The New York City-based Orchestra of St. Luke’s.
In Tuesday’s (11/12) Musical America, Fred Cohn writes, “The beginnings were modest. On October 26, 1974, the St. Luke Chamber Ensemble gave its very first concert in Greenwich Village’s Church of St. Luke in the Fields…. Michael Feldman, the ensemble’s founder and conductor, taught music at St. Luke’s affiliated school, taking the job with the understanding that he’d be able to present chamber concerts. He organized a group of the city’s top young musicians for a seven-concert series. His initiative proved to be the start of one of New York’s most enduring musical organizations. Now known as the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the ensemble has become (in the words of the New York Times) the city’s ‘hometown band.’ OSL celebrates its 50th anniversary on November 14 at Carnegie Hall, its frequent performance venue, with a program of works by Valerie Coleman, Haydn, and Beethoven, under conductor Louis Langrée…. In 2011 … OSL opened the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, remodeling a building shared with the Baryshnikov Arts Center on the far West Side of midtown Manhattan. The space is OSL’s home base and has since become a bustling center for musicians from across the tri-state area.” The orchestra’s principal conductor is Bernard Labadie.
