Brahms Requiem & Mendelssohn Motets

Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola
K. Scott Warren, conductor and piano
Robert Reuter, conductor
Michael Sheetz, piano

Elisa Singer, soprano
Kristin Gornstein, mezzo soprano
Tim Krol, baritone

PROGRAM
Felix Mendelssohn
     Kyrie
     Heilig
     Lass, O Herr, mich Hülfe finden
     Verleih uns Frieden
     Herr, wir trau’n auf deine Gute

Johannes Brahms 
     Requiem, Op. 45

ARTISTS

Michael Sheetz was appointed Music Associate of the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in September 2012, after having joined the music staff in 2010. He serves as Music Director of the Wallace Hall Choir and Orchestra, Assistant Conductor of the Parish Community Choir, and provides conducting and keyboard support for the acclaimed Sacred Music in a Sacred Space concert series. Further duties include maintaining the church’s renowned music library, as well as contracting, playing, and overseeing many of the church’s liturgies throughout the year. A recording of his playing with the St. Ignatius Children’s Choirs was regarded as “consistently excellent” by the American Record Guide Review, and he recently produced and directed the liturgical music album “Hallelujah: The Wallace Hall Choir and Orchestra,” featuring music in both classical and contemporary styles.

An active musician in New York City, Michael is the Assistant Music Director of Musica Sacra, New York’s longest continuously performing professional chorus. Through this organization Michael assists Music Director Kent Tritle in performances at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and leads an educational outreach program advocating choral music in underserved New York City public schools. With Musica Sacra he has collaborated with the New York Philharmonic, Orchestra of St. Luke’s and New York City Ballet, and released a recording on the AMR label, “Eternal Reflections: The Choral Music of Robert Paterson.” He made his Musica Sacra conducting debut in March 2014 at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine with Judith Lang Zaimont’s Parable: A Tale of Abram and Isaac.

Michael is the Assistant Conductor and Accompanist of the Fairfield County Chorale in East Norwalk, CT. He is on the faculty of the Berkshire Choral Festival, the United Nations International School, and La Lingua della Lirica, a summer training program for opera singers in Novafeltria, Italy. He has served as a Teaching Fellow at The Juilliard School and as a vocal coach and accompanist at Manhattan School of Music, as well as Assistant Choral Director at the New York Philharmonic, Lincoln Center Festival, and Weill Music Institute. He has performed live broadcasts on WQXR and Vermont Public Radio, and in concert at Weill Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and The Kennedy Center. An accompanist for the Oratorio Society of New York, Voices of Ascension, New York Choral Consortium, Aspen Opera Theatre Center, Middlebury Opera, and the College Light Opera Company, he has collaborated with Philippe Entremont, Alan Gilbert, Jane Glover, Maria Guinand, Pablo Heras-Casado, Dennis Keene, Bernard Labadie, Meredith Monk, John Nelson, Sir Roger Norrington, Emmanuel Plasson, David Rosenmeyer, Steven Schick, Bramwell Tovey, Kent Tritle, and K. Scott Warren.

Michael holds a Master of Music and two Professional Studies degrees from Manhattan School of Music in accompanying and conducting. He is a graduate of Vassar College.

Hailed by the New York Times as “broad, wide-ranging and powerful” and “a finely polished, stylistically nimble ensemble,” the Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola is comprised of New York’s finest professional choral singers. “A wondrous ensemble” (Opera News), the Choir’s “tremendous expressive and dynamic range” and “remarkable vocal discipline and finesse” (the New York Times) is featured in the Sacred Music in a Sacred Space concert series, now in its 30th season. Each member is a soloist in his or her own right in a variety of genres including early music, opera, oratorio and contemporary repertoire. The core group of 20 members sings a demanding schedule of weekly parish worship services in a wide range of repertoire, with emphasis on Gregorian chant and works of the Baroque and Romantic eras. The Choir may be heard on recordings for the MSR Classics and AMDG labels.  In addition to headlining at the Southwestern American Choral Directors Association Convention in St. Louis, the Choir also performed in the opening festival of radio station WNYC’s Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, on a concert bill with René Pape, John Zorn, Ute Lemper, and Nico Muhly.

