
Dvorák Te Deum

The Riverside Choral Society with the Rutgers University Kirkpatrick Choir and the Riverside Choral Society Orchestra | Patrick Gardner, Conductor
Saturday, April 25, 2015 | 8pm | Alice Tully Hall | Lincoln Center | Program Notes

soloists, from left: Daniel Mobbs, bass-baritone (Mr. Mobbs appears courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera), Elizabeth Blancke-Biggs, soprano,  Michele Angelini, tenor, Margaret Lattimore, mezzo-soprano (Ms. Lattimore appears courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera.)  

Winter 2014 Concert | Voices to the Virgin

Marian Motets: 
     Franz Biebl - Ave Maria
     Paul Gibson - Salve Regina
     Pawel Lukaszewski - Ave Maria
from Rachmaninoff's All Night Vigil:
     Bogoroditse Devo
     Slava
     Magnificat
     John Tavener - God Is With Us

Tarik O'Regan - Now Fatal Change (for countertenor and violin)
Giovanni Bonato - Genuit Puerpera
Benjamin Britten - A Hymn to the Virgin
Henryk Gorecki - Totus Tuus
Medieval Carol - Hayl Mary

Patrick Gardner, Conductor
Friday, December 12, 2014 | 8pm | The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin | 145 West 46th Street

soloists, from left: Lara St. John, violin, Ryland Angel, counter-tenor

Spring 2014 Concert

Mozart Requiem
Britten Cantata Misericordium

Patrick Gardner, Conductor
Friday, May 9, 2014 | 8pm | Holy Trinity Church, 213 W. 82nd St NYC | Program Notes

soloists, from left: Courtenay Budd, soprano, David Salsbery Fry, bass, Lawrence Jones, tenor, Margaret Lattimore, alto, Richard Lippold, baritone

Winter 2013 Concert

Handel Messiah

The Riverside Choral Society and the Riverside Choral Society Orchestra
Patrick Gardner, Conductor
Saturday, December 21, 2013 | 8pm | Alice Tully Hall | Lincoln Center | Program Notes

soloists, from left: Lianne Coble, soprano, Kirsten Sollek, alto, Steven Caldicott Wilson, tenor, Curtis Streetman, bass

Lincoln Center White Light Festival 2013

L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato

MMDG Music Ensemble | Mark Morris, Choreographer
The Riverside Choral Society | Patrick Gardner, Director
Nicholas McGegan, Conductor
November 21-23 | 7:30pm | David H Koch Theater | Lincoln Center

soloists: Dominique Labelle, soprano, Yulia Van Doren, soprano, John McVeigh, tenor, Douglas Williams, bass-baritone

"The chorus, Riverside Choral Society Chamber Singers, sang with a unified, joyful tone."
-Marina Harss, DanceTabs

Spring 2013 Concert | With Strings Attached

Susan Gardner - Psalm 121
Eric Whitacre - Sleep
                             Five Hebrew Love Songs
Castelnuovo-Tedesco - Romancero Gitano (Christopher Kenniff, Guitar)
Tarik O'Regan - The Ecstasies Above
Kenneth Lampl - Jerusalem

Patrick Gardner, Conductor
Saturday May 11 | 8pm | Park Ave Christian Church | 1010 Park Ave at 85th St

Winter 2012 Concert

Bach Christmas Oratorio

The Riverside Choral Society and the Riverside Choral Society Orchestra
Patrick Gardner, Conductor
Thursday, December 20, 2012 | 7:30 PM | Alice Tully Hall | Lincoln Center
Program Notes | NY Times Review

soloists: Rufus Müller, evangelist, Nacole Palmer, soprano, Jeffrey Mandelbaum, countertenor, Curtis Streetman, bass

Spring 2012 Concert Pt. 2 | Of War and Reflection

Haydn Lord Nelson Mass
David Gompper An Elm We Lost
                             (for strings, percussion, piano and harp)

