Join us on Tuesday, May 5 at 7:30pm for St. Bartholomew's Choir in Concert, singing Poulenc's Gloria, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, and music of Samuel Barber, with Michael Hey (organ), Patrick Kreeger (piano), Frances Duffy (harp), and Maya Gunji (percussion).

Francis Poulenc’s Gloria is a concert work for choir and soprano solo. The accompaniment in this performance will be in arrangement for both piano and organ. While the organ captures a kaleidoscope of orchestral color, the piano evokes the urbane, witty and sometimes irreverent sound-world of Poulenc.

Samuel Barber reworked his Adagio for strings in a version for choir called “Agnus Dei.” The choir will also sing his settings of poetry by Emily Dickinson, James Agee (Sure on this shining night), and Louise Bogan (To be Sung on the Water). This last poem appeared in the pages of The New Yorker and was sung by St. Bartholomew’s Choir at Barber’s memorial service at the church in 1981.

The magnificent Chichester Psalms is one of only two major compositions Leonard Bernstein produced during his years as music director of the New York Philharmonic. We present it here in his arrangement for choir, soloists, harp, organ, and percussion. It’s Bernstein at his best with panache, bravura, heart-on-sleeve emotion, and more.