St Bartholomew's Conservancy

During the pandemic St. Bartholomew's Conservancy suspended public activities, but planned and produced a well-received six-part video series as a companion to its gala organ concert with the philadelphia orchestra (originally scheduled for june 2020, it was postponed to june 2021, and then again to may 2022 due to the pandemic). The video series served as event marketing and continues to serve as educational outreach to the community. The six videos provided a backdrop and illuminated why the gala concert was such a singular cultural event. Each video segment is introduced by former met museum director, philippe de montebello, and the presenters are likewise stellar: american symphony orchestra music director and bard college president, leon botstein; celebrated organist and new york philharmonic harpsichordist, paolo bordignon; world monuments fund ceo, benedicte de montlaur; metropolitan opera soprano, angel blue; art historian and biographer, kathleen skolnik; and prize-winning architectural historian, paul goldberger. Filming and editing was done in 2021 and 2022 by gil gilbert productions. Following the concert, the videos were re-edited as stand alone films without the marketing aspects for the event.the gala concert held on may 24, 2022 at St. Bartholomew's church paired for the first time the philadelphia orchestra with the monumental St. Bartholomew's pipe organ, an instrument distinguished both by its size (12,422 pipes - the largest in new york city) and by its unique, acoustically visionary installation in the four walls and dome of St. Bartholomew's church, a national historic landmark.the sold-out concert, conducted by david robertson with acclaimed organist, paolo bordignon, and countertenor anthony roth costanzo, was a remarkable journey of compositions for organ and orchestra from the 16th 20th centuries, from bach to saint-sans to amy beach. The gala honored barbaralee diamonstein-spielvogel and mutual of america financial group, both steadfast supporters of historic preservation. The waldorf astoria new york and the joseph & robert cornell memorial foundation were the concert's lead sponsors. The event also included a gala dinner for sponsors and patrons at 370 park avenue and a cocktail reception for supporters and friends at "inside park," the St. Bartholomew's terrace restaurant often praised for its creative use of landmark space. Proceeds from this highly successful event will be used to help restore and preserve the church building's park avenue (west) facade, including the celebrated triple portal designed by stanford white and executed by some of early 20th-century america's finest sculptors and artisans. The concert was recorded live in order to make the unprecedented musical collaboration broadly available to the public by way of a free digital stream. In the months following the concert, thousands more experienced the premiere stream on the philadelphia orchestra's digital stage and again via the Conservancy's website. Having the contractual right to stream the concert from the Conservancy website for an additional three years will enlarge the audience further. The streaming production was generously underwritten by barbara tober. The Conservancy also produced/recorded a souvenir cd: stokowski & St. Bartholomew's choir. A collectors' item, the repertoire was inspired by music performed during leopold stokowski's last concert in the u.s. Performed at St. Bartholomew's church in april 1972. Performers: 20 members of the St. Bartholomew's choir, paolo bordignon, organist and choirmaster, and associate organist choirmaster, alexander pattavina. The cd with digital access is a beautiful tribute both to stokowski, a former St. Bartholomew's choirmaster, and the St. Bartholomew's choir with a repertoire of exceptional music for all to enjoy.dedicated to helping restore and preserve the exterior and gardens of the St. Bartholomew's site, a new york city landmark since 1967 and a national historic landmark since 2016, the Conservancy has helped make it possible to accelerate the site's restoration by helping to defray some of the expense of repairing roofs and roof drains, terraces, the church building's north faade, and the great dome to whose restoration the Conservancy contributed $1.8 million. The Conservancy also funded illumination of the great dome. The focus is now on the park avenue west facade with the remarkable triple portal designed in 1903 by stanford white of mckim, mead, and white as a memorial to cornelius vanderbilt ii. The bronze doors and friezes are extraordinary works of art designed and executed by leading sculptors of their day: philip martiny, herbert adams, and andrew o'connor, with advice and supervision by daniel chester french. In 1918 the portal was moved stone-by-stone from the congregation's previous madison avenue location and provided the defining condition for bertram goodhue's overall romanesque design of the church building.in november the Conservancy hired consultant matthew reiley of excelsior art services to undertake a full conservation evaluation of the triple portal and related entryway of St. Bartholomew's church. Investigations range widely from scientific analysis of materials to the organization of the triple portal's architectural features, the portal's disposition over the years,the casting of the bronze doors, and the origins of the cipollino marble columns. This work is on-going and will culminate in a report with recommended treatments for conservation and preservation. The Conservancy provided grants to St. Bartholomew's church in 2022 totaling $119,241. $91,000 was given for acheson doyle partners architects, p.c. For architectural design services / phase i / for St. Bartholomew's church west facade related to proposed masonry restoration along with associated roof and flashings repairs. This also includes doors and steps and to establish appropriate competitive restoration protocol for in-place stained glass restoration for liturgical stained glass units. $28,241 was given to the church as two grants, $18,750 and $9,491, for continued expenditures on the building's iconic dome lighting project.