The Riverside Choral Society | Patrick Gardner, Conductor
Friday, May 18, 2012 | 8pm | St. Mary the Virgin in Times Square | 145 West 46th Street

soloists: Sharla Nafziger, soprano, Kirsten Sollek, alto, Nathan Davis, tenor, John Muriello, bass, Mark Boyle, tenor
              

Spring 2012 Concert pt. 1 | Of Peace

Ralph Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem
Joseph Gregorio Dona Nobis Pacem
William Schuman Carols of Death
Lewis Spratlan Dona Nobis Pacem:
                            An entreaty for peace in the middle east

The Riverside Choral Society with the Rutgers University Kirkpatrick Choir
Patrick Gardner, Conductor
Friday, March 9 | 8pm | Alice Tully Hall | Lincoln Center

soloists: Jennifer Bird, soprano, Randall Scarlata, baritone

Winter 2011 Concert | Works by Lou Harrison (1917-2003)

Solo to Anthony Cirone
Suite for Violin and American Gamelan
La Koro Sutro

The Riverside Choral Society | Patrick Gardner, Conductor
Saturday, October 15 | 8pm | Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts | Bard College Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

Lou Harrison (1917.2003) was an American original. Among other artists of the mid 20th century his work was what is now called "outsider art," and he lived a life that was clearly outside the halls of the cultural institutions of the day. He developed a singular body of work that was inspired by studies of early music and tunings, and world music, as well as from the influence of other musical mavericks, such as Henry Cowell, Charles Ives, and John Cage. The three works on this program offer a generous glimpse of Lou Harrison.s musical world. Solo to Anthony Cirone, dedicated to the eponymous percussionist, is a work for tenor bells that was long lost, and has been performed around the world since its rediscovery. Suite for Violin and American Gamelan incorporates medieval dance rhythms, drones, mesmerizing gamelan patterns, and melodic variations. Finally, La Koro Sutro, a monumental work for large-scale chorus, gamelan, harp, and organ, presents in one huge bundle many of Harrison.s musical and personal preoccupations: percussion, the avoidance of functional harmony, Buddhism, and universalism. 

Read Dr. Gardner's notes on La Koro Sutro. 
Read an article on the instruments and players. 

Spring 2011 Concert pt. 2

Bach Mass in B minor

The Riverside Choral Society and the Riverside Choral Society Orchestra
Patrick Gardner, Director
May 7, 2011 | 8pm | Alice Tully Hall | Lincoln Center

soloists: Mary Ellen Callahan, soprano, Kirsten Sollek, mezzo soprano, Cullen Gandy, tenor, Randall Scarlata, bass   

Bach’s Mass in B minor is widely regarded as one of the finest compositions in the classical repertoire. As recently cited in The New York Times by Anthony Tommasini, “What composer before or after Bach could have written the opening Kyrie of the Mass in B minor? It begins with choral cries of “Lord have mercy” (“Kyrie eleison”) as harmonically wrenching as anything in Brahms or Mahler.” Don’t miss this performance also celebrating Patrick Gardner’s 20th anniversary with RCS!

Spring 2011 Concert pt. 1 | Distant Worlds

Nobuo Uematsu Music from Final Fantasy

The Riverside Choral Society and the Distant Worlds Philharmonic Orchestra
Arnie Roth, Conductor
Friday, April 1, 2011 | 8pm | The Brooklyn Academy of Music | 30 Lafayette St., Brooklyn

Winter 2011 Concert

Mahler Symphony No. 3

Women of the Riverside Choral Society | Patrick Gardner, Conductor
The London Symphony Orchestra | Valery Gergiev, Conductor
The Brooklyn Youth Chorus | Dianne Berkun, Artistic Director
Friday, February 25, 2011 | 8pm | Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center

soloist: Anna Larsson, alto

Fall 2010 Concert | A Musical Celebration

Britten Rejoice In The Lamb
Bernstein Chichester Psalms
and other works for chorus and organ

