{"id":10,"date":"2026-05-07T08:14:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T08:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/two.webdev.gnym.org\/?page_id=10"},"modified":"2026-06-01T01:11:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T01:11:15","slug":"past-projects-and-performances","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/two.webdev.gnym.org\/?page_id=10","title":{"rendered":"Past Projects and Performances"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

October 3\u20138, 2018: Mile-Long Opera<\/em><\/strong> by David Lang, High Line, NYC.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Claude L\u00e9vy sings about rats during one evening performance.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the early autumn of 2018, conductor Claude L\u00e9vy recruited a handful of singers to participate in an intriguing interactive performance piece involving 1000 people singing diverse stories about 7 pm, early evening, inspired by first-hand interviews with New Yorkers from all walks of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CantaNYC was chorus 21 of 29, and our assignment was a lament about early-evening food deliveries and the noise, garbage, and rats they produce. We were asked to each interpret the melody and lyrics in our own style and time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here<\/a><\/strong> to see CantaNYC on the High Line in a MLO performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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June 3, 2019: Human Rights<\/em><\/strong> and other works. St Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery, NYC<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The program cover, with Eleanor Roosevelt holding a copy of the Declaration she helped bring into being.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In June 2019, as part of our first full-length concert, we presented the US premiere of Human Rights<\/em>, commissioned by Maestro L\u00e9vy from his former student Antoine Miannay, along with other pieces, at St Mark’s Church\u2013in-the-Bowery, in Manhattan’s East Village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This choral piece, with a jazz-inspired quartet accompaniment (piano, clarinet, percussion, double bass), includes text from the UN’s 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other pieces on the program included Arvo P\u00e4rt’s Da pacem Domine<\/em>, Stephen Schwartz’s Testimony<\/em>, and Beyond the Concert Hall<\/em>, written and performed by CantaNYC member Nicole Zaray Meter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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December 8, 2019: Human Rights<\/em><\/strong> by Antoine Miannay. Performed at the Amnesty International Group 11 annual benefit concert. Christ & St Stephen’s Church, NYC.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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CantaNYC with AI Group 11 in Human Rights, December 2019.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The group partnered with Manhattan’s Amnesty International (AI) Group 11 to perform Human Rights<\/em> again, this time with an expanded chorus including AI members, at the organization’s 2019 benefit concert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here<\/a><\/strong> to view a full video of that performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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March\u2013June 2021: March in Vermont<\/em><\/strong> by John Hetland. Virtual video by four CantaNYC members, with audio engineering by Erik-Peter Mortensen.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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A still from the first CantaNYC virtual video.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During the pandemic, CantaNYC was of course forced into quiescence, but the 4-member board of directors continued planning and working with composers to gather repertoire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the composers was John Hetland, who generously gave us the rights to several of his rounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We thought we might put together a virtual video, as so many groups had been doing, of one of his pieces to have as an example of CantaNYC’s industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the audio track had been assembled and edited by our friend Erik-Peter Mortensen, we met to lip-synch a video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here<\/a><\/strong> to view the final product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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September 2022: Lament for Mariupol<\/em><\/strong> by Andrew Lawrence-King. Video for Amnesty International Group 11.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Claude L\u00e9vy conducts CantaNYC in Lament for Mariupol, September 2022.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the autumn of 2022, when fears about Covid infection began to recede, we met live to make a video of Andrew Lawrence-King’s arrangement of the Ukrainian Anthem, Lament for Mariupol<\/em>, again for an Amnesty International event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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June 26, 2022: CantaNYC in the Gardens<\/em><\/strong> mini-concert, Morningside Gardens, Upper West Side, NYC.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the spring of 2023, we were able to partner with a social service group, Morningside Retirement and Health Services<\/strong> (MRHS), at the Morningside Gardens apartment complex on the Upper West Side of Manhattan to present a short, eclectic concert with both resident and nonresident singers as CantaNYC in the Gardens<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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May 7, 2023: Gaia’s Harmony: A Choral Tribute to Mother Earth,<\/em><\/strong> Morningside Gardens, Upper West Side, NYC.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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CantaNYC in the Gardens on May 7, 2024.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With the success of the 2023 concert, CantaNYC was invited back by MRHS to present a full-length CantaNYC in the Gardens<\/strong> concert in 2024. Our chorus of 16 members\u2014four each of soprano, alto, tenor, and bass\u2014included not only residents but also old friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deciding on a theme of nature and earth, Maestro L\u00e9vy was able to put together a concert that included three world premieres, as well as recent settings of traditional pieces and songs by Pete Seeger and Harry Belafonte, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A highlight was the presentation of a rainbow flag to CantaNYC by Charley Beal, a friend of the flag’s original designer, in honor of the choral premiere of Rainbow Flag<\/em> by Singing Grandma Sherri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Charley Beal presents a rainbow flag to Artistic Director Claude L\u00e9vy; Holly Weiss assists in holding the flag.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

October 3\u20138, 2018: Mile-Long Opera by David Lang, High Line, NYC. In the early autumn of 2018, conductor Claude L\u00e9vy recruited a handful of singers to participate… Read more “Past Projects and Performances”<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/two.webdev.gnym.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/two.webdev.gnym.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/two.webdev.gnym.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/two.webdev.gnym.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/two.webdev.gnym.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/two.webdev.gnym.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":236,"href":"https:\/\/two.webdev.gnym.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10\/revisions\/236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/two.webdev.gnym.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}