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New York Virtuoso Singers to perform in Slee
By AMY GREENAN
Reporter Contributor
Founded in 1988 by conductor and UB faculty member Harold Rosenbaum, the New York Virtuoso Singers (NYVS) has become this country's leading exponent of contemporary choral music. The singers will come to UB to perform the fifth concert in the Slee/Visiting Artist Series at 8 p.m. March 30 in Slee Concert Hall, North Campus.
The group will perform the first half of the concert a capella, and then will be joined by members of the Slee Sinfonietta—UB's professional chamber orchestra in residence—in the second half to present Bach's "Cantata No. 4" (Christ lag in Todesbanden).
In addition to "Cantata No. 4," the program will include "O Magnum Mysterium" by Morten Lauridsen, "Magnificat" by Arvo Paert, "Memento Mori" by UB faculty member David Felder and "Lauds" by Jonathan Harvey. The program also will feature a selection of popular classics and spirituals.
From its early days as an offshoot of a chorus-in-residence created expressly for the Brooklyn Philharmonic until the present day—with self-produced concerts, recordings, commissions and tours—the New York Virtuoso Singers has carved a unique niche for itself in the musical world. The award-winning, 12 to 16-member professional choral ensemble is dedicated to presenting both seldom-heard works by past and contemporary masters, as well as premiers by today's composers, with special emphasis on American composers—to date, 16 new works have been commissioned.
Six CDs with performances by NYVS have been released, the first of which, a CD containing Andrew Imbrie's "Requiem" and performed by the Riverside Symphony and NYVS, was a Grammy finalist. The group this year will release a CD of Thea Musgrave's music, narrated actor Michael York.
The NYVS collaborates regularly with New York's leading orchestras and ensembles, including The Brooklyn Philharmonic, The Juilliard Orchestra, The Orchestra of St. Luke's, The American Symphony, The Bard Festival Orchestra and The Mark Morris Dance Group, among others. The group most recently collaborated with The Brooklyn Philharmonic in three performances of John Adams' opera "The Death of Klinghoffer," conducted by Robert Spano at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Tickets for the NYVS' March 30 performance at UB are $12 for general admission; $9 for UB faculty, staff and alumni, senior citizens and WNED members with card, and $5 for students. Tickets may be obtained at the Slee Hall box office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, at the Center for the Arts box office from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and at all Ticketmaster locations.