Make Music New York

 Make Music New York Times Two (12/20/25 and 12/21/25)

I suppose I should go in order. Saturday, 12/20 was the 51st Annual Carol Walk hosted and led by members of the West Village Chorale. I've been to most of them. I'm kidding—I've only been participating for the last seven years or so. This year's was the best organized one I've been to. I was in Group 6 (I'm usually in Group 2 or 3), after having gotten turned around in the Village again—hey, I've only lived here 49 years! Anyhoo, our two song leaders were great, balancing crowd favorites with chorister requests. We had several youngsters in our group, so Frosty the Snowman came up right away. Alas, so did All I Want for Christmas Is You, of which most people, including the requestees and me, only knew a few lines. But we soldiered on through Carol of the Bells, Ding Dong Merrily, Jingle Bells, etc. In a contemplative moment, I'll Be Home for Christmas (a request) was followed by White Christmas, because our song leader insisted they must be sung together. Not a bad decision. I bowed out a little early, since it was getting cold and I knew how to get back to the subway! An afternoon well spent.

Make Music New York sponsors two Make Music days—duh! the summer solstice and the winter solstice. Today's had fewer choices than the summer solstice, but I scoped out three—Sound Walk, on the High Line, MichelleKStudio, in Greeley Square, and Bell by Bell, at Astor Place. Sound Walk ended up not happening because the tech that was supposed to link everyone together did not work. Ain't technology grand? I was shunted a block away to hear amateur harmonica players. I lasted about ten minutes. I figured, hey, I'm here, I'll walk the High Line anyway. Nope. Far too cold and windy. 

Greeley Square worked out better, with three (plus one, a young student, maybe six years old) pianists playing an electronic keyboard in an outdoor setting. Not ideal, but better than harmonicas! Even though no program was announced, I recognized The Girl with the Flaxen Hair and Claire de Lune. Possibly Liebestraume, as well. Plus there were some Christmas songs included.

Bell by Bell is a happening that I have done before. We, the audience, are the music makers. Anybody who wants to can pick up a bell. There are differently colored bells. The leaders have differently colored flags. When a flag is raised that matches the color of your bell, you ring it wildly. The tunes are not recognizable, but everybody gets to play along and be a part of making music. And that is what the day is all about.

Will I try it again? We shall see.

ConcertMeister

Wreath Interpretations (through Jan. 2, 2026)

The Arsenal Gallery, Central Park 
Fifth Avenue at 64th Street, Third Floor
Monday–Friday, 9a–5p 

These are literally wreaths but not necessarily your run-of-the mill holiday wreaths. This year’s show (I’ve been to several in the past) had a whopping 30 wreaths on display. Some are for sale, ranging from $75 to $1,500. Two were priced Upon Request and one was priced Negotiable. Most, though, were $500 or lower. My photo skills are getting a little better, so I’ll try to post some on Facebook. My handle there is Uncke David (don’t ask). 

I think my favorite was Appaloosa, a horsy-Western-style wreath that included natural grasses and rope. Another interesting one was I’m at a Loss for Words, whose description materials include paper, acrylic, metal, banned books and elbow grease. Most of the wreaths were circular, a couple were ovals, and one was shaped like Staten Island, The Forgotten Borough’s Unforgettable Wreath. (I’m not making this up, you know.) 

Another whimsical one was A Wee Bit of Joy, made from cardboard and plastic inserts from animal waste pick up bags (collected over a year’s time), cardboard toilet paper roll. Clever, indeed. Others that caught my eye and I deemed worthy of photographing were Baroque for the Holidays, Triskelion Star, “Sliding” Through Time (made of a recycled Kodak slide carousel, and images of OMNY and MetroCards), Shellter (Shell-ter) (razor clam shells, acrylic paint, glue and wire), and Gingerbread Baking Co. 

It sounds like a lot, but it only took about forty-five minutes (partially because I had to reshoot a couple of photos). In a way, it’s unfortunate that there are no weekend hours, but if you have time on a weekday, it’s time well spent. And it’s a nice way to do the holidays in a slightly offbeat way. 

ConcertMeister

A Tale of Two Choral Ensembles (11/10/25) and (11/16/25)

Oratorio Society of New York – 11/10/25
Saint Andrew Music Society – Chorale and Orchestra – 11/16/25

A friend of mine is a member of the Theater Development Fund and had two $5 TDF vouchers for the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall. Of course I wanted to join her. We heard Fern Hill (1961, arr. 1999), written by John Corigliano and Mass in C Minor, K. 427 (1782–1783) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. One of the composers was in the house. Do you want to hazard a guess? 

The Corigliano was fairly modern in terms of harmonies. It is a setting of Dylan Thomas’ poem of the same name. As always, understanding the text of choral settings is a little difficult, especially if you’re hearing them for the first time, which I was. Fortunately, the text was included in the Carnegie Hall Playbill, as was the text of the Mass, with which I was much more familiar. I’m not great with estimating numbers, but the Oratorio Society chorus was about 200 strong. An octet of soloists from within the group acquitted themselves quite well, as did the entire group. I glanced through the names, but none caught my eye. Not so when I glanced through the orchestra names. Lo and behold, I knew the organist, Andrew Henderson. 

There was also a quartet of soloists for the Mass who also acquitted themselves quite well. The Bass-Baritone had precious little to do, but he did it with aplomb. A day or so after the concert, I emailed Mr. Henderson, who answered with a note about his upcoming concert, and asked if I would be interested in a comp ticket. Yes, indeedy. 

The Saint Andrew concert consisted of Vesperae Solenelles de Confessore, K. 339 (1780) by the aforementioned W.A. Mozart and Saint Nicolas Op. 42 (1948) by Benjamin Britten – Introduction; The Birth of Nicolas; Nicolas Devotes Himself to God; He Journeys to Palestine; Nicolas Comes to Myra and Is Chosen Bishop; Nicolas from Prison; Nicolas and the Pickled Boys; His Piety and Marvellous Works; The Death of Nicolas. I enjoyed the Mozart, but I was taken aback by the Britten. First off, there was a third vocal ensemble—the New York City Children’s Chorus – Mary Huff, Artistic Director. Soloists in the work included Saint Nicolas (tenor), The Boy Nicolas (treble), and Three Pickled Boys (trebles). Logistically, the performance was a tour-de-force. Soloists entered from stage right and sang in front of the conductor, who was in front of the orchestra, which was in front of the Chorale vocalists. Confused yet? The Boy Nicolas was the first soloist followed by Saint Nicolas and then the Three Pickled Boys who made their way down from the gallery, where the youthful choristers were seated, and then entered down the center aisle of the sanctuary for their brief shining moments, before exiting to the stage right area and somehow making their way back to the gallery. In a somewhat more modern take, the New York City Children’s Chorus treats trebles equally*—in fact, two of The Pickled Boys were female. The work is essentially a cantata in two parts with a hymn for the choirs and the congregation at the end of the first half and a concluding hymn for the choirs and the congregation to end the work. This was my first time hearing the work and I was mightily impressed. I would love to hear it again sometime. The tenor solo part was written for Peter Pears, which makes perfect sense; Mr. Molomot was well up to the task.

All in all, a great week of listening for me.

ConcertMeister

*My first paid choir gig was as an alto in a choir of Men and Boys. Many choirs maintain that distinction, but female trebles are making inroads.