Not to be missed—something new and something old! The outstanding musicians who have worked with conductor Justin Bischof for some years with noted success in New York City and Westchester county are now reorganized as The Modus Opera Orchestra, resident in St. Mary’s Church in Long Island City. This coming Saturday, November 23rd, their inaugural concert will begin with Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, in a performance which is sure to be exciting and fresh, followed my Rossini’s William Tell Overture, which is partly inspired by Beethoven’s Fifth and his “Egmont” Overture. Follwing that soprano Elyse Ann Kakacek will join the orchestra for Barber’s Knoxville, Summer of 1915 and an Alleluia by Mozart. The concert will conclude with Wagner’s Overture to Tannhäuser. I think we may assume that the unusual sequence of works, pretty much the reverse of standard classical programming, hints at something new and extraordinary to expect from Maestro Bischof and his superb musicians.
This performance by the orchestra of the “Egmont” Overture from 2012 will perhaps give you a foretaste of their upcoming concert, which has some understated details which will delight the connoisseur as well as plenty of drama and excitement.
After a lot of hard work and organizing Justin Bischof and his colleagues have merged his former orchestra The Canadian Chamber Orchestra of New York City (CCO/NYC) and his former opera company, Modus Opera, into The Modus Opera Orchestra.
The synthesis of these two organizations, The Modus Opera Orchestra’s mission is to present symphonic, operatic and choral repertoire at the highest artistic level with the goal to engage and enrich the local community. With this inaugural concert launching our new residency at beautiful and historic St Mary’s Church in eclectic Long Island City, our organization aims to become a fruitful presence on the New York City arts scene.
Future seasons will include orchestral concerts, staged operatic productions, as well as educational outreach and artist development projects especially tailored for the next generation of American opera singers.
Modus Opera presented all of the Mozart/Da Ponte operas in fully staged productions with orchestra as well as concerts at Weill Recital Hall Carnegie Hall and CAMI Hall. CCO raised over $1,000,000 to benefit at-risk children, most recently through a performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony at SUNY Purchase Recital Hall with Metropolitan Opera soloists,which I enthusiastically reviewed here. CCO also appeared at Le Poisson Rouge as well as other venues in NYC and Westchester. Several of CCO’s members have gone on to play in major ensembles including Berlin’s Konzerthaus Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra, to name two. International guest soloists were often featured as well.
We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming Modus Opera Orchestra concerts of this Inaugural season, which include an evocative Renaissance choral concert in February with the 16 voice Professional Schola Cantorum of St. Mary’s, a Baroque masterworks concert in March and Verdi’s mighty Requiem in May, with four operatic soloists and full professional choir.