Since 2011, St. Ignatius Loyola Director of Music Ministries K. Scott Warren has led a dynamic music team consisting of over 150 individuals, professional and volunteer, in providing music at approximately 400 liturgies annually. He is the principal conductor of the 20-voice professional Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola, which sings a demanding schedule of services throughout the year, with repertoire spanning Gregorian chant to 21st-century masterpieces. The choir, along with the Orchestra of St. Ignatius Loyola, form the backbone of the parish’s critically acclaimed concert series, Sacred Music in a Sacred Space, whose recent performances have been lauded by the New York Times as “stirring...positively thrilling” and “broad, wide-ranging, and powerful.” In addition to the vast choral spectrum presented at St. Ignatius, Mr. Warren presides over the four manual, 91-rank N. P. Mander Organ, the largest mechanical action organ in the New York metro area, and an instrument of international stature.

Robert Reuter, conductor, singer, and pianist, was appointed Associate Director of Music in September of 2012 at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in New York City, where he works closely with director K. Scott Warren in contributing and shaping the church’s vibrant liturgical music program and concert series Sacred Music in a Sacred Space. 

A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Robert began his involvement in music ministry while in grade school as a member of the church choir.  He eventually became accompanist, cantor and choir director at St. Martin of Tours Roman Catholic Parish in San José, California.  From 2001-2006, he also served as accompanist for the Santa Clara University Mission Choir, providing music at many of the weekly liturgies at historic Mission Santa Clara de Asís in Santa Clara, California.

Since joining the music staff at St. Ignatius Loyola in 2007, Robert has had the pleasure of working with all of the church’s professional and volunteer ensembles.  He currently sings with, and occasionally conducts the 20 voice professional Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola, which offers repertoire at liturgies and concerts ranging from Gregorian chant to the latest choral masterpieces.  He is director of the church's Parish Community Choir, which can be heard at the annual Christmas and Rejoice in the Lord concerts, as well as many of the major Christmas, Holy Week and Easter liturgies.  Robert is director and accompanist for Canticum Sacrum, a volunteer ensemble which offers musical support for the weekly 7:30 Sunday evening liturgies.

In the 2009-2010 season, Robert made his Sacred Music in a Sacred Space concert series debut, conducting the combined choirs and orchestra of St. Ignatius Loyola on Giovanni Gabrieli’s much beloved O Magnum Mysterium in the series’ annual Christmas Concerts.  The following season, he conducted the New York Premiere of Cecilia McDowall’s Christus Natus Est at the Christmas Concerts, as well as an all a cappella concert with Kent Tritle.  The a cappella concert was recorded and commercially released in 2011 as Cool of the Day on the MSR label.

When not contributing to the musical aspects of Sacred Music in a Sacred Space, Robert enjoys being the behind-the-scenes "go-to-guy" in his position as Technical & Logistics Coordinator.  Responsibilities include crafting detailed schematics for each concert, running the lighting and sound systems, and helping to ensure an overall smooth concert experience for the musicians and audience members alike.  Robert is a graduate of Santa Clara University.

All performance dates, artists and programs subject to change. Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable.

GENERAL CONCERT AND TICKET INFORMATION

• DOORS OPEN at 2:15 PM for a 3 PM concert start time.


• LATE SEATING is at the discretion of the House Management. Latecomers may be asked to remain in the back of the church until there is a break in the program, so as not to disturb the performance or other audience members.


• WILL CALL is available when the doors open at 2:15 PM inside the main doors of the church.


• CHILDREN seated on an adult's lap do not need a ticket. Children seated in a chair or pew do need a ticket.


• We no longer offer tickets for sale or any ticket pickup at the Parish House Reception desk.


• Audio and/or video recording and flash photography are not permitted during performances.

ACCESSIBILITY

• The Church of St. Ignatius Loyola is wheelchair/walker accessible via the ramp entrance on 84th Street (between Park and Madison Avenues).


• The restrooms are NOT easily accessible by wheelchair. The most easily accessible restrooms are in the Parish House (980 Park Avenue). There are two steps down from the street level into the Parish House and there is a restroom on that ground floor.


• For reserved seating concerts, there is available seating for wheelchairs and companions. Please look for the Wheelchair and Wheelchair Companion tickets when purchasing. For general seating concerts, follow the directions of the ushers. Please call ahead (212-288-2520) to discuss any special seating requirements.

PARKING

• Street parking can be difficult to find, but there are a number of parking garages nearby. There are garages on 83rd Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues) and 84th Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues), as well as near the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

RESTAURANTS

• There are a number of fine and casual eating establishments located nearby on Madison Avenue (one block west of the church), Lexington Avenue (one block east of the church), Third Avenue (two blocks east of the church) and Second Avenue (three blocks east of the church).

DIRECTIONS

• The Church of St. Ignatius Loyola is easily reached via the 4, 5, and 6 subway lines (86th Street station), or buses on Madison, Lexington and Fifth Avenues, and on 86th Street.