Candlelight Christmas Concerts

Tuesday, December 16, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Thursday, December 18, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, December 20, 2025 at 4:30 pm

Church of the Ascension

SOLOISTS TO BE ANNOUNCED

Now in its 36th year, Voices of Ascension’s Candlelight Christmas Concerts remain a treasured holiday tradition for New York audiences. Set in the candlelit sanctuary of the Church of the Ascension, these concerts feature a vibrant mix of ancient carols, seasonal masterworks, and contemporary reflections on winter and light—offering warmth, beauty, and community at year’s end.

BRAHMS, KODÁLY, DURUFLÉ

Thursday, February 5, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Church of the Ascension

SOLOISTS TO BE ANNOUNCED

Three master composers of the 19th and 20th century with three of their greatest works, each one hardly ever performed. Brahms’ Nänie is only 12 minutes long but contains some of the most beautiful music he ever composed.

Kodály considered his Psalmus Hungaricus his greatest composition. This extraordinary, passionate work gives voice to the suffering and perseverance of the Hungarian people in the years following World War I, and their longing for dignity and self-determination in the face of foreign rule. The Brahms and Kodály pieces will be heard in brand new transcriptions made for The Manton Memorial Organ by Dennis Keene.

Known for his Requiem, the Messe ‘cum jubilo’ is Maurice Duruflé’s other major choral work. Dedicated to his wife, it is filled with love and joy, and is scored for orchestra and a chorus of 30 baritones in unison! We believe this is only the third time this gorgeous piece has ever been performed in New York with orchestra.

Monteverdi vespers of 1610

Thursday, March 5, 2026, 7:30 pm
Church of the Ascension

SOLOISTS TO BE ANNOUNCED

The towering masterpiece of the Early Baroque, with many soloists, double chorus, Early Music strings, recorders, cornetti, sackbuts, theorbos, harpsichord and organ. Truly one of the pillars of Western Music. We are privileged to collaborate with Dark Horse Consort for this memorable occasion – the finest interpreters of this repertoire to be found in the Western Hemisphere.

This is certain to be a memorable occasion!

MASTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE:
THE NETHERLANDS SCHOOL

Thursday, April 23, 2026, 7:30 pm
Church of the Ascension

Arguably the richest repertoire of a cappella choral music from the “Golden Age of Choral Music.” This program features one great work after another from more than two centuries of history, starting with the absolute summit of Early Renaissance masters, Josquin des Prez, and going all the way to the High Renaissance works of Orlande de Lassus. Also featured are seldom heard, but exceptionally poetic and colorful motets of Dutch composer, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck.