New Choral Society kicks off the holiday season with their 30th annual performances of “Messiah Part I” on December 1 and 3, 2023
The New Choral Society, under the direction of Dr. John T. King, kicks off the holiday season with their 30th annual performances of the beloved holiday favorite, Händel’s Messiah, Part I on Friday, December 1 at 8pm and Sunday, December 3 at 3pm. Both performances will take place at the acoustically beautiful sanctuary of Hitchcock Presbyterian Church in Scarsdale.
The 48-member award-winning chorus has become known throughout the tri-state area for its outstanding musical accomplishments, presenting choral masterworks for the past 29 years. Accompanying the chorus will be a professional orchestra made up of players from some of the finest orchestras in New York City and surrounds, including the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, The Orchestra of St. Luke’s and some of the best of Broadway. As always, the chorus is joined by an incomparable professional orchestra and a quartet of bright, accomplished young stars from the world of opera—Soprano Kathryn Lewek, Mezzo-Soprano Rebecca Ringle Kamarei, Tenor Zach Borichevksy, and Baritone Daniel Rich. Ms. Lewek and Mr. Rich appear by courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera.
Soprano Kathryn Lewek has established herself as one of this generation’s most thrilling coloratura sopranos, performing some of the most vocally challenging roles in the repertoire and joining the top-ranking operatic performers of all time. Last season reached the remarkable milestone of Kathryn’s 50th performance of Die Zauberflöte as The Queen of the Night at The Metropolitan Opera, which surpasses The Met’s record for the most performances of a role by a single artist. The New York Times declared her performance “utterly enthralling, emitting richly glowing bursts of notes like a collapsing star.” Ms. Lewek’s interpretation of the quintessential Mozart villain has labeled her the reigning Queen, with productions at more than 25 companies in over 300 performances to date. Ms. Lewek performed in NCS’s 2020 virtual Messiah and returned to perform the piece live in 2021. She appears by courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera.
Praised by Opera News for her “richly focused voice”, mezzo-soprano Rebecca Ringle Kamarei’s performances have brought her acclaim on operatic and concert stages. Her New York City Opera début as Lola in Cavalleria rusticana was hailed as “sultry” and “sweetly sung” by The Wall Street Journal and London’s Financial Times. She returned to NYCO as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly and Dorothée in Cendrillon. Last season brought Rebecca back to The Metropolitan Opera for productions of The Hours and La Traviata as well as to Smith College for Mahler’s Symphony No. 2. This season, she joins the South Florida Symphony for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society for a concert of Bach cantatas. This performance marks Ms. Ringle Kamarei’s New Choral Society debut.
Tenor Zach Borichevsky is “equipped with a flexible, bright voice that already has made him one of the most sought-after singers of his generation.” Mr. Borichevsky is known for his “precise, nuanced high-register singing,” paired with a “magical sense of complete spontaneity that comes from being in total command of the instrument.” A series of significant débuts have established Mr. Borichevsky as one of the most thrilling vocal talents to appear on the international stage; he has created widely celebrated international performances in roles such as Rodolfo in La bohème with Finnish National Opera, Roméo in Roméo et Juliette for Teatro Municipal de Santiago in Chile, and Alfredo in La Traviata for the Glyndebourne Festival. Mr. Borichevsky recorded the 2020 virtual Messiah with the New Choral Society. He returned to perform the piece live in 2021.
Baltimore born baritone Daniel Rich returns to the Met for his second year in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. During the 2023–24 season, he will appear as Pâris in Roméo et Juliette and as Chester in Terrence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones. He made his Met debut during the 2022–23 season as a Waiter in Der Rosenkavalier and covered the Count of Lerma in Don Carlo. Recent operatic engagements include Masetto in Don Giovanni at Wolf Trap Opera, Valentin in Faust at Opera Baltimore, and various roles in Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels’ Pulitzer Prize winning opera Omar, including its world premiere at the Spoleto Festival in 2022 and revival at Carolina Performing Arts in 2023. Mr. Rich Daniel performed at the New Choral Society 30th Anniversary Gala and appears courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera.
Hitchcock Presbyterian Church is located at 6 Greenacres Avenue in Scarsdale, and is wheelchair accessible. It has free parking all around the building and boasts a sanctuary, used for concerts, that is acoustically renowned in the area.
Tickets for the single performance are available in three categories: Preferred Seating – $30; General Admission – $25; and a discounted General Admission ticket for Seniors and Students – $20. To purchase tickets, please visit www.newchoralsociety.org or call the office at (914)725-1678.
This concert is made possible, in part, by the Westchester Community Foundation, a division of The New York Community Trust as well as by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
About New Choral Society
The New Choral Society is a professional level community chorus, all auditioned, who perform in Scarsdale, NY. They present three concert programs each season – December through May – with an emphasis on classical choral repertoire. All programs are accompanied by professional orchestra and feature world renowned soloists. Now in their 23rd season, the New Choral Society has been the recipient of The Arts Westchester Arts Award (2014) and numerous grants.. In addition to their choral concert season, the group features their outstanding chamber orchestra in one concert each January, presenting some of the best known chamber music repertoire as well as new compositions by some of their professional musicians. Office hours: Monday – Thursday, 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.