by Elizabeth Gariti
The pews were packed for the New Amsterdam Singers’ final program of the season at the Immanuel Lutheran Church last Thursday night. As I took my seat, their crisp, voluminous, multi-layered sound began to fill the nave. The audience of experienced concert-goers, young, old and in between, leaned forward in absorbent attention to listen.
Formed in 1968, the New Amsterdam Singers is an amateur (like Olympic athletes are amateur) choir of 70 skilled singers whose concert performances in New York City and abroad have won critical acclaim. The group performs three subscription concerts per year and gives a number of other performances around the greater metropolitan area each season. It specializes in a cappella and double chorus repertoire, which ranges from the 15th century to today. It regularly performs 20th-century, contemporary and commissioned works.
What makes NAS special is the variety and intricacy of its repertoire. Thursday’s program was “Invitation to the Voyage: Fifty Years of American Song”, celebrating poetry put to song by American composers. This is the third time I’ve seen the group, and each program has been different. I’ve seen them perform Bach and Baroque and holiday songs. I asked Clara Longstreth, Music Director and Conductor, how she chooses the programs:
“I base my choices on what I think the singers will enjoy singing. I used to be a choral singer, so I have an idea of what’s fun to sing. Since they’re spending a lot of time, I want to make sure they’re happy singers.”
“Also, there is a huge amount of work to choose from. I can be picky and choose what makes thematic sense and set aside pieces that may not work in one program for another in the future.”
“And once you get the reputation as performers of contemporary music, composers send their scores. There are hundreds. Since I don’t have time to look at these during the year, I go over them in the Summer.”
Even though New Amsterdam Singers’ repertoire spans centuries, they are performing more and more contemporary music. At this point, it makes up half of their season.
Also, music is chosen based on the size of the choir. Since there are usually more members in the Fall, music for double choir is generally performed then.
It takes two-to-three months of rehearsal to put each program together. The full choir rehearses every Tuesday night and the 20-voice Chamber Chorus rehearses every other Wednesday.
“It used to be assumed that membership in the Chamber Chorus meant you were one of the elite, but now, it’s more a matter of how much time a singer has. The better half of the singers in the main group could be in the Chamber Chorus. But time usually decides—two-thirds of the singers are in both.”
In addition to Manhattan, singers come from Connecticut, Long Island, New Jersey and Westchester. A few are professional, but most are avocational singers, and they must audition to become part of the group. The auditions are 15-20 minutes, and in them Clara listens for tone quality and asks singers to sight read. She usually only takes people with a musical background and/or experience singing in a choir, but very occasionally she’ll take someone with very little experience if that person has a very lovely voice or is good at reading notes. Homework is required of all singers between rehearsals. This is how the performances come together so quickly.
Some of the choir’s members have been involved since its inception, but there are some openings for all vocal parts each season. For more information on NAS auditions, click here.
Though they rehearse on the West Side, for the past three years, NAS’ subscription season has been performed on the Upper East Side, at Immanuel Lutheran and The Church of the Holy Trinity. I asked Clara what it is about the Upper East Side and these churches that led her to choosing them as performing spaces. Is it the audience, the location, . . .?
“It’s the space and the acoustics. There’s enough room at the front to accommodate 60-70 singers, there’s a piano, and the acoustics are good. It’s hard to find a place with all the right qualities. And the New York Times covers church concerts now, so these churches make sense.”
“You have quite a following — so the audience isn’t all from the Upper East Side?”
“No, they’re from all over. I think it’s mostly made up of friends of the singers, though we do get some from the calendar listings in the New York Times and The New Yorker.”
Clara Longstreth has conducted New Amsterdam Singers since its formation in 1968. She was a student of conductor G. Wallace Woodworth at Harvard and trained for her master’s degree at Juilliard under Richard Westenburg. In addition to directing NAS, she has guest-conducted around the metropolitan area at Avery Fisher Hall and Symphony Space, for the New York Chorale Society, the Riverside Choir (for a performance with the Limon Dance Company), the Juillliard Chorus and Orchestra and the Mannes College Orchestra and more.
For 2006-2007 season, NAS will return to Immanuel Lutheran in December and late-May/early-June and to Holy Trinity in March. The repertoire hasn’t been finalized, but listeners can expect to hear a mix of some contemporary pieces and some older works. The programs will be announced mid-Summer (after Clara has finished going through the submitted scores). Keep checking the NAS website for details.
New Amsterdam Singers is incorporated as a nonprofit charitable organization under New York State law. To listen to the music of NAS, or find out more about their upcoming season, or to make a donation, see the NAS website.
If you’re looking for a peaceful evening out that’s close to home in December, March or May, spend it with the New Amsterdam Singers. All that’s required is to close your eyes and listen.