MasterVoices: O How Good
$25-$99
- Justin Austin, baritone
- Daniel Mutlu, tenor
- David Strickland, organ
- Erin Brittain, soprano
- Suzanne Schwing, alto
- Daniel Rein, piano
- Adriana Harrison, timpani
- Shai Wetzer, percussion
Kurt Weill — Kiddush
Daniel Rein — and the sun goes up (world premiere)
Join us for a spiritually inclusive, gratitude-themed concert featuring Ernest Bloch's Sacred Service and Kurt Weill's Kuddish, as well as the world premiere of a newly commissioned piece by Jerusalem-born composer Daniel Rein (Our America), whose work is known for blending Jewish, Christian, and Islamic motifs. Taking place at the architecturally renowned Central Synagogue, the performance will feature baritone Justin Austin (Intimate Apparel, Our America), house organist David Strickland, and Senior Cantor/tenor Daniel Mutlu.
About MasterVoices
MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale) was founded in 1941 by legendary American choral conductor Robert Shaw. Under the artistic direction of Tony Award winner Ted Sperling since 2013, the group is known for its versatility and a repertoire that ranges from choral masterpieces and operas in concert to operettas and musical theater. Season concerts feature a volunteer chorus of 100+ members from all walks of life, alongside a diverse roster of world-class soloists from across the musical spectrum, including Julia Bullock, Dove Cameron, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Renée Fleming, John Holiday, Jennifer Holliday, Norm Lewis, Victoria Clark, and Kelli O'Hara. Under Sperling's direction the group has created cross–disciplinary collaborations with such diverse creative minds as Vogue Editor-at-Large Hamish Bowles, fashion designer Zac Posen, Silk Road visual artist Kevork Mourad, illustrator Manik Choksi, stage designer Doug Fitch, and choreographers Doug Varone and Andrew Palermo. Roger Rees was the group's Artistic Associate from 2003–2015, and in 2021 the group received a New York Emmy Award nomination and a Drama League Award nomination for its multi-genre digital concert production, Myths and Hymns.
Known for its presentation of lesser-known artistic treasures such as Scott Joplin's Treemonisha, and Tchaikovsky's Maid of Orleans, the group has received recent accolades for productions of rarely-heard works such as the 2018-19 season's Lady in the Dark by Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin, Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland, the Gershwins' Let 'Em Eat Cake, and Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents’s Anyone Can Whistle. They also commission and premiere new works; recent examples include choral works by Ricky Ian Gordon, Marisa Michelson, Tariq Al-Sabir, and Randall Eng.
As one of the country's first interracial and interfaith choruses, MasterVoices (as The Collegiate Chorale) performed at the opening of the United Nations and has sung and recorded under the batons of esteemed conductors including Serge Koussevitzky, Arturo Toscanini, and Leonard Bernstein, among others. It has been engaged by top-tier orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic and the Israel Philharmonic, and has appeared at the Verbier and Salzburg Festivals.
About Justin Austin, baritone
Justin Austin debuted at the Metropolitan Opera as Marcellus in Brett Dean's Hamlet, and sang the leading role of Charles Blow in Fire Shut Up In My Bones by Terrance Blanchard at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He is one of the rising stars of his generation.
https://www.justinaustin.org/About Erin Brittain, soprano
About Daniel Rein, piano
Daniel Rein is a New York-based pianist and composer. He grew up in Jerusalem amid a cultural mosaic blending Jewish-Christian-Islamic motifs. As an artist shaped by the cultural diversity of his native city, his influences include a wide range of styles, from Jazz and Musical Theater to Middle Eastern music. He derives inspiration from poetry, and has set to music poems by Edgar Allan Poe, e.e. cummings, and Shel Silverstein, as well as many Hebrew poems and biblical verses.
About Adriana Harrison, timpani
Adriana Harrison is an NYC-based percussionist pursuing her Bachelor's Degree in Percussion Performance with a minor in French at New York University. She served as the principal timpanist ('22) and principal percussionist ('20, '21) of the Grammy award-winning New York Youth Symphony conducted by Michael Repper. She has premiered a large collection of pieces in collaboration with composers throughout NYC.
She has performed at Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Percussive Arts Society International Convention ('21), the Tournament of Roses Parade ('18, '19), Hawaii's Merry Monarch Parade ('15), the WULA drum and dance retreat ('22), and been featured alongside her NYU colleagues in an NFL Countdown's tribute to Phil Collins on ESPN ('21). During the summer, she has been a part of the NYU Sandbox Seminar, NYU Broadway Seminar, and Beta Percussion International Institute. She performed regularly in productions at King’s Dominion (Windish Music Productions) and Carowinds (RWS Entertainment).
About Shai Wetzer, percussion
Shai Wetzer has performed and recorded with a wide array of performers across many genres; including, but not limited to, Danny Sanderson, Danny, Gidi & Friends, Alon Olearchik, Yoni Rechter, TeaPacks, Vered Harari Wetzer, Sandcatchers, Diaspora, Canaanite Groove, and the legendary group Kaverert's album and documentary titled HaMofa HaAcharon ( המופע האחרון, lit. "The Last Concert"). Shai also recently played drums, frame drum, and riq on The Band’s Visit National Tour, and drums for Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at Ogunquit Playhouse. He frequently plays for Romemu Brooklyn. Shai began his study of drums and percussion growing up in Israel and graduated of Berklee College of Music in Boston.