Ensembles
Trinity’s innovative music program offers a broad range of expertise, an extensive and growing discography, and a long tradition of championing underrepresented composers.
Trinity Choir
With its peerless interpretation of both early and new music, the Trinity Choir has redefined the realm of 21st-century vocal music, breaking new ground with artistry described as “blazing with vigour … a choir from heaven” (The Times, London). Critics have praised the choir’s performances as “thrilling” (The New Yorker), “musically top-notch” (The Wall Street Journal), and “simply superb” (The New York Times).
The choir was recently featured in several world-premiere oratorios and operas: Andrew Yee’s Trans Requiem, Mary Kouyoumdjian’s Adoration (nominated for the 2026 Grammy for best opera), Paola Prestini’s Silent Light at National Sawdust, Luna Pearl Woolf’s Number Our Days at the Perelman Performing Arts Center, and Benedict Sheehan’s Akathist (nominated for the 2025 Grammy for best choral performance). Other recent highlights: Trinity’s yearly performances of Handel’s Messiah (with soloists from the choir); productions of Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard; Shall We Gather at the River, directed by Peter Sellars, and Tyshawn Sorey’s Monochromatic Light(Afterlife), at the Park Avenue Armory; PROTOTYPE Festival’s production of Huang Ruo’s Angel Island; Broken Chord at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, created by Gregory Maqoma and Thuthuka Sibisi; a concert in the inaugural Refuge series at the Perelman Performing Arts Center; Handel’s Theodora at Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts; Julia Wolfe’s Anthracite Fields; “Notes From Ukraine” at Carnegie Hall; a concert of Bach cantatas at Salle Bourgie in Montreal; and collaborations with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and the American Modern Opera Company.
Trinity’s long-standing commitment to new music has fostered collaborations with composers, including Andrew Yee, Julia Wolfe, Du Yun, Ellen Reid, Trevor Weston, Mary Kouyoumdjian, Paola Prestini, Luna Pearl Woolf, Ralf Yusuf Gawlick, and Elena Ruehr. The Trinity Choir is featured on recordings of three Pulitzer Prize–winning works: Julia Wolfe’s Anthracite Fields, Du Yun’s Angel’s Bone, and Ellen Reid’s p r i s m.
Trinity Baroque Orchestra
Praised for its dramatic vigor and elegantly shaped orchestral sound, Trinity Church’s superb period-instrument ensemble, the Trinity Baroque Orchestra, has captivated audiences across North America. The ensemble has appeared at such renowned venues as Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall, and Montreal’s Salle Bourgie, performing many of the greatest masterpieces of the Baroque repertoire.
A cornerstone of Trinity’s popular Bach at One series, the Trinity Baroque Orchestra is widely recognized as one of the country’s most compelling interpreters of Baroque and early music. The orchestra is featured annually in Trinity’s critically acclaimed performances of Handel’s Messiah, which The New York Times declared to be “the gold standard.” Recent concert highlights include large-scale performances of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610; Handel’s Theodora, Solomon, and Saul; and Bach’s St. John and St. Matthew Passions; as well as appearances throughout the United States and Canada. The Trinity Baroque Orchestra can be heard on J. S. Bach: Complete Motets and the Grammy-nominated recording of Handel’s Israel in Egypt, both with the Trinity Choir. The orchestra’s distinctive sound is shaped by a roster of North America’s finest period-instrument players, many of whom also serve on the faculties of distinguished institutions such as Yale, Harvard, Indiana University, and The Juilliard School’s Historical Performance program.
NOVUS
Trinity Church’s groundbreaking new-music ensemble, NOVUS, is a vital force in the contemporary music scene. These “expert and versatile musicians” (The New Yorker) perform music from all corners of the repertoire, meeting “every challenge with an impressive combination of discipline and imagination” (New York Classical Review).
Renowned for its innovative programming, NOVUS invites audiences to engage with urgent social issues. NOVUS’s Renewal series has explored prison reform, climate change, and the challenges of being unhoused in America, including the New York premiere of Gabriel Kahane’s compelling work emergency shelter intakeform. Most recently, Renewal: Undivided featured the world-premiere performance and recording of Andrew Yee’s Trans Requiem, a bold new work commissioned by Trinity Church that centers trans voices and experiences.
At the PROTOTYPE Festival, NOVUS has partnered with Beth Morrison Projects in the development of several major new works, including Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Hildegard, Emma O’Halloran’s opera pairing Trade/Mary Motorhead, and the Pulitzer Prize–winning works p r i s m (2019) by Ellen Reid and Angel’s Bone (2017) by Du Yun.
