Trinity Wall Street presents Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” on Palm Sunday, March 24
“One of the city’s treasures…, Trinity’s music [is] indispensable and unmissable.”
– New York Times, Feb 2013
On Palm Sunday (March 24), Trinity Wall Street – the historic New York church whose choir was recently honored with a Grammy nomination for “Best Choral Performance” – launches Holy Week with an account of Bach’s monumental St. Matthew Passion. An enduring cornerstone of the sacred choral tradition, Bach’s masterpiece will be performed by the Choir of Trinity Wall Street and Trinity Baroque Orchestra, led by music director Julian Wachner. Their last traversal of the oratorio impressed the New York Times as “transcendent,” “moving,” and “spine-tingling”; indeed, as a recent New York Times feature observes, Wachner “has taken the church’s program to new heights,” rendering music at Trinity “indispensable and unmissable.” Tickets are available at TrinityEarlyMusic.com.
When Wachner, the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, and the Trinity Baroque Orchestra last presented the St. Matthew Passion together, the New York Times found their performance “arresting from the opening notes of the orchestral introduction,” with the conductor eliciting playing of “taut and dramatic vigor.” The paper’s glowing review continued:
“The ensemble performed with impeccable clarity and crispness. The concertmasters Robert Mealy and Cynthia Roberts played their solos with flair, as did the viola da gamba player Lisa Terry. The buoyant, elegantly shaped orchestral sound meshed beautifully with the lithe, immaculate and colorful singing of the chorus, which expressively conveyed the drama and sorrow of the chorales. There were plenty of spine-tingling moments.”
This season, as well as reprising Bach’s oratorio on Palm Sunday, Trinity Wall Street will mark Holy Week with special musical services for Easter Sunday (March 31), when the Choir of Trinity Wall Street will perform works by Handel, Stanford, Taverner, and Randall Thompson in two festive celebrations of the Eucharist.
Trinity Wall Street’s regular musical offerings will also continue throughout Holy Week. On Monday, March 25, “Bach At One” will find Wachner leading free performances of Bach’s sacred cantatas nos. 41 and 14 within the liturgical context for which they were written, and on Wednesday, “Pipes At One” presents a free recital from Mark Pacoe on the organ of St. Paul’s Chapel.
About music at Trinity Wall Street:
One of the oldest, largest, and most vibrant of all Episcopal parishes, Trinity Wall Street is located in the heart of New York’s financial district, where it has created a dynamic home for great music. In the 2010-11 season, the parish appointed conductor, composer, and keyboardist Julian Wachner as Director of Trinity’s Music and the Arts program. Serving as principal conductor of the Choir of Trinity Wall Street and Trinity Baroque Orchestra, he also oversees all liturgical, professional, and community Music and Arts programming at Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel. The Choir of Trinity Wall Street and Trinity Baroque Orchestra offer a full season of concerts, ranging from large-scale oratorios to intimate evenings of a cappella singing and chamber music.
Trinity Wall Street: Music for Holy Week
Sunday, March 24 at 5pm
Trinity Church, New York, NY
J.S. Bach: St. Matthew Passion
Trinity Choir
Trinity Baroque Orchestra
Julian Wachner
Monday, March 25 at 1pm
St. Paul’s Chapel, New York, NY
“Bach At One”
J.S. Bach: Jesu, nun sei gepreiset (BWV 41)
J.S. Bach: Wär Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit (BWV 14)
Trinity Choir
Trinity Baroque Orchestra
Julian Wachner
Wednesday, March 27 at 1pm
St. Paul’s Chapel, New York, NY
“Pipes At One”
Mark Pacoe
Sunday, March 31 at 9am
Trinity Church, New York, NY
Easter Festive Eucharist
Trinity Choir
Stanford: Ye Choirs of New Jerusalem
Taverner: Dum transisset Sabbatum
Thompson: Alleluia
Handel: “Hallelujah” chorus
Sunday, March 31 at 11:15am
Trinity Church, New York, NY
Easter Festive Eucharist
Trinity Choir
Stanford: Ye Choirs of New Jerusalem
Taverner: Dum transisset Sabbatum
Thompson: Alleluia
Handel: “Hallelujah” chorus