The Riverside Choral Society
Patrick Gardner, Conductor
Saturday, November 13 | 8pm | St. Mary the Virgin in Times Square | 145 West 46th St.
Program Notes

Summer 2010 Concert 

Mostly Mozart Festival 2010

"...the present performers still convey first-generation freshness and understanding. Under Ms. Glover, the Orchestra of St Luke's and the Riverside Choral Society Chamber Singers often make Handel's music sound as if that, too, is still in its youth."
                                    Alistair Macaulay, New York Times

George Friederic Handel L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato

The Riverside Choral Society Chamber Singers | Patrick Gardner, Conductor 
Mark Morris Dance Group | Mark Morris, Choreographer
Orchestra of St. Luke's | Jane Glover, Conductor
August 5-7 | 7:30 | David H. Koch Theater | Lincoln Center

soloists: Christine Brandes, soprano, Lisa Saffer, soprano, John McVeigh, tenor, Andrew Foster-Williams, baritone

Spring 2010 Concert

Orff Carmina Burana
Harrison Concerto for Violin and Percussion Orchestra
                 Kyrie and Gloria from the Mass to St. Anthony for chorus
                and percussion ensemble 

The Riverside Choral Society Chamber Singers | Patrick Gardner, Conductor 
The Brooklyn Youth Chorus | Dianne Berkun, Director
Rutgers Kirkpatrick Choir - Patrick Gardner, Conductor
Rutgers Percussion Ensemble - Joseph Tompkins, Director
April 17 | 8pm | Alice Tully Hall | Lincoln Center 

soloists: Jennier Bird, soprano, Keith Harris, baritone, Matthew Garret, tenor, Margaret Kampmeier & Holly Chatham, pianists,                        Owen Dalby, violin

Winter 2009 Concert with the American Brass Quartet

Trond Kverno Missa In sono Tubae
                         Ave Maris Stella
Rachmaninoff Rejoice O Virgin
Gretchaninoff Beneath the Waves of the Sea
Nikolsky The Lord Reigns
David Willcocks (arr.) Five Christmas Carols

The Riverside Choral Society Chamber Singers | Patrick Gardner, Conductor 
December 17 | 8pm | Church of the Blessed Sacrament | 152 West 71st Street, NYC

November 3, 2008
With Mannes College Orchestra
Carnegie Hall

Mendelssohn - Lobgesang

​

November 8, 2007
Stravinsky - Symphony of Psalms
With the Mannes School of Music Orchestra
At Carnegie Hall

April 16th, 2007 From Grief to Glory
St. Thomas Church
Fifth Ave. at 53rd St.

Kodaly - Missa Brevis
Schnittke - Requiem

January 21st, 2007 - Of Heaven and Earth

Debussy - La Demoiselle Élue
Beethoven - Mass in C
     Emily Newton, soprano
     Ariana Chris, alto
     Matthew Garrett, tenor
     Brian McIntosh, bass

October 19th, 2007 - Voices and Visionaries: The Shostakovich
                                         Symphonies
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65
                              Symphony No. 13 in B-flat minor, Op. 113
Kirov Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre
Conductor: Valery Gergiev
Riverside Choral Society men
Rutgers University Kirkpatrick Choir and Glee Club
Baritone: Nikolai Putilin

Avery Ficher Hall, Lincoln Center

September, 27 2006 Babi Yar Remembered: Yevtushenko and Shostakovich in Word and Song

Shostakovich: Concertino for Two Pianos in A minor Op.94
Yevtushenko: Recitation
Shostakovich: "A Fragment" monologue on text of Pushkin, Op.91
Shostakovich: Two-piano version, Symphony No. 13, First Movement, "Babi Yar" (1962)
Yevgeny Yevtushenko: Poet
Misha and Cipa Dichter: Pianists
Valentin Peytchinov: Bass

Museum of Jewish Heritage

May 19, 2006

Brahms - Ein Deutches Requiem
Conducted by Patrick Gardner
 Elizabeth Blancke-Biggs, Soprano
 Stephen Lusmann, Baritone

Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center

A central achievement in the great symphonist’soeuvre, the Requiem is Brahms’ first piece combining mixed chorus, soloists and full orchestra, and displays his mastery of vocal music.
Having composed the piece during a period in which he suffered the deaths of both his mother and his friend Robert Schumann, Brahms produced a magnificent nondenominational Requiem emphasizing an unwavering faith in resurrection.
Read the program notes for Brahms Requiem by Patrick Gardner

April, 9 2006 A Creative Path: The Music of Dmitry Shostakovich

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 20 ("The First of May")
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43 ("To October")
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
with the Rutgers University Kirkpatrick Choir
Conductor: Valery Gergiev

Avery Fisher Hall

March 15-18, 2006
RCS with the Mark Morris Dance Group
   Brooklyn Academy of Music

After a thrilling debut collaboration on the 2005 Mostly Mozart Festival performances of Morris' L'Allegro, Il Penseroso and Il Moderato, Riverside Choral Society returns to partner the Mark Morris Dance Group in their 25th Anniversary Season engagements at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Henry Purcell
      Dido and Aeneas

Virgil Thomson
      Four Saints in Three Acts

November 11, 2005 - La Belle Musique 

Duruflé - Notre Pere
                  Quatre Motets
Messiaen - O Sacrum Convivium
Fauré - Cantique de Jean Racine
                  Messe Basse (for women)
                  Requiem

The Church of the Heavenly Rest

May 21, 2005

Mendelssohn - Verleih uns Frieden
Schumann - Drei Gedichte
Brahms - Der Abend
                  O Schöne Nacht
Dvorak - Slavonic Dances, Op. 46
Schubert - Characteristic March, Op. 121
Chesnokov, Pavel - Duh Tvoy Blagiy
                                   Plachu I rïdayu
Whitacre, Eric - Cloudburst
Earnest, John David - In After Time

Merkin Concert Hall

April 6, 2005
Carnegie Hall

Mahler - Symphony No. 2 in C minor

with the Kirov Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre
under the direction of Valery Gergiev

April 1, 2005
NJPAC

Mahler - Symphony No. 2 in C minor

with the Kirov Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre
under the direction of Valery Gergiev

March, 2 2005 - Rutgers in New York

Poulenc, Francis: Gloria for Soprano Solo, Mixed Choir, and Orchestra, Opus 177
          Soprano: Carlensha Grady
Rachmaninoff, Sergei . Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,OP.43
          Piano: Susan Starr
Mussorgsky, Modest . Pictures at an Exhibition

Carnegie Hall

Summer 2004
Mostly Mozart Festival
Mozart - Requiem in D minor
August 27-28, 2004
Avery Fisher Hall

June 4, 2004 - Within the Mystical
Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City

Lou Harrison
      Mass to St. Anthony 
                Entire work accompanied by string orchestra, trumpet and harp. 
      La Koro Sutro (for chorus and American Gamelan) 
                Read the Program Notes for Lo Koro Sutro, by Patrick Gardner. 

Charles Ives
      Psalm 90 for Chorus, Organ and Bells

Ralph Vaughan Williams
      Five Mystical Songs

John Corigliano
      Psalm 8 for Chorus and Organ Accompaniment

December 17, 2003 - Within the Mass
Holy Trinity Church, 213 West 82nd Street, New York City, New York

Arvo Pärt
      Berliner Messe 

Lou Harrison
      Mass to St. Anthony (for chorus and American Gamelan) 

Joseph Haydn
      Missa in Angustiis "Nelson Mass" 
 

March 2003
Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City

Stravinsky
      Symphony of Psalms 
                Read the Program Notes for this concert, by Patrick Gardner. 
  
Mozart
      Mass in C minor, K. 427 
                Read the Program Notes for this concert, by John Shepard.

