This Thanksgiving, we at the Academy of Sacred Drama are thankful for you. Thank you for attending our performances of long-lost oratorios and for supporting our collaborations with organizations like the NYC Master Chorale (our performance with them was last weekend at Merkin Hall).

Each time we put together an oratorio performance, it requires making a musical edition, commissioning an English translation of the text, designing a program booklet inspired by libretto booklets from Baroque times, and rehearsing and reimagining a musical work with the complexity and length of some operas.

There is a cultural purpose to our work reviving sacred drama, but more concretely, we do this for you. Your interest, participation, and attendance gives our work meaning. In the coming year, we intend to widen public exposure to Baroque oratorio by creating new pathways to encounter it—so that more people can come to share your experiences with the Academy and the accompanying joy of discovery.

As we get ready for the coming year, we are launching a Giving Tuesday campaign in anticipation of our Alt-Valentine Oratorio performances in February, our annual Members Gathering in May, and a reimagined season ahead.

We use Givebutter to fundraise online, and this year, they are matching 1% of all Giving Tuesday donations made online through their platform. If you were planning to make an end-of-the year donation, Giving Tuesday on December 2nd would be a good day to do it.

We thank you in advance for your interest and generosity—ingredients that are essential for our work to come into being. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

—Jeremy Rhizor & the Academy of Sacred Drama team

Giving Tuesday 2025