This Saturday at 3pm, Boston’s own New World Chorale will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a new local commission and a challenging program of choral favorites by Barber, Brahms, Bruckner, Haydn, and Mascagni [info HERE]. With a local history of over 100 concerts with 20 local orchestras and ensembles, this choir has become one of Boston’s leading choral partners, and BMInt has reviewed NWC’s performances with Boston’s Mercury Orchestra [Jeffrey Gantz’s review HERE and Vance Koven’s review HERE], and with Boston Landmarks Orchestra HERE].
Founding Director Holly Krafka, who also prepared the One City Choir at the Hatch Shell in Boston [reviewed HERE], is a native of Wellesley, a graduate of Gettysburg College, and holds a master’s degree in choral conducting from Boston Conservatory. As a singer, Krafka was a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood Festival Chorus for 20 years. She describes Saturday’s festive event: “In this concert, we are excited to present the premiere of a work, commissioned for the occasion, by composer—and former chorus member—John Cavallaro. The finale is a performance of Beethoven’s Fantasia in C minor (popularly known as “Choral Fantasy”) featuring NWC’s stellar accompanist, Mark Bartlett, as piano soloist.” Krafka further describes her programming goals for the November 16th concert in this series of videos [HERE].
HISTORY
The New World Chorale is an independent choral ensemble, rehearsing most recently in Wellesley Hills, that was founded in 1999 by Holly MacEwen Krafka and pianist John Zielinski with the mission of performing the best choral music (including a cappella repertoire for chamber choir, such as this weekend’s concert). Originally called Soli Deo Gloria, it was renamed the New World Chorale after first performing as a partner to the Claflin Hill Symphony in 2001. The choir’s primary mission is to perform with orchestras in New England, since most local ensembles do not maintain a dedicated chorus of their own. Major works preformed include Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 in E-flat major (“Symphony of a Thousand”) with the Lexington Symphony and Symphony NH Orchestra and Chorus (2010); Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with the Lexington Symphony (2014), and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with Symphony NH (2018).
A longtime partner of Boston Ballet, they sang in Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler: A Ballet by John Neumeier [reviewed HERE], which was the first production of this ballet by a North American company since Neumeier’s Hamburg Ballet made it a signature work in 1975 (2015); Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms (2013); and Les Noces/Polovtsian Dances by Borodin (2006), conducted by Jonathan McPhee. With Milford’s beloved Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra, the New World Chorale has presented The Music Man, The Pirates of Penzance, South Pacific in Concert, Requiems of Mozart and Brahms, and Belshazzar’s Feast. A complete, illustrated performance history archive is HERE.
NEW DIRECTIONS
Increasingly, NWC has also appeared in multimedia events such as Symphonic Anime, a touring concert series showcasing orchestral music from Japanese animation (September 2024) and The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses, a touring multimedia production presenting over 30 years of music from The Legend of Zelda™ video game franchise by Nintendo® (October 2017).
Premieres of new works have included the world premiere of Black Athena ~ Power by Ray Angry (2022 Lexington Symphony commission reviewed HERE) and the East Coast premiere of Giya Kancheli’s Styx with the Longwood Symphony Orchestra and violist Roger Tapping (December 2009). Pieces commissioned and performed include: Opening Day, written for NWC by local composer Tom Hojnacki to texts about baseball by Bill Littlefield, host of the National Public Radio program “Only A Game”; How Sweet the Sound, an arrangement of hymns and spirituals for chorus and organ by John Zielinski; Mass by Gregory Short for chorus, percussion, and audience participation; and Infelix Ego for organ, percussion, brass quartet, and chorus, also by Zielinski.
Its members include some of the Boston area’s most experienced choral singers and soloists who have performed both locally and internationally with the world’s major orchestras, especially with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Its upcoming season includes Vaughan Williams’s Sea Symphony with the Lexington Symphony in February [info HERE]; Frank Martin’s Ode de la Musique and John Williams’s Hymn to the Fallen with the Boston Conservatory Brass Ensemble in March [info HERE]; and Mendelssohn’s Psalm 42 in Faneuil Hall in April with the Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms Society [Info HERE]. NWC’s season concludes with two choral-orchestral masterworks celebrating anniversaries of local orchestras: Carmina Burana in Milford [celebrating Claflin Hill’s 25th HERE] and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in Carlisle [celebrating the CCO’s 10th HERE].
For the 25th-Anniversary Concert this Saturday, November 16th, in Wellesley Hills Congregational Church, the concert program includes romantic favorites by Brahms, Bruckner, and Mascagni, classical masterworks by Haydn and Beethoven (including the full Choral Fantasy in the composer’s published version for solo piano), two motets by Samuel Barber, and the newly commissioned Vanishing Treasure by John Cavallaro. Following the concert, attendees are invited to a celebratory reception.
Corrections/Additions:
For the Beethoven, the piano soloist was Mark Bartlett, and the solo vocal sextet was Cynde Hartman, Amy Harris, Gayle Livingston, Benjamin Youngman, and Michael Prichard.
NWC was accompanied by a 28-piece orchestra for both the Beethoven and the Haydn Te Deum in C Major. Players included Sarah Tocco (organ); Li Shan Tan (harp); Desiree Glazer Nazro (timpani, also a dolist in the male chorus piece by Barber); Michael Bellofatto, Kristin Olsen, Richard Kelley, Max Ignas, Alexei Doohovskoy, and Donald Robinson (brass); Ashley Addington, Elzbieta Brandys O’Neill, Kyoko Hida Battaglia, Elizabeth England, Alexis Lanz, Marguerite Levin, Gregory Newton, and John Fulton (woodwinds); and eleven strings.