NOVUS has forged strong links with many of today’s leading composers. Recent projects include Paola Prestini’s Silent Light at National Sawdust, Luna Pearl Woolf’s Number Our Days at the Perelman Performing Arts Center, and Benedict Sheehan’s Akathist, which received a Grammy nomination in 2025. The ensemble’s recordings include Benedict Sheehan’s Akathist and LUNA PEARL WOOLF: Fire and Flood, both nominated for Grammys; Prestini’s The Hubble Cantata; Du Yun’s Angel’s Bone; Trevor Weston’s Choral Works; Elena Ruehr’s Averno; Edward Thomas’s opera Anna Christie; Ellen Reid’s p r i s m; and Philip Glass: Symphony No. 5.
Downtown Voices
Praised by The New York Times for its “incisive, agile strength,” Downtown Voices is a Grammy-nominated, semiprofessional choir conducted by Stephen Sands. This acclaimed ensemble was founded as a high-level chorus committed to performing great choral works across genres, eras, and traditions.
Downtown Voices has premiered several major new works, including Stephen Main’s The Image at Trinity Church; Reena Esmail’s Malhaar: A Requiem for Water at St. Paul’s Chapel; Luna Pearl Woolf’s Number Our Days at the Perelman Performing Arts Center; Zachary Wadsworth’s Spire and Shadow at St. Paul’s Chapel; and Benedict Sheehan’s Akathist, an expansive oratorio recorded with Trinity Choir, Artefact Ensemble, Trinity Youth Chorus, and NOVUS. Akathist was nominated for the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance.
In 2022, the choir made its Carnegie Hall debut with the Buffalo Philharmonic, conducted by JoAnn Falletta, during the Lukas Foss Centennial Celebration. At Trinity Church, the choir has performed at Compline by Candlelight and Choral Evensong, and has headlined numerous marquee concerts. Downtown Voices has been featured with Andrea Bocelli and can be heard on the epic recording Philip Glass: Symphony No. 5, released by Orange Mountain Music, as well as Benedict Sheehan’s Akathist on the Bright Shiny Things label.
Trinity Youth Chorus
Now in its 22nd season, the Trinity Youth Chorus brings together talented young people ages 5 to 18 from the five boroughs of New York City. Choristers receive individual and group training in vocal technique, music theory, sight-reading, and performance skills from Trinity’s music education team.
This Grammy-nominated ensemble provides musical leadership for various worship services and offers concerts throughout the season, often performing with Trinity’s professional ensembles, including the Trinity Choir, NOVUS, and the Trinity Baroque Orchestra. The Trinity Youth Chorus was recently featured in several world-premiere performances: Andrew Yee’s Trans Requiem, Luna Pearl Woolf’s Number Our Days at the Perelman Performing Arts Center, and Benedict Sheehan’s oratorio Akathist, which was recorded alongside the Trinity Choir, the Artefact Ensemble, Downtown Voices, and NOVUS, and nominated for the 2025 Grammy for best choral performance. Other highlights include a main-stage performance for the Perelman Performing Arts Center’s Refuge series, Kim André Arnesen’s Tuvayhun, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, a fully staged production of Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s Fludde, Ellen Reid’s Winter’s Child at the PROTOTYPE Festival, Alberto Ginastera’s Turbae ad Passionem Gregorianam and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 at Carnegie Hall, and Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem with the Queens College Choral Society. Recording projects include Andrew Yee’s Trans Requiem, Benedict Sheehan’s Akathist, Philip Glass: Symphony No. 5, and Lisa Bielawa’s My Outstretched Hand with the San Francisco Girls Chorus and The Knights.
The Trinity Youth Chorus is featured in the films Love Is Strange and Doubt, as well as in Bielawa’s made-for-TV opera, Vireo; has sung backup for Josh Groban, the Rolling Stones, and Bobby McFerrin; and has been heard on Public Radio International and CBS’s The Early Show.
St. Paul’s Chapel Choir
The St. Paul’s Chapel Choir brings together people who love to sing and are drawn to the joy, connection, and sense of belonging found in a warm and welcoming musical community. Led by Thomas McCargar, a longtime member of Trinity’s renowned music program, this volunteer ensemble of sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses offers singers of all backgrounds the opportunity to deepen their musicianship through weekly rehearsals and participation in monthly services at Trinity Church.
The choir performs a broad range of sacred choral repertoire, from beloved Anglican anthems to contemporary compositions. The Trinity Choral Scholars sing alongside Chapel Choir members, and on Sundays the ensemble joins with the Trinity Choir, enriching both its musical experience and shared liturgical ministry. Beyond cultivating musical excellence, the St. Paul’s Chapel Choir fosters a sense of community and the transformative power of singing together.