[South Canaan, PA] - The Saint Tikhon Choir is pleased to announce the world premiere concert series for Benedict Sheehan’s modern masterwork Vespers. Two-time GRAMMY®-nominated conductor and composer Benedict Sheehan will lead the professional choristers of The Saint Tikhon’ Choir in this unique and powerful musical exploration that has been called “luminous and uplifting” (Choir & Organ) and a work of “unique musical genius” (Fanfare Magazine).

Inspired by Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil, Sheehan’s unique musical and linguistic expression expands the genre. Sheehan sets full-length psalmody and hymnography from the historical liturgical service, with a deep understanding of the spiritual beauty, while infusing the repertoire with refreshingly modern influences. The performances will feature solos by some of the country’s leading vocal artists, including celebrated American basso profundo Glenn Miller, who will perform“The Song of Simeon” composed by Sheehan specifically for him. The movement boasts some of the lowest notes ever written for a soloist  in the choral repertoire. Additional featured soloists include Timothy Parsons, Fotina Naumenko, Enrico Lagasca, Michael Hawes, Zackery Morris, and Tynan Davis.

Concert Series Information

November 11, 2022, at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York at 7:30pm.

This concert is a production of Great Music Under a Byzantine Dome, in association with the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity and the Orthodox Church in America. 

For NYC tickets and information, click here

November 12, 2022, at St. Stephen’s Pro-Cathedral in Wilkes-Barre, PA at 7:30pm

This special world premiere concert event is being held in honor of His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, who this year celebrates his 10th anniversary as Metropolitan. To mark this historic occasion, Sheehan has composed a piece in honor of His Beatitude, and the work will be unveiled only at this special performance. 

For Wilkes-Barre, PA  tickets and information, click here

November 13, 2022, at the First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem at 4:00pm

The professional choristers of the Saint Tikhon Choir will be joined by specially selected students from the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts, along with their director David Macbeth, who is also organist and music director at First Presbyterian in Bethlehem. 

For Bethlehem, PA  tickets and information, click here

For more information about tickets and the Saint Tikhon Choir, visit www.sainttikhonchoir.org

Benedict Sheehan

Two-time GRAMMY® nominee and American Prize-winner Benedict Sheehan has been called “a choral conductor and composer to watch in the 21st century” (ConcertoNet) and “a remarkable musician” (Choral Journal). He is Artistic Director of the Saint Tikhon Choir and Artefact Ensemble, as well as the Director of Music at St. Tikhon’s Monastery and Seminary in South Canaan, Pennsylvania. His works are published by Oxford University Press and others. His award-winning choral recordings and performances have received widespread critical acclaim. Learn more at www.benedictsheehanmusic.com 

The Saint Tikhon Choir

Founded with a mission to foster and build up the American Orthodox choral tradition at the highest artistic level, the twice GRAMMY®-Nominated Saint Tikhon Choir has been steadily breaking new ground since its inception in 2015. Vespers is the fourth recording released by the Saint Tikhon Choir. Past recordings include the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, which garnered a GRAMMY® nomination in 2022 for Best Choral Performance, and Kastalsky’s Requiem for Fallen Brothers, in conjunction with the Kansas City Chorale, The Clarion Choir, the Cathedral Choral Society, soloists Anna Dennis and Joseph Beutel, and the Orchestra of Saint Luke’s under the leadership of conductor Leonard Slatkin, which also received a GRAMMY® nomination in 2020 for Best Choral Performance. The Saint Tikhon Choir is the first professional ensemble associated with an Orthodox monastery in America. Learn more at www.sainttikhonchoir.org