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CONCERTS
CURRENT SEASON
Peace and Plenty:
An Irish Christmas
Location TBA
Friday, December 18, 8pm
Sunday, December 20, 3pm
Join us as we celebrate the Christmas traditions of Ireland with Irish favorites, such as the ancient Wexford Carol, and works for Christmas by Irish composers.
New Music
for New York
The DiMenna Center
450 W 37th St., NY, NY
Saturday, March 13, 8pm
The MCE continues its long-standing commissioning program, New Music for New York, with three new works by New York-area composers, complemented by favorite folk songs and part songs. We will conclude with our traditional singing of Danny Boy.
Choral Dances - Brahms, Britten, and Shaw
Location TBA
Saturday, May 22, 8pm
The MCE brings you choral music inspired by dance from three revolutionary composers. We begin with Brahms's most popular work, a collection of love songs called the Liebeslieder Waltzes, continue with choral dances from Britten's opera written in honor of Elizabeth II's coronation, Gloriana, and finish with movements from Caroline Shaw's Pulitzer-winning composition Partita for 8 Voices.
PAST SEASONS
2025-2026
Wassail!
25 Years of
Christmas
with the MCE
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Church of the Incarnation
209 Madison Ave., NY, NY
Friday, December 12, 8pm
Saturday, December 13, 3pm
The MCE celebrated 25 years of Christmas concerts with favorites from the past, including beloved carols from France, Spain, Sweden, England, and Basque Country, as well as choral classics by Josquin, di Lasso, Victoria, Biebl, Rachmaninoff, and Poulenc.
New Music for
New York 2025
The DiMenna Center
450 W 37th St., NY, NY
Saturday, March 7, 8pm
We continued the celebration of our 25th anniversary season with a concert of folk songs, part-songs, and madrigals, all favorites gathered from our many years of singing at the DiMenna Center together. The program opened with new music from founder and director Thomas Cunningham and closed with our traditional singing of Danny Boy.
Rachmaninoff:
All-Night Vigil
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Church of the Incarnation
209 Madison Ave., NY, NY
Saturday, May 16, 8pm
Sergei Rachmaninoff's masterpiece is a rich exploration of the ancient sounds of the Russian Orthodox Church, re-imagined in an hour-long concert work filled with majesty and mystery. Some of Rachmaninoff's most enduring motets are part of the musical journey that takes us from dusk to dawn.
2024-2025
A Nordic
Christmas
Trinity Baptist Church
250 E 61st St., NY, NY
Friday, December 6
Saturday, December 7
Join us as we celebrate the season with music from the Nordic countries, including sublime choral works and charming traditional carols from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Iceland.
New Music for
New York 2025
The DiMenna Center
450 W 37th St., NY, NY
Saturday, March 8
The Manhattan Choral Ensemble’s annual choral music competition, New Music for New York, returned as we premiered this season’s three winning compositions (by Robert S. Cohen, Sally Fenley, and Felipe Segovia Sanhueza) in a program that also featured works by Randall Thompson, Gustav Holst, and more.
The Peaceable
Kingdom
Church of the Holy Trinity
316 E 88th St., NY, NY
Saturday, May 10
Randall Thompson’s masterwork, The Peaceable Kingdom, is a collection of short, stirring motets that together set the words of the prophet Isaiah. Our performance of this American classic will interweave motets with continuo composed by some of Thompson’s musical idols, including J.S. Bach. The concert will conclude with Thompson’s celebrated Alleluia.
2022-2023
Noche de Paz
A Spanish Christmas
St. Peter's Church
Barclay and Church, NY, NY
Friday, December 9
Sunday, December 11
The MCE will welcome the season with a celebration of the sounds of Christmas from Spain. Familiar carols such as Riu, Riu Chiu and E la don don will delight the ear alongside new settings of less frequently heard traditional carols. The program will also feature gems of the Renaissance from such luminaries as Guerrero and the celebrated O Magnum Mysterium by the most famous Spanish composer of the era, Tomas Luis de Victoria.
New Music for
New York 2023
The DiMenna Center
450 W 37th St., NY, NY
Saturday, March 11
The Manhattan Choral Ensemble’s annual choral music competition, New Music for New York, returns Saturday, March 11, as we premiere this season’s three winning compositions (by Hannah Cai Sobel, Cole Reyes, and Rachel DeVore Fogarty) in a program that also features many beloved folk songs by Brahms, Barber, RV Williams, and others.
Handel's Italy
featuring
Dixit Dominus
Saturday, June 10
Dixit Dominus was composed by a 22-year-old George Frideric Handel during his visit to Italy and was one of the works that ignited his European fame. The Manhattan Choral Ensemble and a baroque orchestra performed works by Scarlatti and Corelli that evoked the Rome and Florence of Handel’s 20s before concluding with the triumphant Dixit Dominus, all in a glorious French Gothic setting.