James Busby

BROOLYN SYMPHONY AND GRACE & SPIRITUS CHORALE TEAM UP FOR MAY PERFORMANCE

The Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra will be joining forces with the Grace & Spiritus Chorale of Brooklyn for the last concert of the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra's 35th season. The program will be conducted by James Busby, Music Director and Conductor of the Grace & Spiritus Chorale, and will feature Sir Michael Tippett's oratorio, A Child of Our Time. The performance will be held on Friday, May 16th at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, May 18th at 3:00 p.m. Both performances will be at the Church of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity in Brooklyn Heights.

"The Brooklyn Symphony has collaborated with the Grace & Spiritus Chorale for many years now, and it's always a wonderful experience," commented Nicholas Armstrong, Artistic Director of the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra. "This program in particular is a great opportunity for the musicians to perform, and for the audience to hear, a work not frequently performed in the United States."

Tippett's oratorio was based on the events of 1938, when a Jewish teenager murdered a German diplomat. That murder was used by the Nazis to foment anti-Jewish violence that ultimately resulted in the tragic events of Kristallnacht. Tippett's work, while musically very twentieth-century, is interspersed throughout with chorales that draw heavily from traditional American Negro spirituals.

"Tippett's oratorio successfully modernizes traditional musical forms while exploring twentieth century literary, philosophical, and psychological themes," commented James Busby. "The oratorio remains vital and compelling because of the interplay of these various elements. Ultimately, the piece transcends the tragic events that inspired it and challenges us to consider, and accept, our flawed humanity."

The performance will feature Caroline Earp, soprano; Sarah Nelson Craft, mezzo-soprano; Nicholas Filzen, tenor; and Daniel Hoy, baritone.

The Grace & Spiritus Chorale of Brooklyn was formed in 2006 by the merger of the Grace Chorale Society and Spiritus & Anima. More information is available at the chorale's website at http://www.graceandspiritus.org/.

Admission to the concert is free with a suggested contribution of $15.

The Church of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity is located at the corner of Clinton and Montague Streets in Brooklyn Heights, next to the Court Street subway station. The Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra, comprised of talented amateur, semi-professional and professional musicians, is one of the New York area's finest community orchestras. Founded 34 years ago as the "Brooklyn Heights Orchestra," the group joins under the baton of Artistic Director Nicholas Armstrong to present five symphonic concerts per season of classical, romantic and 20th-century music. This concert was made possible, in part, with public funds.