Andrew Megill, conductor

Founded in 2004, Westminster Kantorei is an auditioned chamber choir specializing in early and contemporary music. The ensemble, which is composed of approximately graduate and undergraduate students, performs regularly with some of America’s leading specialists in Baroque music, including collaborations with violinist Nancy Wilson and vocal ensemble Fuma Sacra. 

Recent seasons have included performances of Bach’s Missa brevis in G Minor, cantatas, and passions, including the St. Matthew Passion at Avery Fisher Hall, with the Westminster Choir and the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Kurt Masur. The ensemble has also performed works by Monteverdi (Vespers of 1610, Sestina and Lamento della Ninfa), Buxtehude (Membra Jesu nostri), Schütz, Schein, Telemann, Zelenka, Victoria, and Palestrina, as well as a concert of Latin American Baroque music. 

Westminster Kantorei has also commissioned and premiered many works by such composers as Caleb Burhans, James Blachly, Doug Helvering, Philip Rice, Nathan Jones and Stefan Young.  This year, the ensemble premieres new works by Blake Henson, Daniel Elder, and the internationally acclaimed Swedish composer Sven-David Sandström, commissioned for the ensemble by the Soli Deo Gloria Foundation and the Westminster Choir College Department of Sacred Music.  Westminster Kantorei, joined by Fuma Sacra and the Institute Festival Orchestra, can be heard on the Albany recording Jon Magnussen: Music for Limon Dances.

Westminster Kantorei Performances

Sandström World Premiere - October 29, 2011
O Magnum Mysterium - Christmas with Westminster Kantorei - December 4, 2011
Musikalische Exequien - February 11, 2012
The Glory and the Dream - April 22, 2012