The Dessoff Choirs, led by Music Director Malcolm J. Merriweather, will open its 2025-2026 season with a powerful and poetic program titled “Resilience and Revelation: Hailstork, Howells, & León.” The concert will take place on Saturday, November 8, 2025, at 4 p.m. at Brick Church in New York City.
The season’s inaugural performance will feature Adolphus Hailstork’s The World Called, a piece inspired by Rita Dove’s poem Testimonial. Hailstork, known for his ability to blend African, American, and European musical traditions, was a student of the renowned composer Nadia Boulanger. His work captures Dove’s evocative themes of nostalgia, youth, and promise.
The program also includes Herbert Howells’s Requiem and Magnificat, originally composed for St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, with organist Dr. Raymond Nagem featured in performance. Additionally, the choir will present a reprise of Tania León’s It’s a Journey, a work commissioned by The Dessoff Choirs for its centennial season, set to poetry by the late Nikki Giovanni. Pianist Steven Ryan will join the ensemble for the performance.
“To begin our 101st season with the poetry of Rita Dove and Nikki Giovanni, set by Adolphus Hailstork and Tania León, alongside Howells’ Requiem, is to honor resilience and the enduring power of the choral art,” said Dr. Merriweather.
The Dessoff Choirs, described by Interludes as “incredibly powerful,” recently celebrated its 100th season in 2024. Blogcritics praised the ensemble for “sustaining the high quality and thoughtful programming that have characterized the ensemble for a century and continue under Dr. Merriweather’s exceptional leadership.”
Founded in 1924 by Margarete Dessoff, the choir has been a vital part of New York’s classical music community for more than a century. Known for its commitment to performing newly composed, forgotten, or rarely heard works, The Dessoff Choirs continues to expand its repertoire under Merriweather’s leadership. In recent years, the ensemble has reintroduced the works of Black women composers such as Margaret Bonds, Florence Price, and Valerie Capers, while continuing to honor Margarete Dessoff’s legacy.
Tickets for Resilience and Revelation: Hailstork, Howells, & León are priced from $25 to $45 and are available at www.dessoff.org/events/howells-and-hailstork.
Program Details
When: Saturday, November 8, 2025, at 4 p.m.
Where: Brick Church, 1140 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10128
Tickets: $25–$45
Program:
Adolphus Hailstork – The World Called
Herbert Howells – Magnificat
Herbert Howells – Requiem
Tania León – It’s a Journey
Performers:
The Dessoff Choirs
Malcolm J. Merriweather, conductor
Raymond Nagem, organ
Steven Ryan, piano
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