american voices: Dennis Keene’s american Choral tradition

Thursday, May 8, 2025 @ 7:30 pm
Church of the Ascension
36 Fifth Avenue at Tenth St
New York, NY 10011

Soloists to be announced

Music by:

Samuel Barber | Bora Yoon

Charles Ives | Randall Thompson

Harrison Burleigh | Moses Hogan

Gian Carlo Menotti | Johann Freidrich Peter and more!

Featuring the full range of American choral music, we celebrate the music brought to our shores by Americans who arrived from all over the world. Our concert will celebrate that rich diversity with music by Americans from Europe, Asia, and Africa. Pieces range from the German-American composer Johann Friedrich Peter who worked in Moravian Churches in Pennsylvania and North Carolina around the time of the American Revolution, to the evocative and explorative sounds of contemporary composer and Voices artist Bora Yoon.

A panorama of African-American spirituals will feature classics by Harry Burleigh, William Dawson, Wendall Whalum, and Moses Hogan. America’s most famous choral piece – Randall Thompson’s Alleluia – is included, along with towering works by Charles Ives, including Serenity, Turn ye, turn ye, and his greatest work, Psalm 90 which features four sets of bells from distant corners of the church and the Manton Memorial Organ.

A highlight of the evening will be a rare performance of Samuel Barber’s Agnus Dei, which is the choral version of his beloved and deeply moving Adagio for Strings, along with a virtually unknown but luminous motet by his partner, Italian-American operatist Gian Carlo Menotti.

Explore our 2024-25 Season