The Oratorio Society of New York is honored to announce that our 2020 NAXOS recording of Sanctuary Road by composer Paul Moravec and librettist Mark Campbell has received a 2021 GRAMMY® nomination for Best Choral Performance.

This brilliant and ground-breaking new oratorio, commissioned by OSNY with the generous support of Joanne Spellun, premiered at Carnegie Hall in 2018. It features soloists Laquita Mitchell, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Joshua Blue, Malcolm J. Merriweather, and Dashon Burton, plus the 200-voice Chorus and Orchestra of the Society conducted by Kent Tritle.

Sanctuary Road is inspired by the writings of William Still, conductor for the Underground Railroad, and chronicles the courage and tenacity of slaves escaping to freedom in the mid-1800s through Philadelphia. In a country still grappling with the evil legacy of slavery—brought to a head this summer with the Black Lives Matter movement—we echo Gramophone magazine's sentiments when it said, "The relevance of Sanctuary Road in our present century cannot be overstated." We also know this is one reason for the work's popular success; before the pandemic hit, Sanctuary Road was well on its way to becoming the most produced oratorio in the contemporary repertoire.

We hope that you will join us in celebrating this important new masterpiece.

"A powerful new work" BBC Magazine

"A profound and still timely message." The Classic Review

"A riveting, pulsating wall of sound and stellar soloists.” Broadway World