“One rarely encounters spirituality within the prison-confining pallid walls of a church. This was the exception.”
“Musical Director Hernandez-Valdez not only took advantage of its dimensions but gave the partly-professional chorus, balance and clarity. Even with the fine spun percussion, voices, celesta and bells were impressive.”
“Under the masterful direction of Artistic Director Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez the program was composed of six musical compositions that each tell a story reflective of the transcendence of suffering to another realm . . .”
“I do need to highlight the precision that was required for this choral evening, the choosing of the music and how they relate and complement each other, the artistry of the performers, and the acoustics of All Souls Church that allowed the music to sing, apply salve to suffering, and off of that, gave wings to soar. Musica Viva NY is a treasured institution that makes living in New York a joy.”
“Sunday November 11th, 2018 – This evening, at All Souls Church, Musica Viva NY and the New Orchestra of Washington marked the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I with a beautiful and deeply moving program. The acoustic at All Souls is a marvel: voices fill the air with effortlessly wonderful sound, and experiencing Maurice Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin there gave me the sensation of sitting among the musicians. This immediacy gave the entire program a feeling of intense involvement.”
“Musica Viva is one of the many choirs in New York providing ecletic programs. . . Conductor Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez is a dynamic force in choral music. Like most choral conductors, he needed no baton, his 37-voice ensemble well balanced, colorful, and, within the always tricky audio of a church, was resonant when needed, tranquil during those rare moments of this forceful concert, when tranquility was desired.”
“In Mr. Hernandez-Valdez’s arrangement, “Song of Nature” runs a crowded 10 minutes or so. The music traverses the dynamic gamut, soft to loud, several times, but the message, generalized as it was, was effectively conveyed by the excellent chorus of 35 and the narrator, David Rockefeller Jr. For the requiem, Musica Viva deployed 11 players in Joachim Linckelmann’s arrangement for chamber ensemble to good effect, and again, the chorus came through loud and clear. With Devony Smith and Joseph Beutel as fine vocal soloists in the Brahms, and Shabnam Abedi in the Bernstein, this was indeed a stirring concert“