Winter 2002 - O let us rejoice!
Saturday, December 14
Church of the Heavenly Rest
Fifth Avenue at 90th Street

Our 2002 holiday concert featured music written for both Hanukkah and Christmas, including Robert Strassburg's "Psalm 117" and "L'cha dodi," Elliott Z. Levine's "Lo v'chayil," Samuel Adler's "Judah's Song of Praise," Javier Busto's "Ave maris stella," and the 1947 Christmas Cantata of the English composer Geoffrey Bush.

Summer 2002
Mostly Mozart Festival
Beethoven - Choral Fantasy 
Saturday August 10, 2002
Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, NYC
Robert Levin and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

The chorus returned to the Mostly Mozart Festival for its fourth engagement, to perform Beethoven's Choral Fantasy with Robert Levin and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. The group made its Lincoln Center debut in August 1998 in the Festival's lauded presentation of Mozart's Idomeneo, returned to Mostly Mozart in 2000 for two acclaimed performances of Mozart's Great Mass in C minor, and presented two highly praised performances of Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri at the Festival in 2001.

Spring 2002 at Alice Tully Hall
Beethoven - Missa Solemnis
April 27, 2002 Saturday at 8:00pm
Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, NYC
Julie Freeman, Soprano
Maria Zifchak, Mezzo Soprano
Stephen Oosting, Tenor
David Arnold, Bass

Read the Program Notes by John Shepard for this concert. 

Read the Translation of the Texts for this concert.

The Missa Solemnis is one of the world's supreme masterpieces of sacred music. Composed from 1819 to 1823, when Europe was still recovering from the Napoleonic wars, the work--whose music bears the echoes of battle and whose Agnus Dei bears the notation "for inner and outer peace"--holds poignant meaning for our own troubled and challenging times. Within its titanic movements, the clamor and confusion of the world contrast with moments of inspired prayer and comforting contemplation. Beethoven completed this work of great personal intensity and dramatic power during a period of spiritual awakening, and dedicated it to his beloved patron Archduke Rudolph "from the heart," with the hope that it would "in turn go to the heart." From the nineteenth century to the twenty-first, generation after generation of listeners have, indeed, taken the Mass to heart and been profoundly moved and inspired by what musicologist Joseph Kerman has termed its "sublimity, awe, and pathos."

Winter 2001 - A Holiday Celebration

Friday, December 14 at 8:00 pm
Church of the Heavenly Rest
Fifth Avenue at 90th Street

Mary Ellen Callahan, Soprano
Mary Huhmann, Soprano
Lisa Layman, Mezzo-Soprano
Brent Weber, Tenor
Randall Scarlatta, Bass

Our 2001 holiday concert ranged from traditional English carols to rousing gospel spirituals, motets in the Romantic tradition to enchanting Haitian and Nigerian songs and the tender beauty of Lauridsen's beloved O Magnum Mysterium. Major selections included Finzi's In Terra Pax, a Christmas Eve meditation for chorus, soloists, and orchestra, and Saint-Saëns' Christmas Oratorio, whose contrasting movements of lyrical meditation, dramatic declamation, and pastoral simplicity culminate in a joyfully festive chorale.

Read the Program Notes for this concert.

August 2001 at Lincoln Center
Mostly Mozart Festival
Das Paradies und die Peri,
Schumann's Great Secular Oratorio
August 3, Friday
August 4, Saturday
8:00pm
Avery Fisher Hall,
Lincoln Center
Christine Goerke, Soprano
Jane Giering-De Haan, Soprano
Kristine Jepson, Mezzo  Soprano
Robert Brubaker, Tenor
Robert McPherson, Tenor
Peter Rose, Bass
Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra
Gerard Schwarz, Conductor

Riverside Choral Society performed Robert Schumann's oratorio Das Paradies und die Peri (1843). This was Robert Schumann's first work for soloists, chorus, and orchestra. It is based on a story told in Thomas Moore's poem "Lalla Rookh" about a figure from Persian mythology, a fallen angel who seeks to earn her way back into Heaven. Schumann thought of the work as "an oratorio -- not for the conventicle, but for bright, happy people."

