Special Recitals
(since 2006)

The Club serves the community by performing at senior centers, veterans' gatherings, and  other special events. 

November 11, 2008: For the third time, Club members were a "moving" part of NYC's Veterans Day Parade, vocalizing on the Vietnam Veterans of America (Chapter 126) float as it proceeded up Fifth Avenue. They sang, among other pieces, our national anthem and, in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral, the "Irish Blessing."
November 4, 2008: MGC singers participated in a ceremony for the dedication of the renovated interfaith chapel at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center in the Bronx. Tenor Kelly-Ray Meritt, who is also one of the VA chaplains, performed with the Club.
January 26, 2008:
Members sang in a concert presented by N.Y. Citi Theatre and Media, a performance space in the Bronx that presents   music, theater, dance, and  other productions by and for the community.

December 15, 2007:
Members participated in a fundraiser at the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew (Upper West Side) for Onyx Vizion Productions, which provides scholarships, training, and mentoring in the performing arts.

December 7, 2007:
Members performed and led guests in seasonal song at the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) holiday party at the  Soldiers', Sailors', Marines', and Airmen's Club in midtown Manhattan.
October 23, 2007:
The Club performed selections from its upcoming winter 2007 concert at New York's City Hall in City Council chambers. The Club appeared at the invitation of Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer and the Italian Heritage and Culture Committee of New York, Inc. The event was in honor of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Giuseppe Garibaldi.
July 19, 2007
For the third time, members of the Club entertained residents at the Isabella Geriatric Center on the Upper West Side.
April 22, 2007
Members performed at the Advent Lutheran Church as part of a fundraiser for the Larchmont (New York) Library.
August 16, 2006:
Back by popular demand, members of the Club entertained residents at the Isabella Geriatric Center on the Upper West Side.
December 3, 2006: 18 members performed a preview of the Winter Holiday Concert at the Hebrew Home for the Aged in Riverdale.
January 17, 2006:
Members of the Club entertained residents at the Isabella Geriatric Center on the Upper West Side.


   

 
 
The Mendelssohn Glee Club has presented at least two concerts a year since its founding in 1866. The Club is currently in its 143rd season.

Listed below are highlights from performances since 2005 (recent concerts are listed first). Benefit recitals are noted in the column at left.


Spring 2008 Concert
(second performance of 142nd  season)

Date: Tuesday, May 13, 8 pm
Location
: Christ and St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 120 West 69th Street

The Club performed 18 pieces, including the following: "I Bought Me a Cat" (Aaron Copland); "Auf Flugeln des Gesanges" (Felix Mendelssohn); "Battle Hymn of the Republic"; "With Cat-like Tread" (from The Pirates of Penzance); medley from South Pacific; "Sweet and Lovely"; and "Vive L'Amour."

Guest artist: Mezzo-soprano Elspeth Kincaid.


Co-performance with the Harvard Glee Club

Date
:
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Location: St. Bartholomew's Church, 109 East 50th Street

The Club performed with the Harvard Glee Club at St. Bartholomew's Church as part of St. Bart's 2007-08 Great Music Series. Mendelssohn was invited to participate by HGC, which was celebrating its 150th year by presenting concerts throughout the U.S. Both Clubs offered, independently, a varied musical program of audience favorites, from early to modern, classical and popular.
MGC AT ST. BART'S  The Club performed at St. Bartholomew's Church in March 2008, along with the Harvard Glee Club, as part of the celebration of HGC's 150th anniversary.


2007 Winter Holiday Concert
(first performance of 142nd season)


Date: Tuesday, December 11, 8 pm
Location: Christ and St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, West 69th Street

Program highlights: The Club performed 16 pieces that included seasonal songs, spirituals, and selections from Broadway and opera.

The program included the following: "Gentle Annie"
(Stephen Foster); "Lulu's Back in Town" (Al Dubin/Harry Warren); "Next to Lovin' (I Like Fightin' Best)" from Shenandoah (Peter Udell/Gary Geld); "Autumn Leaves" (Johnny Mercer/Jacques Prevert/ Joseph Kosma); "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho" (traditional spiritual); "Melancholy Baby" (George A. Norton/Ernie Burnett); "Va, Pensiero," from Nabucco (Giuseppe Verdi); "Ave Maria"
(J.S. Bach/Charles Gounod); "Maoz Tzur" (B. Marcello).

