Musica Viva NY Performs BECAUSE: A Choral Concert Featuring Works by Beethoven, Bach, Fauré, Gounod, and The Beatles, March 3

Hailed as “a treasured institution (Front Row Center),” New York City’s leading chamber choir, Musica Viva NY, presents a one-night only concert on Sunday, March 3, 2024, 5:00 p.m., at Manhattan’s All Souls. Performed by 30+ singers, conductor and pianist Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez and organist Trent Johnson, the beautifully interwoven program centers on adaptation—works that repurposed harmonies and melodies by composers of the past. In addition to the original and reinvented versions of songs by Bach, Beethoven, Fauré, and Gounod, Musica Viva NY presents the commissioned world premiere of LOVE TAKES, a song inspired by “Because” by The Beatles, written by today’s leading Black choral composer Trevor Weston.

Ticketing + Program Information:

Sunday, March 3, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. (pre-concert talk at 4:00 p.m.)
All Souls, 1157 Lexington Avenue, New York City, Train 6 to 77th Street or 4,5,6 to 86th Street

Tickets: $50 ($30 for students) are available from MusicaViva.org.

Performers:
Musica Viva NY
Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez, artistic director, conductor & pianist
Trent Johnson, organist

Program: 

Charles Gounod, Introït et Kyrie, and Pie Jesu, from Requiem in C major

Beethoven/Gottlob Benedict Bierey, Kyrie (after the Adagio from the “Moonlight” sonata)

Fauré, Requiem, Op. 48

Charles Gounod, Ave Maria (Meditation after the first piano prelude by J. S. Bach)

Beethoven, Adagio sostenuto from Piano Sonata no. 14 in C sharp minor “Quasi una fantasia,” Op. 27, No. 2 (the “Moonlight” sonata)

John Lennon/Paul McCartney (arr. Shawn Bartels), Because

J.S. Bach, Prelude No 1 in C major, BWV 846

Trevor Weston, Love Takes, commission by Musica Viva NY (musical response to “Because” by Lennon/McCartney)

Fauré, Pavane