Our Mission Statement
We endeavor to offer the
finest sacred music of our Roman Catholic tradition to a world hungering for
beauty and the Sacred. We use our trained musical skills to grow in our own
faith and to act as ministers of evangelization, recognizing that, for more
than a thousand years, the Church has supported the arts as a powerful
source of religious inspiration. It was in the name of God, as a gesture of
faith, that countless musical masterworks were written.
By bringing back these
compositions to the liturgical or devotional settings for which they were
intended, we preserve the living tradition (traditio vivens) of
sacred music as an inspiration for worship, rather than a mere concert
performance where it is typically stripped entirely of its religious
meaning. This also gives to all the opportunity to experience these works in
a setting where they are welcome regardless of age, income, or belief.
Community service is another
part of our heritage, most specifically the Franciscan tradition. The
Chorale is willing to assist the greater community by devoting our time and
talent to projects such as fundraising events for charitable organizations.
Our Current Activities
Since 2001, the New York
Catholic Chorale is honored to be artists-in-residence at
Siena College, a Franciscan
institution. As such, we participate actively to Siena’s spiritual and
academic life, providing music for the opening-of-the-year mass, the mass of
the Feast of St Francis, the Baccalaureate mass, and other special events,
such as this year’s inaugural of Father Mullen as the tenth president of the
college. Two other Siena events are meant for a broader audience: an evening
of Lessons and Carols in Advent, and a Way of the Cross, Adoramus
Te, in Lent, featuring Renaissance polyphony and visual art. We also
enjoy a special tie with the parish of
historic St Mary’s Church in
Albany where we present, four times a year, a beautiful mass
setting with orchestra as part of the Latin liturgy. To see our calendar of
events, click here.
Our projects
The Choral is seeking
opportunities to broaden the span of its mission. For the next season we
would like to develop our presence in local parishes, either by
participating in liturgies, or proposing devotional evenings of prayers and
music. We also wish to increase our involvement in service through the
development of a complete concert series destined to support charitable
causes. If you are member of a parish or of a charitable organization and
see possible ways for us to help, please contact us.
Our singers
We have a current membership
of about 28 singers (8 sopranos, 8 altos, 6 tenors, 6 basses). A fair
percentage are professional musicians, parish cantors/music directors.
Others are professionals in other fields who enjoy singing as an avocation.
Members age range from
twenty-something to post-retirement. The cross generational aspect of the
group is something we value particularly. Not all of us are Roman
Catholic—we encourage anyone with an interest in performing sacred music to
join us.
The NYCC was founded, under
the name of Tri-Cities Catholic Chorale in 1997, by
Thomas F. Savoy. Many original members belonged to the parish of St.
Margaret Mary in Albany, New York. Since the summer 2007, the Chorale is
under the direction of Muriel Maharidge. A member of
the ensemble since 2005, and holding a doctorate in Choral Conducting, she
was an easy choice to succeed Tom Savoy. The singers had a chance to get
acquainted to her conducting as she guest-conducted several events earlier
in 2007, and she had a unique opportunity to gain insights into our mission.
Our musical repertoire
A smaller
entity, the Schola, is performing Gregorian chant. A great part of our
repertoire is a cappella sacred polyphony chiefly from the Renaissance
(Palestrina, Lassus, Byrd…), and works by a few 20th century
composers (Poulenc, Duruflé…) In addition, the masses with orchestra are
typically drawn from the classical (Mozart, Haydn…) and early romantic eras.
Excursions on special occasions have included carols, gospel, and jazz
repertoires.
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