“[New York’s] hometown band.”
– The New York Times
Orchestra of St. Luke’s (OSL) and its acclaimed concert musicians make their artistic home in New York City’s Carnegie Hall, where OSL has performed more than any other orchestra since its debut there in 1983. OSL’s annual season features a concert series in each of Carnegie Hall’s three venues as well as the Visionary Sounds and DeGaetano Composition Institute programs focused on contemporary composers at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, the rehearsal, recording, and performance facility OSL built in 2011 in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards neighborhood. Central to OSL’s mission, the Education and Community Engagement program presents free concerts to thousands of New York City public school students each year; offers the 130-student-strong Youth Orchestra of St. Luke’s (YOSL), the city’s only youth orchestra under the umbrella of a professional group; provides a mentorship program for pre-professional musicians; and brings accessible concerts to all five boroughs. Founded in 1974 when a group of virtuoso chamber musicians began performing together in Greenwich Village at The Church of St. Luke in the Fields, the ensemble later expanded into an orchestra before catching fire in New York’s classical music scene. OSL proudly collaborates with Paul Taylor Dance Company in its Lincoln Center season each year and performs with a variety of artistic partners at venues throughout the city and beyond.
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Orchestra of St. Luke’s (OSL) Biography
Celebrating 50 years during the 2024-2025 season, New York City’s Orchestra of St. Luke’s (OSL) and its acclaimed concert musicians make their artistic home in Carnegie Hall, where OSL has performed more than any other orchestra since its debut there in 1983. Bernard Labadie, an internationally renowned specialist in 18th-century music, was named OSL’s Principal Conductor in 2018 and will step down in 2025, concluding an expansive and critically commended tenure. OSL’s annual season features a concert series in each of Carnegie Hall’s three venues as well as the Visionary Sounds and DeGaetano Composition Institute programs focused on contemporary composers at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, the rehearsal, recording, and performance facility OSL built in 2011 in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards neighborhood. OSL proudly collaborates with Paul Taylor Dance Company in its Lincoln Center season each year and performs with a variety of artistic partners at venues throughout the city and beyond. Founded in 1974 when a group of virtuoso chamber musicians began performing together in Greenwich Village at The Church of St. Luke in the Fields, the ensemble later expanded into an orchestra before catching fire in New York’s classical music scene. Central to OSL’s mission, the Education and Community Engagement program presents free concerts to thousands of New York City public school students each year; offers the 130-student-strong Youth Orchestra of St. Luke’s (YOSL), the city’s only youth orchestra under the umbrella of a professional group; provides a mentorship program for pre-professional musicians; and brings accessible concerts to all five boroughs.
OSL’s signature programming includes: a curated orchestra series presented by Carnegie Hall featuring OSL with an international roster of renowned guest soloists; the OSL Bach Festival, exploring J.S. Bach’s musical influence and presented in association with Carnegie Hall each June; the Chamber Music Series, which spotlights members of the orchestra in intimate chamber music performances; the Visionary Sounds series dedicated to 20th and 21st century music at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music; the DeGaetano Composition Institute which supports the development of emerging composers and commissions up to four new works for OSL each season; summer concerts at Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts; an annual collaboration performing live with Paul Taylor Dance Company at Lincoln Center; and more. OSL champions composers from groups historically underrepresented in classical music. In recent seasons, it has presented works by Kinan Azmeh, Margaret Bonds, Valerie Coleman, Julius Eastman, Wynton Marsalis, Florence Price, Rita Dove, and Chen Yi, among others. OSL has participated in 120 recordings, four of which have won Grammy Awards, has commissioned more than 75 new works, and has given more than 200 world, U.S., and New York City premieres.
OSL’s Education & Community Engagement programs have been a staple of its work since it first produced a staged opera for New York City public school children in 1976. Today, OSL continues to offer accessible, interactive, school concerts in addition to: the 130-member Youth Orchestra of St. Luke’s (YOSL) program, now in its 11th season and thriving; five-borough concert tours that introduce classical music to new audiences; and the Chamber Music Mentorship Program, which provides professional development opportunities and workshops for pre-professional musicians.
OSL opened The DiMenna Center for Classical Music in 2011 to remedy New York City’s lack of affordable first-rate rehearsal and recording space specialized for classical and instrumental music. Today, thousands of local and international musicians create work at The DiMenna Center – located in the nexus of Manhattan’s burgeoning Hudson Yards neighborhood and the theater district near Times Square – where they not only stage performances, but also rehearse, record, and broadcast music enjoyed throughout the city and the world.
See here for a history of OSL’s leadership.