May 2001 at Carnegie Hall
Carl Orff - Carmina Burana

May 22, 2001
Tuesday at 8:00pm
Carnegie Hall
57th Street and 7th Ave, NYC

Hei-Kyung Hong, Soprano
John Hancock, Baritone
John Daniecki, Tenor
Orchestra of St. Luke's
Robert Bass, Conductor

Riverside Choral Society again joined forces with the Collegiate Chorale for a performance of Carl Orff's bacchanalian Carmina Burana. For over sixty years, the immediacy and boisterous physicality of Orff's settings of medieval lyrics have thrilled audiences all over the world.

March 2001 at Merkin Concert Hall
Those Romantic Germans
Liebeslieder and More

March 4, 2001
Sunday at 8:00pm
Merkin Concert Hall
129 West 67th Street

Gilbert Kalish, Piano
Margaret Kampmeier, Piano

RCS devoted its spring program to German romantic choral music, a cappella and with piano accompaniment. The program included Mirjams Siegesgesang, Franz Schubert's setting of Grillparzer's poem about the parting of the Red Sea, and Johannes Brahms's Liebeslieder Waltzes, Opus 52. The biblical cantata, written in Schubert's last year, features a demanding piano part and emulates the spirit of one of the composer's idols - George Frideric Handel. Brahms's vocal waltzes employ two pianists and respond to wistful and humorous verses with lilting melody and elegant invention. This concert marked Riverside's Merkin Concert Hall debut.

Texts and translations are available.

December 2000 - Beethoven's Birthday
Beethoven - Consecration of the House Overture
Three Grand Hymns from the Missa Solemnis

December 16, 2000
Saturday at 8:00pm
Holy Trinity Church, 213 W. 82nd Street Julie Freeman Soprano
Jane Shaulis Mezzo-Soprano
Stephen Oosting Tenor
Brian McIntosh Bass

The Riverside Choral Society observed the 230th anniversary of the birth of Beethoven by recreating part of the concert the composer directed on May 7, 1824, which concluded with the premiere of his Ninth Symphony, Opus 125. Patrick Gardner conducted the pieces that opened that concert - the Opus 124 Overture ("The Consecration of the House") and the Kyrie, Credo, and Agnus Dei from Missa Solemnis, Opus 123, which were billed in the 1824 concert as "Three Grand Hymns."Musicologist Joseph Kerman wrote that these settings of texts from the Latin mass evoke "sublimity, awe and pathos." 

Click here to read the program notes.

August 2000 
Mozart - Great Mass in C minor
Carl Maria von Weber - Der Freischütz

"The Riverside Choral Society had obviously prepared the score thoroughly and sang the music with confidence and full-bodied sound. 
... This was a sensitive and rewarding performance of Mozart's most ambitious choral work. 
... It brought the [Mostly Mozart] festival to a fitting close."
-- Anthony Tommasini, New York Times 

"In this 1821 work [Der Freischütz] Weber virtually invented the genre of German Romantic opera. ... The impressive Riverside Choral Society (directed by Patrick Gardner) sang two rousing choruses." 
-- Anthony Tommasini, New York Times

May 2000
Weill - Kiddush 
              Das Berliner Requiem 
              Vom Tod im Wald 
Honegger - King David 
Isaiah Sheffer, Narrator

Click here for program notes.

March 2000
(Wall to Wall Kurt Weill at Symphony Space) 
Weill - Kiddush 
              Die Legende vom toten Soldaten 
              Das Berliner Requiem 
              songs from Huck Finn

December 1999

Schubert - Magnificat 
Beethoven - Choral Fantasy
    Margaret Kampmeier, special guest artist 
Haydn - Harmoniemesse

Click here for program notes.