Cellist Luke Krafka was the featured soloist for the NWC’s new commission by Dr. John Cavallaro.
Comment by Laura Prichard — November 16, 2024 at 3:13 pm | Edit This
Here follows is a more complete list of the conductors who have led the New World Chorale in concert during its first 25 years:
Charles Ansbacher (2002, 2006-07)
Joel Bard (2002)
Adam Kerry Boyles (2017, 2021)
Stephen Bulla (2019)
Mark Churchill (2008, 2012, 2019)
Federico Cortese (2011)
Ronald Feldman (2014-15)
Bruce Hangen (2011)
Max Hobart (2019)
Thomas Hojnacki (2002-03)
Lawrence Isaacson (2022-23, 2025)
Steven Karidoyanes (2008)
Ronald Knudsen (2012)
Holly MacEwen Krafka (1999-2025)
Steven Lipsitt (2018, 2025)
Jonathan McPhee (2006-11, 2013-18, 2022-25)
Francisco Noya (2002-04, 2016)
Gil Rose (2014)
Paul Surapine (2000-14, 2017, 2019, 2023, 2025)
Yoichi Udagawa (2019, 2023-24)
Christopher Wilkins (2010-12)
Hugh Wolff (2010)
Channing Yu (2018-19, 2024)
Comment by Laura Prichard — November 16, 2024 at 3:40 pm | Edit This
Comment by Laura Prichard — November 16, 2024 at 6:26 pm
It’s probably been 15 years since I started singing with New World, off and on. I didn’t know anything about it until I was sitting behind curtains, as a chorus member for Idomeneo. My partner, with whom I had sung with in another chorus, asked me if I wanted to sing Beethoven’s Ninth on Boston Common with his other group. It turned out that the concert was in conflict with TFC so some of the usual sopranos were not available to sing. That was my first concert with NWC. Had a blast and haven’t looked back since.
Comment by Kathy Liw — November 15, 2024 at 8:58 pm
As a newer members having joined less than ten years ago, I’m astonished at the many venues where I’ve performed with New World Chorale for the first time. From Wellesley to Manchester, MA, to the Hatch Shell, MIT Kresge et cetera.
My fondest memory is from Faneuil Hall, a backdrop of my life starting in my teenage years and continuing to this day. The concert was the Mozart Requiem, Levin Completion, by the Bach, Brahms & Beethoven Society in 2018. My four German-speaking friends in the audience marveled at the accuracy of our German Latin pronunciation and the beautiful dynamic range. Looking forward to many challenging pieces and heartfelt performances in the future.
Comment by Kristine Lessard — November 15, 2024 at 8:13 pm
It has been an honor and privilege to sing with New World Chorale over the years along with so many talented fellow singers and under the superb direction of Holly Krafka. Truly one of the most joyful experiences in my life.
I have many favorite performances (Berstein’s Kaddish, Angry’s Black Athena – Power, Hindemith’s Apparebit repentina dies, and Kancheli’s Styx among them) but one of the most poignant concerts was a Beethoven 9 with the MIT Symphony as our first gig after we emerged from the pandemic. It moved me to the core and reminded me just how much I love singing with this group and all of the people in it.
Comment by Art LaMan — November 15, 2024 at 5:16 pm
My favorite (to date) experience with the New World Chorale occurred in October 2015 singing Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with the Boston Ballet, conducted by the magnificent Jonathan McPhee. For 11 performances over two weeks, I was one of Mahler’s “drei Engel” (or in our case, 23 angels), and I temporarily got to live the life of a diva devoted to my craft. I also had a backstage view of ballet dancers warming up and practicing. (I loved watching ballerinas prepare their toe shoes for performance — and have since been reminded of that devotion whenever I prepare my music score to optimize my ability to sing from it accurately.)
I am not a ballet fan, and frankly, did not look forward to sitting through 11 performances. However, I was mesmerized by each and every one, and felt part of some grand plan, especially when the angel dancer emerged from our singers’ stage-side box at the climax of the symphony, connecting us singers to the dancers and to Mahler’s profound spiritual message. I was sad when it all ended. This experience is on my short list of peak musical experiences during my six decades of singing.
— Sharon Magnuson, Alto
Comment by Sharon Magnuson — November 15, 2024 at 4:47 pm
It’s been such a privilege to sing wonderful choral music with New World over the years. One of my fondest memories with the group is of our performances of Stravinsky’s Les Noces with the Boston Ballet conducted by Jonathan McPhee. The music and dance were composed together by Stravinsky and Nijinska, with artistic gestures in dialog between music and choreography. Just astonishing! We were warned not to look at the stage from the orchestra pit during performances, or we’d lose our place, the dance was so riveting.
Comment by Reg Didham — November 15, 2024 at 3:25 pm
One of my first concerts with the New World Chorale was of the Brahms German Requiem, which we performed with the Longwood Symphony under Francisco Noya (2003). It was one of those perfect evenings that every singer dreams of — every performer of one mind and one heart, with stunning soloists, and led by an inspiring director who brought out every nuance of the piece. A lot of the credit goes to Brahms, of course — the German Requiem is one of the very best pieces in the choral repertoire — but the connection among all of us in the chorus was something very special as well. I was hooked, and I still am!
Comment by Chris Loschen — November 15, 2024 at 3:13 pm
One of my favorite concerts to preform with the New World Chorale was Giya Kancheli’s Styx with the Longwood Symphony Orchestra. The music was so beautiful, unusual and innovative. It wrapped us in its heartfelt depth of emotion. Lovely and sad. It was hard not to weep hearing that haunting viola part. I’m sorry it isn’t performed more. I’d love to hear it again.
Comment by Amy Harris — November 15, 2024 at 1:01 pm