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A Holiday Concert for Unity 

Handel Messiah
J.S. Bach Cantata "Wachet auf"
African-American Holiday Spirituals 

Performed at the Verdi proper tuning of A=432Hz 

Saturday, December 17th, 6:00 pm
Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph
856 Pacific Street 
Brooklyn, NY 11238  

(3 blocks from Barclays Center)

The Schiller Institute NYC Community Chorus 
Directors: John Sigerson and Diane Sare

Concert Program


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Friends of the Schiller Institute:

The Schiller Institute New York Community Chorus is proud to announce its participation in "A Holiday Concert for Unity," to be held at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Brooklyn on Saturday, December 17 at 6:00 PM. The concert is sponsored by the Foundation for the Revival of Classical Culture. The program will consist of the "Christmas" section of Handel's great oratorio, Messiah, the "Wachet Auf" cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, and African-American Christmas Spirituals.

The shock of the November election in the United States has provoked, above all, the recognition that the assumptions that people have held about the world around them were hopelessly mistaken. Yet, that shock has not yet given way to a widespread recognition of the possibility that a better world, a better time, has now been placed in front of all of humanity. The U.S. Presidential election result was not a "national event," but, rather, an expression of something far more profound going on in the world. We now once again stand on the threshold of John F. Kennedy's "New Frontier," including in the field of space exploration, aided by the allies of the United States in China and Russia. Yes, the very countries that have been unjustly demonized as the enemies of the United States have, in reality, become -- largely through the efforts of Helga Zepp-LaRouche and the Schiller Institute --  the crucial collaborators for the United States to leave behind the bankruptcy of the trans-Atlantic financial system and the cultural degeneracy that goes with it. That is the deeper cultural significance of the Schiller Institute's World Land-Bridge policy, which is the "higher platform" rendering of the One Belt, One Road initiative of China, and the collaborations of the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.)

Ironic it may be, but it is nonetheless true. Consider: the irony of the Christmas story itself is that the solution to the problems of the world does not lie with the wealthy, the powerful, or the Satanic. It lies with the apparently powerless who possess the truth, which, when discovered in nature, is the most powerful force known or knowable. The solution lies in appealing to "the better angels of our nature" to join the world in lifting all of mankind at once to a truly human platform of "peace to all men" through development of all mankind. 

"Peace on earth, good will towards men" is a necessary refrain that needs to sound throughout the United States right now. When President Abraham Lincoln, at the end of a divisive and soul-shattering four years of bloody rebellion and war, proclaimed in his Second Inaugural Address: "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds..." he might have been speaking about this very moment in our current history.

In a far more divided America than we today inhabit, Lincoln concluded his First Inaugural Address of 1861 with a musical idea of a new national harmony. "The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." 

The Schiller Institute New York Community Chorus was founded two years ago as a musical unifying of the city. It sought to rise above the pointless acrimony and misery of violent police/citizen confrontations, which refused to focus on what is precious and unique in each human being, and all human beings. It is the divine spark of creativity in each of us, and its willful development, that makes us human. Each person is a potential source of limitless wealth for all of mankind. How we inspire each human being to choose to so act is the proper purpose of Classical culture. And that is the particular urgency of this December celebration. "The greatest light comes at midnight."

The program of Handel, Bach, and African-American Spirituals will feature as soloists: Theresa Cincione, soprano; Patrice Eaton, alto; Ziwen Xiang, tenor; and Jay Baylon, bass. John Sigerson will conduct, and Diane Sare, co-director of the Schiller Institute New York Community Chorus, will conduct the performance of the Spirituals. As in our collaboration with the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph on the fifteenth anniversary of 9/11, the Schiller Institute and the Foundation want to especially extend an invitation to the families of first responders to attend. 

We, in particular, strongly encourage all Schiller Institute members to bring others to this performance at this beautiful church, located near the Barclays Center, near downtown Brooklyn. We also encourage those that have sung the pieces being performed to contact Diane Sare and other choral members as to whether you may be able to join in this performance. This is a time that the principle of "Union, not confederacy" needs to be asserted from the highest, and most beautiful possible standpoint. The New York Schiller Institute Community Chorus personifies this idea in its composition and purpose, and we encourage people to participate, and to support the Schiller Institute and its activities financially.    

Information on reserving seats for this concert is provided below.

Suggested Donations:
For Reserved Seats: Prepaid Ticket $10
For NonReserved Seats:  $10 at door

To reserve seats, or for more information,
call: 718-709-8722 or visit www.fftrocc.org 

Click here to reserve seats and register for the concert on-line!