The St. Lukeâs Chamber Ensemble launched its first concert series on October 26, 1974 at Greenwich Villageâs Church of St. Luke in the Fields with the music of Handel, Mozart, and Telemann along with the world premiere of a one-act opera by Robert Baksa.
Sown right in that first concert, though, were the seeds of the orchestra todayââfluency in all styles,â� as the orchestraâs President and Executive Director James Roe explains, along with the core values of collaborative music making. âThe key to the St. Lukeâs Chamber Ensemble becoming Orchestra of St. Lukeâs is in that word chamber,â� he adds. âEven as an orchestra, eyes are darting around the stage, people are cuing each other. The players are already doing a lot of the work so the conductor can immediately start at a higher level.â�
Few orchestras, in fact, can claim such a range of collaborations around town, spanning the New York premiere (and subsequent recording) of John Adamsâs opera Nixon in China at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, an ongoing partnership with the Paul Taylor Dance Company at Lincoln Centerâs David Koch Theater, and a program with the metal band Metallica at Madison Square Garden. They even have their own music production venue, the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, which opened in 2011.
For Roe, however, the orchestraâs major collaborator is clearly Carnegie Hall, which first provided the platform 40 years ago for the expanded ensemble (already established as the Caramoor Festival Orchestra) to perform larger repertoire under the St. Lukeâs banner. âThe pivotal moment for us and Carnegie Hall was the Handel Opera Festival in 1984 with Marilyn Horne, which showcased some truly virtuoso baroque playing,â� Roe says. âForty years later, the full orchestra has played at Carnegie Hall more than 425 times."
The orchestraâs reputation as Carnegie Hallâs house band becomes clearer once you do the math. OSL is the only organization to have a series in all three of the Hallâs concert spaces, with a regular orchestral series in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, a chamber music series in Weill Recital Hall, and an annual Bach festival in Zankel Hall that was launched in 2019âeach series offering four concerts this season.
âIn any given year, we could play in up to 20 venues,â� says Roe. âWe play at Caramoor in the summer, and we are the orchestra for Paul Taylor Danceâs annual season at Lincoln Centerâplus we have partnerships in all five boroughs. But when our players walk onstage at Carnegie Hall, they feel at home. I think it brings out a special kind of performance because theyâre there so often and in so many different guises."
First of all, thereâs the sheer joy of playing in the space itself. âEntering Carnegie Hall, you immediately realize this space was built for a collective embrace of beauty both visually and acoustically,â� Roe says. âOn stage, you see the tiers on each side of the balcony slope gently toward the stage like embracing arms. And really, itâs impossible to walk onstage and not want to elevate your playing to the level of the venue, to have some spiritual communication with the great figures whoâve been on that stage in the past 133 years."
But beyond that, he believes, the Carnegie Hall affiliation also taps into the roots of the collaborative spirit of St. Lukeâs. âAll our decisions are made within the context of being programmed alongside the worldâs greatest orchestrasâto express our own musical strengths within the whole Carnegie Hall season. So St. Lukeâs brings its best every time, whether itâs Mozartâs âJupiterâ� Symphony or J. S. Bachâs St. Matthew Passion. Those are the kind of programs weâre uniquely in a position to do.â�
Clive Gillinson, Carnegie Hallâs executive and artistic director, agrees. âOrchestra of St. Lukeâs has been a very special partner to Carnegie Hall for four decades, and our relationship has blossomed even further in recent years with many memorable collaborations. The orchestraâs artistic versatility has led to so many important musical events over the years that are now woven into the history of the Hall.â�
In Decemberâand in conjunction with Carnegie Hallâs season-long Nuestros sonidos festival in celebration of Latin culture in the United Statesâthe St. Lukeâs Chamber Ensemble performed an evening of works by Astor Piazzolla. âOne of Paul Taylorâs great dances is Piazzolla Caldera, which they historically danced to a recording,â� Roe says. âBut he asked us to perform the music of Piazzolla live. It worked so well we decided to bring it to Carnegie Hall for the festival.â�
In January, there is also a performance of Bernsteinâs âKaddishâ� Symphony, incorporating text by the late Samuel Pisar to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, conducted by James Conlon.
Two other programs anchoring OSLâs orchestral offerings this season are the New York debut of conductor RaphaĂ«l Pichon in the US premiere of Mein Traum (My Dream), featuring unfinished works by Schubert (âthe symphony as well as some unfinished stage works,â� Roe says), as well as the final concert of outgoing Principal Conductor Bernard Labadie, who will lead the orchestra and La Chapelle de QuĂ©bec in the St. John Passion. âMaestro Labadie put together a major cycle of Bach choral works, and since the St. John Passion is Bachâs most operatic piece, it seems the perfect culmination of our seven-year relationship.â�
OSL has long been known as New Yorkâs âhometown bandââ� really, what other orchestra has performed both on Saturday Night Live (with Vanessa Williams and Luciano Pavarotti in 1988) and at the World Trade Center site just weeks after 9/11 (with RenĂ©e Fleming and Andrea Bocelli)âbut nothing claims local legitimacy like putting down real estate. The opening of the DiMenna Center in 2011 was a turning point not just for the orchestra, Roe maintains, but also for New Yorkâs musical life.
The real advantage of owning its own space became abundantly clear during the pandemic, when major performance venues remained shuttered. âMusic production was allowed by the state of New York early on,â� Roe recalls, âso we immediately bought cameras and installed them downstairs.â� After moving the Bach festival online in spring 2020, OSL later launched its first livestreamed series that fall with pianist Jeremy Denk and host David Hyde Pierce. âWe made nearly 100 independent videos for other performers during the pandemic, including Midori, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Audra McDonald,â� says Roe. âWe also managed to stream our education programs directly into schools.â�
OSLâs education initiatives also include its 130-member Youth Orchestra of St. Lukeâsâthe only youth orchestra under the umbrella of a professional ensemble in New York Cityâand its Free School Concert series that was founded in 1976.
Constant renewal is at the heart of OSLâs programming, whether in repertoire (with more than 80 new works to be commissioned and premiered through the orchestraâs annual DeGaetano Composition Institute), on the podium, or directly in its musical ranks, where the orchestra is constantly looking for new, like-minded musicians.
âThat original group of playersâand we have two members still with us from that first seasonâwere definitely New Yorkers, with a New York entrepreneurial spirit,â� says Roe. âThis is an organization that could only exist and have the success weâve had in New York.â�
