THE NEW YORK VIRTUOSO SINGERS

• Nancy Wertsch: Songs of the Spirit - "Memory, Hither Come"

“Wertsch’s collection of choral pieces is nice, friendly, and honest work. Her message of peace is earnest but not overstated, as so much vocal music can be. The performances are fine…”

Adams, American Record Guide [January/February 2013]

“The choral music of Nancy Wertsch is expertly written and appealing on a number of fronts. Basically tonal in its construction, her music occasionally swerves into dense textures and chords, which almost makes one forget the underlying tonality that generally pervades her writing. At other times, simple lines are skillfully woven in contrapuntal fashion, contrasting with the usual homophonic textures. Wertsch has been drawn to choral writing throughout her career, and retains a distinctive voice, while evidencing influences from the American choral tradition of Ives, Barber, Schuman, and the early Carter… The New York Virtuoso Singers, under the capable leadership of Harold Rosenbaum, achieve a superb blend, enhanced by meticulous intonation. This is a remarkable CD in every parameter, and is highly recommended to anyone with the slightest interest in superb choral music and performance. My choral-conducting wife also liked it, so it receives two thumbs up.”

David DeBoor Canfield, Fanfare [November/December 2012]

American composer Nancy Wertsch has a strong affinity for vocal music that has inspired her to write a large body of choral music, anthems and concert pieces. Her works are widely performed in churches and concert halls, and have been heard at various and music festivals and conventions
throughout the United States and Europe. She has been commissioned by numerous organizations, including the New York Treble Singers and New York Concert Singers, and The Interchurch Center, First Presbyterian Church and Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in New York City. Her most recent commission, Hail, Holy Light, was premiered by the University of Utah Singers, and awarded first place in the International Chamber Choir Competition in Germany. Her work for triple chorus, Antiphon for God the Father, may be heard on the Dale Warland Singers CD “Bernstein and Britten”. Nancy Wertsch’s music is currently published by Oxford University Press, G. Schirmer and, most recently, Carus-Verlag. A native of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Nancy Wertsch was first an accomplished pianist, having studied with Edith Oppens and Leonard Shure at the Aspen Music Festival and subsequently with Gunnar Johansen at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. After vocal studies at the Music Academy of the West and the Yale University Summer Music School, she entered the Curtis Institute of Music on a full scholarship as a voice major (mezzo-soprano). Following graduation, she received a Fulbright Grant and attended the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin for two years. Upon her return to the United States, she served on the voice faculty at the University of Memphis until 1979 when she relocated to New York City where she has lived and worked ever since. www.wertsch.com

“Many of the personnel on this CD are singers I have had the pleasure of working with for many years. I regard them all as among the finest professional ensemble singers in New York.”

                                                                                                                      - Nancy Wertsch (March 2012)

Harold Rosenbaum maintains an active and distinguished career as a choral conductor. He
established The New York Virtuoso Singers, an all-professional choir considered to be among
the region’s premiere choirs. With TNYVS he received a Chorus America award for Adventuresome
Programming and also their American Choral Works Performance Award. He has created an annual
choral composition competition, conducted numerous premieres and commissioned hundreds
of works from many of the leading composers of our time. Mr. Rosenbaum has conducted
performances throughout Europe, working with the Budapest Symphony, L’Orchestre d’Europe,
New Prague Collegium, Madeira Bach Festival and choirs from the United States and France. In the
United States he has collaborated with leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic,
Brooklyn Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra and Orchestra of St. Luke’s. He has also
worked with the New York Youth Symphony, Da Capo Chamber Players, Peter Schickele’s P.D.Q.
Bach, and the Glyndebourne and Bel Canto Opera companies. As a recording artist, he has appeared on the Sony Classical, Albany, CRI, Bridge, Koch International, Capstone and DRG labels. He is currently Associate Professor at SUNY Buffalo, Artistic Director of the Society for Universal
Sacred Music, and Organist and Choir Director at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Katonah, New York.
[ www.haroldrosenbaum.com ]

Founded in 1988, The New York Virtuoso Singers has become a leading exponent of contemporary
choral music, with an emphasis on the commissioning, performing and recording of music of
contemporary American composers. From its early days as an offshoot of a chorus-in-residence
created for the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the NYVS has evolved into a professional ensemble dedicated to presenting both seldom-heard works by past and contemporary masters, as well as premieres by today’s composers, commissioning more than 50 works since its inception. The ensemble has been featured many times on radio and television, and in 1993 appeared as the first-ever guest chorus at the Tanglewood Music Center’s annual Festival of Contemporary Music. The ensemble has collaborated with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, American Symphony, Riverside Symphony, Bard Festival Orchestra, Glyndebourne Opera Company, Mark Morris Dance Group, Bang on a Can, Parnassus, and others. The NYVS appears on more than 20 CDs on the Sony Classical, Albany, CRI, Bridge, Koch International, Capstone and DRG labels, and received a Grammy nomination for their recording of Andrew Imbrie’s Requiem. The ensemble is currently Chorus-in-Residence at St. Ignatius of Antioch Episcopal Church in New York. [www.nyvirtuoso.org]

NANCY WERTSCH
“...WITH PEACE IN MIND” (2011) FIVE PRAYERS FOR PEACE
Introduction
Sim Shalom - Hebrew Prayer for Peace
Om Shanti - Hindu Prayer for Peace
Largire quietem - Christian Prayer for Peace
Ya Salaam - Muslim Prayer for Peace
O Great Spirit - Native American Prayer for Peace

HYMNUS MATUTINUS (1989)
AURELIUS PRUDENTIUS (348-c.415)
Nox, et lux
Inde est
Dulce Canunt Melos
Venerat Occiduis
Christe, redde lumen

CHARM ME ASLEEP (1984)
ROBERT HERRICK (1591-1674)

SONGS OF THE SPIRIT (1988)
WILLIAM BLAKE (1757-1827)
The Tyger
The Sick Rose
The Lamb
Memory, Hither Come

A TENNYSON TAPESTRY (2000)
ALFRED LORD TENNYSON (1809-1892)
The Splendour Falls
O Swallow
The Kraken
Ring Out, Wild Bells
 

MSR Classics