BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — The Brooklyn Conservatory Community Orchestra (BCCO) held its spring concert at St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church, located at 157 Montague Street, on Saturday, June 1, before a crowd of hundreds of music aficionados. 

Led by Dorothy Savitch, music director of the Brooklyn Conservatory Community Orchestra and director of the Music Partners Program at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, the event included several breathtaking and dynamic performances. 

Boulanger, Mozart, Brahms (and Liu!)

“The span of centuries and the span of styles that this orchestra is able to perform is really amazing,” Savitch told the Brooklyn Eagle. “We started the program with an early 20th-century piece by French composer Lili Boulanger, entitled ‘D’un Matin de Printemps.’ It’s a lovely, impressionistic, bright piece that really shows the virtuosity of the orchestra.

“From there, we moved on to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 and are so excited to be featuring pianist Alexander Liu on this one.”

Liu, a 12-year-old piano prodigy and perhaps the highlight of the evening, captivated the audience with his profound musicality, technical prowess, and knack for dynamics: a true tour de force years beyond his age. 

“I met Alexander last year, and he blew me away,” Savitch said. “I fell in love with him as a musician and as a young man.”

Liu has achieved notable success in prestigious competitions, including first place last year at the National Young Virtuosi Recital Competition, and has also graced renowned stages such as New York’s Carnegie Hall. 

When asked about pre-show jitters, Liu, who has been playing piano for seven years, smiled and confessed that he was hardly nervous at all.

“I’m just excited and exhilarated,” he said. 

After a brief intermission, the music of Johannes Brahms and his Symphony No. 1 concluded the event. 

“As the story goes, it took Brahms 20 years to write this particular piece,” Savitch explained. “It’s full of gorgeous melodies and has a huge finish.” 

Savitch has been BCCO’s music director since 2002. Besides conducting all the rehearsals and the concerts, she is also responsible for selecting the music and auditioning the performers as well.

Chad Cooper, executive director of the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, had nothing but praise for the 65-piece orchestra. “They do incredible, exquisite work,” Cooper said.  “And every year, the crowds get bigger and bigger at these concerts. Music simply brings the community together. 

“I expect people to come away with happiness and a sense of joy after tonight’s performance. It allows folks to step out of the madness that the world is in right now and come into this space and just listen to some beautiful music.” 

Brooklyn Conservatory of Music: A retrospective  

The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music is a 126-year-old, non-profit community music school founded by German immigrants in the 1890s, and it continues to make an indelible mark on the people of New York City to this day. 

The central location of the Conservatory is 58 Seventh Avenue, a historic Victorian brownstone located in Park Slope, where hundreds of musicians — aged two to 82 — gather each day to study, rehearse and collaborate. 

Within the historic building and beyond, the Conservatory also produces more than 200 low-cost musical events each year and partners with some of New York’s most vital institutions — from art museums to refugee resettlement agencies to retirement communities.

Throughout New York City, the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music provides music education, music therapy services, and opportunities for musical engagement at more than 70 sites across all five boroughs.

The Conservatory aims to transform lives and build community through the expressive, educational, and therapeutic powers of music, according to its mission statement.

St. Ann and the Holy Trinity: Some history 

The national historic landmark church now known as St. Ann and the Holy Trinity was built as The Church of the Holy Trinity by Brooklyn paper manufacturer Edgar Bartow. Construction of the church began in 1844 on the highest point in Brooklyn Heights. 

Architect Minard LaFever designed the church and adjoining chapel and rectory. An important example of Gothic Revival architecture in America, the richly ornamented church is notable for its elaborately vaulted roof and extensive suite of stained glass windows. 

The church’s official opening was on April 25, 1847, although the building was not entirely completed. A 275-foot tower was designed and installed by 1869. Its spire was the most visible landmark in Brooklyn and was used in conjunction with the spire of Trinity Church Wall Street by ship captains to navigate into the New York harbor. 

The exterior is porous brownstone over a brick core. Inside, the walls are plaster, colored and textured to look like stone. The nave is 145 feet long and 42 feet wide. The intricate fan-vaulted ceiling is 63 feet high. The current altar, brass chancel rail, pulpit, reredos, and chancel tiling were part of an 1899 renovation.

In 1969, nearby St. Ann’s Church, the oldest Episcopal congregation in Brooklyn, sold its property to The Packer Collegiate Institute next door and was permitted to move four blocks into the long-empty Holy Trinity building. 

St. Ann’s took the new name of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity in honor of the building’s heritage.