New York Baroque Incorporated (NYBI) returns to Saint Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue this spring for two performances: on April 11, 2019, a collaboration with the church’s renowned Choir of Men and Boys in Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. John Passion; and on May 9, 2019, Now is the Month of Maying, an instrumental extravaganza featuring violinist Olivier B. Brault and Saint Thomas’ Associate Organist Benjamin Sheen on harpsichord and organ.

NYBI has collaborated frequently with the Saint Thomas Choir, including two Christmas performances of Handel’s Messiah in 2017 and 2018. J. S. Bach’s St. John Passion, as dramatic as it is spiritual, has become synonymous with Passiontide and Easter observances. NYBI has made its mark on two previous performances of the St. John Passion – at Carnegie Hall in February 2017 with Mastervoices performing a new English translation by tenor Michael Slattery, and at Trinity Wall Street’s Bach at One series in April 2017. The Saint Thomas performance, sung in German, marks Director of Music Daniel Hyde’s final appearance as conductor of the Choir and NYBI, before he departs for his native England and the position of Director of Music for the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge.

Now is the Month of Maying takes its name from a popular 16th-century song by Thomas Morley, but this concert casts the spotlight on the instruments. New York Baroque Incorporated joins with Benjamin Sheen in a program of chamber music celebrating the Martha J. Dodge Continuo Organ, an instrument built in 2001 by the Staunton, Virginia firm of Taylor & Boody; and a new harpsichord recently purchased from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based master harpsichord maker Willard Martin. Having performed “Winter” from Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, in the April 4, 2019 concert that opened NYBI’s new Alchemy series, the ensemble opens this concert with “Spring” from the evergreen set, with violin soloist Olivier B. Brault. An Organ Concerto by George Frideric Handel and “Albinoni’s Adagio” both weave counterpoint between soloist and the instruments of the orchestra. The program ends with J. S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, featuring flute soloist Bethanne Walker and Sheen in the work’s famous, improvisatory harpsichord fireworks.

NYBI’s performances at Saint Thomas Church occur in the midst of its Alchemy series at Trinity Wall Street’s St. Paul Chapel. The ensemble’s season will conclude on June 30, 2019 when it makes its debut at the Caramoor Center north of Manhattan in a program of works by Handel, Geminiani, Hasse and Vivaldi featuring mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux.

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For further information, image or interview requests please contact Melanne Mueller, MusicCo International,
917 907 2785, melanne@musiccointernational.com

For further information about New York Baroque Incorporated, please visit www.nybaroque.org

NEW YORK BAROQUE INCORPORATED AT SAINT THOMAS CHURCH, SPRING 2019
April 11, 2019 – 7:30 pm
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750) St. John Passion
Dann Coakwell Evangelist
Sarah Brailey soprano
Jay Carter alto
Mark Bleeke tenor
Andrew Padgett bass
Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys
Daniel Hyde conductor

May 9, 2019 – 6:00 pm
Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741) Concerto No. 1 in E, Op. 8, RV 269 “La Primavera” (“Spring”) from The Four Seasons *
George Frideric Handel (1685 – 1759) Organ Concerto in B-flat, Op. 4, No. 6 **
Tomaso Albinoni (1671 – 1751) Adagio for organ and strings **
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750) Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, BWV 1050 ** +
* Olivier B. Brault violin
** Benjamin Sheen harpsichord and organ
+ Bethanne Walker flute

Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue
1 West 53rd Street
New York, New York 10019

NEW YORK BAROQUE INCORPORATED AT CARAMOOR
Arcangelo Corelli (1653 – 1713) Concerto Grosso in D Major, Op. 6, No. 4
Francesco Geminiani (1687 – 1762) Concerto Grosso in E Major, No. 11, H.142
George Frideric Handel (1685 – 1759)
“Brilla nell’alma un non inteso ancor” from Alessandro *
“Lascia la spina” from Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno *
Armida abbandonata, HWV 105 *
Johann Adolph Hasse (1699 – 1783) “Come nave in mezzo all’onde” from Viriate *
Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741)
Violin Concerto in F Minor, RV 2297, “Winter”
“Gelido in ogni vena” from Farnace, RV 711 *
* Vivica Genaux mezzo-soprano

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts
149 Girdle Ridge Road
PO Box 816
Katonah, NY 10536