Distinguished Concerts International - New York

Considered a national treasure in his native Wales, awarded an OBE by Her Majesty the Queen in 2005, yet not well known on this side of the Atlantic, composer and conductor Karl Jenkins is about to raise his profile in the U.S. with a concert of his music in Isaac Stern Auditorium/Ronald O. Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall on Monday, January 21, 2008, at 8 p.m.

Conductor Jonathan Griffith will lead the Distinguished Concerts Orchestra International and singers from Australia, Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. in Karl Jenkins' Requiem and his stirring The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace. Pamela Hinchman (soprano), Tracy Watson (mezzo-soprano), William Watson (tenor), and Ricardo Herrera (bass) will perform the latter work. Additionally, a video titled "The Armed Man Film" by Hefin Owen will be shown simultaneously with the performance of that work. This will be the first performance of the video in the U.S.

Opening the program, which takes place on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, will be the World Premiere of  Jenkins' Hymn - In Memoriam: Martin Luther King, Jr.

The entire program honors the life of the great pacifist and civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The composer,  Karl Jenkins, will be in residence in New York during the rehearsals and the concert. Jonathan Griffith says: "This will be the first time that both the Requiem and The Armed Man will be performed at the same concert in the United States. Since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a man of peace and of international stature, I felt this particular music of Karl Jenkins would be most appropriate for this important holiday."

Tickets ranging from $100-$20 may be purchased at the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th Street and 7th Avenue, through CarnegieCharge at 212.247.7800, or online at http://www.carnegiehall.org/.

Requiem is a dramatic and powerful work that takes its inspiration from both Western and Far Eastern musical traditions. It incorporates Western melodic style and elements of world music, such as Japanese harmonies, melodies, and instruments. It is a Mass set to texts from both the Christian Mass, written in Latin, and Japanese jisei, which are traditional Japanese haiku that highlight the cyclical nature of life, death, and rebirth. Performing the Requiem on the EMI Classics CD is the West Kazakh Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Armed Man: a Mass for Peace is the result of a special millennial commission from the Royal Armouries and the latest in a six century tradition of "Armed Man" masses that take the 15th-Century French song, "L'Homme Armé," as their starting point. Over 100 performances of this work have taken place in the UK in the past 18 months, while the EMI CD, featuring the National Youth Choir of Great Britain and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, has gained Gold Disc status in the UK.

Karl Jenkins, OBE, Composer, was raised in Penclawdd, Gower, in Wales. He was educated at Gowerton Grammar School before studying music at the University of Wales, Cardiff. He then commenced postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music, London. In recent years, Karl Jenkins has been made both a Fellow and an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, where a room has been named in his honor, and has been awarded fellowships at Cardiff University, the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Trinity College Carmarthen, and Swansea Institute. He was awarded an OBE, by Her Majesty The Queen, in the 2005 New Years Honors List, and a Doctor of Music by the University of Wales in 2006. A new recording of his Stabat Mater will be released by EMI Classics in April.

Jonathan Griffith, Conductor, Co-founder, Artistic Director, and Principal Conductor of Distinguished Concerts International New York, is an active conductor, educator, lecturer, and consultant. His conducting credits in this country and abroad include the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Salt Lake City; Manhattan Philharmonic and New England Symphonic Ensemble, both in performances at Carnegie Hall; The European Symphony Orchestra, Spain; Bohuslava Martinů Philharmonia and Philharmonia Chorus, Virtuosi Pregensis Chamber Orchestra, Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, and Dvořák Chamber Orchestra, Czech Republic; Bialystok State Philharmonic, Poland; and several regional orchestras and choruses in the U.S. As the conductor of the World Premiere of Earnestine Rodgers Robinson's The Nativity in Carnegie Hall, he was featured in an interview which aired on National Public Radio's Morning Edition, and also appeared in two recent documentaries about Ms. Robinson and her music - "Hidden Treasure" and "Sounds of a Miracle." He made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut in 1989. His 45-plus Carnegie Hall appearances span the major works of the classical repertoire and include the U.S. premieres of Taneyev's Upon Reading a Psalm, Czech composer Miloš Bok's Missa Solemnis, Luigi Boccherini's Villancicos, and Eugčne Goossens' re-orchestration of Handel's Messiah, as well as numerous world premieres, including Eric Funk's Pamelia, Seymour Bernstein's Song of Nature, and Robert Convery's The Unknown Region and I Have a Dream. He has served as chorus master for the Utah and Portland Opera companies; founded the Kansas City Chorale and the Jonathan Griffith Singers; and was a member of the faculties of the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Wichita State University, Marylhurst University, and Warner Pacific College, the last two in Portland, Oregon. A native of St. Louis, he received his B.M.E. from the University of Kansas, an M.M.E. from Wichita State University, and his D.M.A. in Conducting from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Distinguished Concerts International New York was founded in early 2007 by Iris Derke, General Director; and Jonathan Griffith, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor. DCINY provides opportunities for choral, instrumental, jazz, and chamber ensembles, as well as conductors and soloists, to perform at such venues as Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Town Hall in New York City. A strong component of DCINY's mission is to enhance the concert experience through educational programs and incentives. These include support in meeting performance standards and optional master classes and seminars.

Singers participating in The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace represent: Canberra Choral Society (AU); Pro Cantu Youth Choir, Bellville (RSA); Lord Williams' Festival Chorus, Buckinghamshire (UK); Salisbury Community Choir, Wiltshire (UK); Crystal Coast Choral Society, Jacksonville (NC); Westlake United Methodist Church Chancel Choir (OH); Young People's Chorus Concert Chorus and Young Men's Chorus, New York (NY); and Jonathan Griffith Singers (US and CAN).

Singers participating in Requiem represent: City of Bath Bach Choir (UK); Hilo Community Chorus (HI); University of Hawaii at Hilo Showcase Singers (HI); Young People's Chorus Cantare and Young Men's Chorus, New York (NY); and Scarsdale High School Chamber Choir (NY).

Boosey & Hawkes is the exclusive publisher of the music of Karl Jenkins. For further information, call 212.358.5361.

EMI Classics, which includes the Paris-based label Virgin Classics, is one of the world's leading classical music labels which regularly records such distinguished orchestras as the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Wiener Philharmoniker and has exclusive recording contracts with artists including Sir Simon Rattle, Antonio Pappano, Maxim Vengerov, Karl Jenkins, Nigel Kennedy, Angela Gheorghiu, Natalie Dessay, Diana Damrau, Joyce DiDonato, and Kate Royal. The company has regularly recorded international superstars such as Plácido Domingo, Itzhak Perlman, and Kiri Te Kanawa, and has a back catalogue featuring historic recordings by Mstislav Rostropovich, Maria Callas, Victoria de los Angeles, Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Jacqueline du Pré, Herbert von Karajan, Otto Klemperer, Sir Adrian Boult, and Sir John Barbirolli, as well as the longest-serving artist in the history of the record industry, the violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin. For more information, please visit http://www.emiclassics.com/.

For information about performing on DCINY's series or about purchasing tickets to scheduled concerts, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , call 212.707.8566 or 877.MYDCINY (toll free).