Poulenc Gloria & Organ Concerto

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Mass in G Major, FP 89
Concerto for organ, strings and timpani, FP 93
Gloria, FP 177

Choir and Orchestra of St. Ignatius Loyola
K. Scott Warren, conductor
Renée Anne Louprette, organ
Wendy Baker, soprano

ARTISTS

Hailed by The New York Times as “splendid,” and “one of New York's finest organists,” Renée Anne Louprette has established an international career as organ recitalist, accompanist, conductor, and teacher. She is University Organist and Coordinator of the Organ Department at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, and a former member of the organ faculty of the Manhattan School of Music, The Hartt School of the University of Hartford, and the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University. Renée Anne Louprette was appointed Associate Director of Music and Organist of the Unitarian Church of All Souls in New York City in 2015. She has previously served as Director of Music at the Church of Notre Dame, Organist and Associate Director of Music and the Arts at Trinity Wall Street, and Associate Director of Music at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola. An active freelance keyboardist, Ms. Louprette has performed with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Voices of Ascension, Clarion Music Society, American Symphony Orchestra, The Dessoff Choirs, New York Choral Society, Oratorio Society of New York, and Piffaro. In New York city she has appeared in Carnegie, Zankel, Avery Fisher, Alice Tully and Merkin Halls, and Miller Theatre of Columbia University. In February 2015, she collaborated with the Los Angeles Dance Project in a performance at Verizon Hall of the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. Renée Anne Louprette has performed throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, including Westminster Abbey and the Temple Church in London, St. Giles Cathedral Edinburgh and Dunblane Cathedral (Scotland), Galway Cathedral and Dún Laoghaire (Ireland). Her recording of the "Great Eighteen Chorales" of J. S. Bach on the Metzler Organ in the chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge, England, was named a classical music Critics' Choice 2014 by The New York Times.

Wendy Baker, soprano, has performed predominantly in the operatic and oratorio repertories, recently having had success singing works as wide-ranging as Bach, Mozart and Poulenc. She has a Master in Music Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music and she obtained a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance (cum laude) from Clayton State College. Ms. Baker has been sought out for the soprano solos in the Poulenc Gloria, Vivaldi Gloria, Faure Requiem, Rutter Requiem, Haydn’s Stabat Mater, and Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music. In 2006, she sang the World Premiere of Laura Karpman’s Heebie Jeebies, commissioned by the Julliard Choral Union, at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Ms. Baker has sung the roles of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Suor Angelica in Suor Angelica, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, Giuletta in I Capuletti e I Montecchi, Gilda in Rigoletto, Madame Heartthrob in The Impresario, and Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro. She has performed with the Atlanta Opera, Atlanta Savoyards, Regina Opera, and Caramoor and Anchorage Opera Studio Theatre, Young Artists Programs. 

Hailed by the New York Times as “a finely polished, stylistically nimble ensemble,” the Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola is comprised of New York’s finest professional choral singers. The Choir’s “tremendous expressive and dynamic range” and “remarkable vocal discipline and finesse” (the New York Times) is featured in the Sacred Music in a Sacred Space concert series, now in its 27th season. Each member is a soloist in his or her own right in a variety of genres including early music, opera, oratorio and contemporary repertoire. The core group of 20 members sings a demanding schedule of weekly parish worship services in a wide range of repertoire, with particular emphasis on new works, the sacred Renaissance repertoire, and Gregorian chant. The Choir may be heard on recordings for the MSR Classics and AMDG labels. In March 2006, the Choir was invited as the headline chorus at the Southwestern American Choral Directors Association convention in St. Louis, Missouri. In April 2009, the Choir performed in the opening festival of radio station WNYC’s new Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, on a concert bill with René Pape, John Zorn, Ute Lemper, and Nico Muhly. The Orchestra of St. Ignatius Loyola, lauded by the New York Times for their “lean, taut and fiery playing,” participates in the Sacred Music in a Sacred Space concert series and enhances a number of parish worship services throughout the year. Members are drawn from among New York City’s most talented and stylistically versatile freelance musicians and have often been heard in the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the orchestras of the New York City Opera and New York City Ballet, and various period-instrument orchestras.

Since 2011, St. Ignatius Loyola Director of Music Ministries K. Scott Warren has led a dynamic music team consisting of over 150 individuals, professional and volunteer, in providing music at approximately 400 liturgies annually. He is the principal conductor of the 20-voice professional Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola, which sings a demanding schedule of services throughout the year, with repertoire spanning Gregorian chant to 21st-century masterpieces. The choir, along with the Orchestra of St. Ignatius Loyola, form the backbone of the parish’s critically acclaimed concert series, Sacred Music in a Sacred Space, whose recent performances have been lauded by the New York Times as “stirring...positively thrilling” and “broad, wide-ranging, and powerful.” In addition to the vast choral spectrum presented at St. Ignatius, Mr. Warren presides over the four manual, 91-rank N. P. Mander Organ, the largest mechanical action organ in the New York metro area, and an instrument of international stature.

All performance dates, artists and programs subject to change. Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable.

GENERAL CONCERT AND TICKET INFORMATION

• DOORS OPEN at 7:15 PM for a 8 PM concert start time.


• LATE SEATING is at the discretion of the House Management. Latecomers may be asked to remain in the back of the church until there is a break in the program, so as not to disturb the performance or other audience members.


• WILL CALL is available when the doors open at 7:15 PM inside the main doors of the church.


• CHILDREN seated on an adult's lap do not need a ticket. Children seated in a chair or pew do need a ticket.


• We no longer offer tickets for sale or any ticket pickup at the Parish House Reception desk.


• Audio and/or video recording and flash photography are not permitted during performances.

ACCESSIBILITY

• The Church of St. Ignatius Loyola is wheelchair/walker accessible via the ramp entrance on 84th Street (between Park and Madison Avenues).


• The restrooms are NOT easily accessible by wheelchair. The most easily accessible restrooms are in the Parish House (980 Park Avenue). There are two steps down from the street level into the Parish House and there is a restroom on that ground floor.


• For reserved seating concerts, there is available seating for wheelchairs and companions. Please look for the Wheelchair and Wheelchair Companion tickets when purchasing. For general seating concerts, follow the directions of the ushers. Please call ahead (212-288-2520) to discuss any special seating requirements.

PARKING

• Street parking can be difficult to find, but there are a number of parking garages nearby. There are garages on 83rd Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues) and 84th Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues), as well as near the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

RESTAURANTS

• There are a number of fine and casual eating establishments located nearby on Madison Avenue (one block west of the church), Lexington Avenue (one block east of the church), Third Avenue (two blocks east of the church) and Second Avenue (three blocks east of the church).

DIRECTIONS

• The Church of St. Ignatius Loyola is easily reached via the 4, 5, and 6 subway lines (86th Street station), or buses on Madison, Lexington and Fifth Avenues, and on 86th Street.