Guest artist: Soprano Angela Meade was the guest artist. Her program included three songs from Francis Poulenc's Fiancailles pour rire; "Czárdás" from Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss; and
"Casta Diva" from Norma by Vincenzo Bellini.


 2007 Spring Concert
(second performance of 141st season)

Date: Tuesday, May 15, 8 pm
Location: Katie Murphy Amphitheatre (Fashion Institute of Technology), 7th Avenue at 27th Street

Program highlights: The Club performed music from Broadway, grand opera, operetta, and American and world folk songs. A medley from the musical Annie, included lyrics written by Annie lyricist Martin Charnin especially for the Mendelssohn Glee Club. Also performed were "All the Things You Are" (Jerome Kern), "Pilgrim Chorus" (Richard Wagner), "Italian Street Song" (Victor Herbert), and "Send in the Clowns" (Stephen Sondheim).

Guest artist: Soprano Kristin Sampson performed works by Giacomo Puccini, including "Ch'il bel sogno” from La Rondine; ”Vilia” from The Merry Widow by Franz Lehár, ”Ain’t it a Pretty Night” from Susannah by Carlisle Floyd; and pieces by Charles-François Gounod and Jerry Bock. 

SPRING 2007 CONCERT  The Mendelssohn Glee Club and guest artist Kristin Sampson performing at the Katie Murphy Amphitheatre (Fashion Institute of Technology).

2006 Winter Holiday Concert
(first performance of 141st season)

Date: Tuesday, December 12, 8 pm
Location: Merkin Concert Hall,
29 West 67th Street

Program highlights: To celebrate the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, the Club (with soprano Jessica Julin) performed the "Allelujah" from the motet Exultate Jubilate. The arrangement for male chorus was written by previous MGC conductor John Rover Bogue. The Club also sang the "Lacrymosa" from Mozart's Requiem.

Also offered was music of the season, including "Light One Candle," Robert DeCormier's setting of Peter Yarrow’s (of Peter, Paul & Mary) Chanukah song. There was music from Guys and Dolls, Verdi, and songs and spirituals.

Guest artist: soprano Jessica Julin; works in various languages from diverse musical periods and moods by Bizet, Mozart, Bellini, and Strauss among others.


2006 Spring Concert
(second performance of 140th season)


Date: Tuesday, May 9, 8 pm
Location: Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street

Program highlights: music from the late Renaissance through the twentieth century, including composers from Purcell to Thompson. A men's choral arrangement of Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" from the Messiah was offered, and, with soprano Daena Mireau, the Club sang Schubert's Omnipotence.

Guest artist: soprano Daena Mireau; "Vissi d'arte" from Tosca (Puccini), "Ave Maria" (Bach-Gounod), and "Ecco L'orrido Campo" from Un Ballo in Maschera (Verdi) as well as works by Rodgers and Hart, J.J. Niles, and Smith and Herbert.


2005 Winter Holiday Concert
(first performance of 140th season)

 
Date: Tuesday, December 13, 8 pm
Location: Merkin Concert Hall, 29 West 67th Street

Program highlights: seasonal music; pieces by Mozart, MacDowell, Sullivan, Sodero, Speaks, Anka, von Flotow, and others; works: "Sylvia," "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," "My Way," "Chorus of Peers," and "Inno di Mameli among others.

Guest artist: soprano Manon Strauss Evrard;   works by Fauré, Rossini, Satie, Gounod, and Mozart among others.


2005 Spring Concert
(second performance of 139th season)


Date: Tuesday, May 17, 8 pm
Location: Advent Lutheran Church, 2504 Broadway (at West 93rd Street)

Program highlights: arrangement for men's chorus and soprano of "O Triumph All Ye Ransom'd" from Beethoven's The Mount of Olives and "Easter Hymn" from Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana; folk songs from around the world; pieces by Bacharach, Sondheim, and Porter. Phillip Hagemann, whose arrangement of Porter's "Don't Fence Me In" was performed, was in attendance.

Guest artist: soprano Janette Lallier; works by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Wagner, and Granados among others.


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