This past Good Friday, a brand new musical setting of the Passion according to St. Luke premiered at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Manhattan.
St. Peter's commissioned this new setting from William Cooper and asked him to compose the music so that it could be performed according to COVID-19 safety protocols.
In response, Cooper scored the work for just five singers and ten instrumentalists.
One of those singers is soprano Addy Sterrett, who sang the role of Jesus Christ. For Cooper, it was important to feature a female voice in his setting because women are largely silent in the Biblical texts.
In addition to St. Luke’s account in the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Cooper included two new poems written by Brian Alvarado.
Hear this world premiere performance Friday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at noon on Classical IPR.
You can also listen on demand below. Scroll down to see the complete list of personnel from the performance.
Personnel
Addy Sterrett - Jesus
Elliott Encarnación - Evangelist
Malcolm Merriweather - Peter / Simon of Cyrene
Harrison Hintzsche - Pilate
Samantha Caps - Alto Chorus
David Southorn - Violin
Saerom Yoo - Violin
Lauren Siess - Viola
Giancarlo Latta - Viola
Michael Haas - Cello
Ana Kim - Cello
Nathaniel Chase - Double Bass
Melanie Genin - Harp
Charles Kiger - Percussion
William Cooper - Organ
Balint Karosi - conductor
William Cooper - composer
Brian Alvarado - poet
Commissioned by St. Peter's Church, NYC
Recorded at Grace and St. Paul's Church, Manhattan
David Merrill, recording engineer