May 1999
Verdi - Giovanna d'Arco 
with the Collegiate Chorale and the Orchestra of St. Luke's

Lauren Flanigan, soprano 

"The Collegiate Chorale, fortified by the Riverside Choral Society, formed a superchorus of some 250, vastly more than any opera house would employ in this work. It was fun to hear the music sung with such hearty sound and unabashed enthusiasm. Mr. Bass conducted a muscular and exciting performance." 
-- Anthony Tommasini, New York Times

April 1999
Brahms - Alto Rhapsody 
                  Vier Gesänge
                  Schicksalslied, 
                  Nänie
Jane Shaulis, mezzo-soprano 
Rutgers Glee Club, special artists

Brahms texts: Vier Gesänge, Schicksalslied, Nänie

December 1998
Pärt - Te Deum
Holst - Two Psalms
Shostakovich - Piano Concerto No. 1
    Margaret Kampmeier, special guest artist 

Notes on Pärt's Te Deum

August 1998
Mostly Mozart Festival
Mozart - Idomeneo (adaptation by Richard Strauss)

"Riverside Choral Society sang with winning musicality." 
--Bernard Holland, New York Times

"Gerard Schwarz and his Festival Orchestra, along with a fine array of soloists and the excellent Riverside Choral Society, gave us a rare view of Strauss' handiwork."
-- Shirley Fleming, New York Post

May 1998
Britten - Cantata Misericordium
Duruflé - Requiem 

Notes on Duruflé's Requiem

February 1998
Verdi - Nabucco

with the Collegiate Chorale and the Orchestra of St. Luke's
Lauren Flanigan, soprano

"Nabucco has seldom sounded more like a vast choral drama . . . the chorus . . . sang with wonderfully blended, full-bodied yet unforced resonance."
-- Anthony Tommasini, New York Times

"Verdi's choruses are frequent, massive, and very much part of the drama, full of militant thrust and vigor. . . . Conductor Robert Bass . . . saw to it that the full weight of his combined forces lent power and shape to these robust outpourings; they were sturdy and buoyant in rhythm, and the men alone, singing as soldiers, proved a finely disciplined musical regiment." -- Shirley Fleming, New York Post

"Augmented by the Riverside Choral Society, the Chorale was indeed the star of the evening, the prayerfully whispered unison passages sounding no less awesome than the massed choral climaxes." 
-- Peter G. Davis, New York

December 1997
Mendelssohn - Verleih uns Frieden
Mozart -Vesperae solennes K. 339
Haydn - Mass in Time of War

Notes on Mozart's Vesperae solennes K. 339

May 1997
Bruckner - Mass in E minor and motets
Schubert - Nachtgesang im Walde

Notes on Bruckner's Mass in E minor

December 1996
Mozart - Requiem (new completion by Robert Levin)
Haydn -Te Deum

Notes on Mozart's Requiem

May 1996
Brahms - Ein deutsches Requiem

December 1995
Harrison - Mass to St. Anthony
Schubert - Mass in G

May 1995
Fauré - Requiem
Bernstein - Chichester Psalms
Janácek - Otcenas

December 1994
Schubert - Mass in E Flat
Handel - Coronation Anthems

May 1994
Beethoven - Mass in C
                        Choral Fantasy

December 1993 - Music for a Season of Illumination
Finzi - In Terra Pax
Vivaldi - Gloria
Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on Christmas Carols
Handel - Judas Maccabeus

May 1993
Mozart - Mass in C minor

December 1992
Britten - St. Nicholas Cantata
Ramirez - Missa Criolla
            Navidad Nuestra

May 1992
Hindemith - Fra Musica
            (from Six Chansons)
Weill - Kiddush
              Das Berliner Requiem
Brahms - Vier Gesange
                    Nänie
Orff - Dithyrambi

December 1991
Mozart - Die Zauberflöte
                  O Isis and Osiris
                  Final Chorus
Haydn - Mehrstimmige Gesange
                  The Battle of the Nile
                  Mass The Lord Nelson Mass

May 1991 - Music of the Americas
Bernstein - Chichester Psalms
Copland - Deep River
Ramirez - Misa Criolla

December 1990
Mozart - Requiem