Press Releases

Modus Operandi Orchestra 

presents

The Music of Brahms and Burckardt 

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Merkin Hall, NY: March 3, 2026
New York, NY — On Tuesday, March 3 at 7:00 pm, New York-based Modus Operandi Orchestra (MOO) invites audiences to a captivating evening, their 5th concert of music at Merkin Hall. This upcoming concert, conducted by Maestro Justin Bischof, will feature a contrasting program of works by master composer Johannes Brahms and by Boston based award-winning composer Rachel Burckardt.

Works will include Brahms’ iconic Tragic Overture and Symphony No. 4, as well as world premieres of Burckardt including 3 Psalms and October Fanfare.

Born and raised in Manhattan, the Bronx and Mt. Vernon, Rachel Burckardt is a prolific composer. Currently based in Boston, she blends over 45 years both as a church musician/composer and  a civil engineer involved in a variety of projects focusing mostly on transportation, including railroads, transit, and roadways.

According to Modus Operandi Orchestra’s founder and artistic director Justin Bischof, “This program is exciting because it places Brahms’ profound emotional architecture alongside the living, breathing voice of Rachel Burckardt, reminding us that the symphonic tradition is not a museum, but a living art form.” Bischof adds: “Audiences will experience both the timeless power of Brahms and the excitement of hearing new music born in our own time, performed by artists who believe deeply in sharing discovery, beauty, and meaning on stage.”

COMPLETE PROGRAM:
J. BRAHMS – Tragic Overture
J. BRAHMS – Symphony No. 4
R. BURCKARDT – October Fanfare (world premiere)
R. BURCKARDT – Aire Mount Auburn (world premiere of this adaptation)
R. BURCKARDT – Variations on Afternoon Light (world premiere)
R. BURCKARDT – 3 Psalms (world premiere)

The concert will take place at the Merkin Hall, Kaufman Music Center, Abraham Goodman House, 129 West 67th Street, New York, NY. T 212 501 3330. Tickets are priced between $40 and $75 and can be purchased through www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org

For more information about MOO, please visit moonyc.org.

Born and raised in Manhattan, the Bronx and Mt. Vernon, Rachel J. Burckardt (woodharbormusic.net) is a prolific and award-winning composer currently based in Boston. Her Mount Auburn Requiem for orchestra and chorus won a silver medal from the Global Music Awards. This work and other orchestral and chamber works have been performed by orchestras such as Modus Operandi Orchestra in New York and Boston. Rachel has released nine albums of her sacred, orchestral, choral, and jazz compositions and is currently recording a tenth. She is also a multi-instrumentalist with over 45 years as a church musician, currently a chorister, instrumentalist and composer in residence at Saint Cecilia Church in Boston. She is the founder and music director of the Tutti Music Collective (TMC), a diverse group of composers and performing artists committed to showcasing the music of local minority, LGBTQ, and living composers. She also organized the Boston-based Wood Harbor Orchestra and the TMC Chorus, which support the performances of the TMC. Rachel also sings with the Boston Archdiocesan Festival Chorus and sits on the Board of the Back Bay Chorale.

“..Ms. Burckardt’s sacred music and her secular concert music are a seamless blend embodying eclectic styles, genres, and crossover.” – NY Concert Review

MOO Modus Operandi Orchestra (moonyc.org) Modus Operandi Orchestra’s mission is to present symphonic, operatic and choral repertoire at the highest artistic level with the goal to engage and enrich the local community. A vital component of its mission is to provide the opportunity for some of the finest freelance musicians in New York City, led by internationally acclaimed conductor Justin Bischof, to perform the staples of the great symphonic and operatic repertory as well as contemporary works and world premieres with their colleagues. Their concerts have been met with critical acclaim and a dedicated audience following. Many of their players have gone on to perform with major ensembles including Berlin’s Konzerthaus Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony and St. Paul’s Chamber Orchestra. MOO’s stellar roster of international guest soloists have appeared with Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Edinburgh Festival, Lyric Opera Chicago, New Israeli Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Seattle Symphony, Hong Kong Opera, Seattle Opera, Vlaamse Opera (Belgium), Sante Fe Opera, Montreal Opera, Opera North (UK), New York City Opera, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.

MOO presented an Annual Children’s Benefit Concert for 10 years to help at-risk children that raised over $1,000,000 which enabled more than 700 at-risk children from Mount Vernon to attend the life-altering Children’s Aid Society Wagon Road summer camp. MOO was in residency at the historic Church of St. James the Less Scarsdale, NY, from 2007–2017 performing several times a season. They began their New York City residency at St. Mary Church, Long Island City, in November 2019.

Justin Bischof, Founder, Artistic Director & Conductor of MOO (justinbischof.com)          
New York City resident Justin Bischof is one of the most eclectic artists of his generation.  He is an internationally acclaimed orchestral and opera conductor as well as concert organist, pianist and improviser. He has performed in some of the world’s great venues including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Lincoln Center, Rose Theatre Lincoln Center, Tonhalle of Zurich, Eli Broad Theatre of Los Angeles, St. Paul’s Cathedral London, Notre Dame Paris, Cologne Cathedral, to name a few. He has collaborated with some of the world’s most prominent artists including Joshua Bell, Bright Sheng, Tan Dun and Roberta Peters. As an orchestral conductor, he was worked with numerous ensembles including National Arts Center Orchestra, The Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Vancouver Symphony, the Royal Symphony of Oman, the State Philharmonic Kavkazskiye of Russia, the WAAPA orchestra in Perth Australia, and the National Orchestra of Haiti. He made his Australian Opera Conducting Debut in Perth at the WAAPA leading a critically acclaimed production of the Australian Premiere of Robert Ward’s Pulitzer Prize winning The Crucible. Other important opera premieres include the Hawaiian premiere of Menotti’s The Medium and the Telephone, working with members of The Honolulu Symphony and Hawaii Opera Theatre. He is one of the profession’s most respected organists and has concertized extensively. He has performed numerous premieres for solo organ and with chamber ensembles. He won the First Prize at the 2000 AGO International Organ Improvisation Competition and is a leading proponent of the craft with his all improvisation performances have been met with critical acclaim throughout the world. Bischof has performed and recorded with numerous orchestras including the Zurich Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony and the Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt. Before COVID, he performed the Middle East premiere of Samuel Barber’s Toccata Festiva for Orchestra and Organ in February 2019 at the Royal Opera House in Muscat Oman with the Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt. Professor Bischof taught for many years at the esteemed Manhattan School of Music as well as Barnard College Columbia University. He is sought after as a guest professor for master classes around the world. He maintains a private conducting studio for gifted conductors.  He serves on numerous boards including as Chair of the Alumni Council of MSM and Chair of the Conductors Retreat at Medomak.