“Full-bodied sound and suppleness”
“A long history of making excellent music”
“One of the great amateur choruses of our time”
Reviews
Messiah Sing – December 17, 2016
“If you enjoy choral music or simply want to see an up-and-coming conductor/performer with a great future, check out the Dessoff Choirs. And, if singing is even sort of your thing, consider joining the Dessoff’s 2017’s Messiah Sing. You’ll tingle down to your toes. Hallelujah!”
We Remember – November 7, 2016
“A rich and rewarding evening of choral music.”
“…the chorus sang with conviction, expressivity and evident passion, confident both in themselves and in Merriweather’s leadership of them…If We Remember, as Merriweather’s first concert as Dessoff’s music director and conductor is any indication, Merriweather’s just-begun tenure bodes well for Dessoff’s future not just in New York City, where it is a regular fixture on the musical scene, but nationally and beyond as well.”
— Jean Ballard Terepka, TheatreScene.net
Full review: Web | PDF
“To say that [We Remember]… honoring President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., was outstanding is a gigantic understatement.”
“The 60-voice chorus, founded in 1924, sang as one, providing crisp endings as needed and soaring voices in other places. … It’s a tribute to all that music as varied as [Stucky’s Take Him, Earth] with contemporary dissonance and sharp transitions and the [Mozart] Requiem were handled equally well. … They’re a wonderful group, full-voiced, precise and a pleasure to hear.”
In the News
The New York Times
Sunday Routine: How Malcolm Merriweather, Musical Director of the Dessoff Choirs, Spends His Sundays
By John Leland, December 11, 2016
Read: Web
PIX 11
#Changemakers: Malcolm J. Merriweather brings modern spin to classical music, gives back to kids in Haiti
By Tamsen Fadal and Rebecca Millman, December 5, 2016
Read and watch: Web
SneekCity.com
Breaking The Fourth Wall: Interview with choral director Malcolm Merriweather
By Tim Longo, November 25, 2016
Read: Web | PDF