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). Following the orchestra’s Carnegie Hall debut, The New York Times declared that “adventure and ambition go hand in hand at Trinity.”  

Renowned for its innovative and impactful programming, NOVUS challenges audiences to engage with urgent social issues. In 2023, NOVUS launched its Renewal series focused on prison reform and climate change. Last season’s Renewal: Shelter explored the challenges of being unhoused in America and included the New York premiere of Gabriel Kahane’s compelling work emergency shelter intake form. This season, Renewal: Undivided features the world premiere of Andrew Yee’s Trans Requiem, a bold new work commissioned by Trinity Church that centers on trans voices and experiences.  

A frequent presence at the PROTOTYPE Festival — New York’s premier platform for contemporary opera — NOVUS has played a central role in the development of several major new works. These include Emma O’Halloran’s double bill Trade/Mary Motorhead; two Pulitzer Prize–winning works: Ellen Reid’s p r i s m (2019) and Du Yun’s Angel’s Bone (2017); Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s Breaking the Waves; the East Coast premiere of Reid’s Dreams of the New World; and the world premiere of David T. Little’s revised Am I Born, recorded with NOVUS and Trinity Choir.  

NOVUS has forged strong links with many of today’s leading composers. In 2023 and 2024, NOVUS was featured in two world-premiere oratorios: Luna Pearl Woolf’s Number Our Days at the Perelman Performing Arts Center and Benedict Sheehan’s Akathist, which was nominated for a 2025 Grammy Award. The ensemble also recently partnered with Death of Classical in “The Light After” series and included a world premiere by Andrew Yee. Other notable collaborations include the world premiere of Paola Prestini’s opera Silent Light,  Trinity’s Mass Reimaginings commissioning project with Prestini, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Daniel Felsenfeld, and Jonathan Newman; the world premiere of Laura Schwendinger’s opera Artemisia; and Prestini’s interdisciplinary The Hubble Cantata, which drew an audience of thousands to Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.  

NOVUS recordings include Benedict Sheehan’s Akathist and LUNA PEARL WOOLF: Fire and Flood, which were both nominated for a Grammy Award; Prestini’s The Hubble Cantata; Du Yun’s Angel’s Bone; Trevor Weston 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.