Johannes
Somary has conducted the Royal Philharmonic in London, the
English Chamber Orchestra, the Madeira Bach Festival Orchestra,
the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the Polish Radio and Television
Orchestra in Tallinn, the Vienna Philharmonic, the New Orleans
Philharmonic, the Dubrovnik Festival Orchestra, chamber
orchestras in Milwaukee, Atlanta, New Haven, Amsterdam,
Venice, and Paris; and the AmorArtis Orchestra, which he
founded in 1961.
In
addition to the AmorArtis Chorale and the AmorArtis Chamber
Choir and Chorus, Somary has been music director for the
Fairfield County Chorale (from 1975 to this day), the Great
Neck Choral Society (1982-1993), the Taghkanik Chorale (1992-1999),
and visiting music director for the Yale Concert Choir (1983-1984).
He
has conducted concerts in Switzerland, France, Germany,
Austria, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, The Czech Republic,
Slovakia, Russia, Estonia, Holland, England, Scotland, Ireland,
Spain, Portugal, Italy, Yugoslavia, Greece, Israel, Canada,
Brazil, and the United States.
Among
the many New York premieres he has conducted are Esther
by Handel, Theodora by Handel, Susanna by
Handel, Des Jahr by Willy Burkhard, Cantata of the
Bitter Herbs by Ernst Toch, Byobu by Lawrence Axelrod,
Psalm/Toccata by Lawrence Axelrod, Mass in D Minor by Antonio
Salieri, Alphorn Concerto by Jean Daetwiler, and most recently,
Mess Folklorique Haitienne by Werner Jaegerhuber and Drumfire
by David Kraehenbuehl.
Somary
has played organ recitals in Zurich, Switzerland; Geneva,
Switzerland; Vancouver, Canada; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Columbus,
Ohio; Midland, Texas; Rockford, Illinois; New Haven, Connecticut;
Princeton, New Jersey; Washington, D.C. (at both the Shrine
of the Immaculate Conception and the Washington Cathedral);
Methuen, Massachusetts; Symphony Hall in Boston, Massachusetts;
Woolsey Hall at Yale University, Connecticut; and in many
churches in New York City.
He
has been director of music / organist-choirmaster / artist-in-residence
at St. Thomas More Chapel, Yale University (1954-1959);
Church of Our Saviour, New York City (1959-1977); Church
of St. Ignatius Loyola, New York City (1977-1984); Church
of St. Jean Baptiste, New York City (1984-2000); Cathedral
of St. Patrick, New York City (2001-2003); and with AmorArtis
he is artist-in-residence at Blessed Sacrament Church in
New York City.
Somary
taught at Horace Mann School (Riverdale, NY) from 1959 to
2002 and was Music Department Chair from 1961 to 1998. He
has also taught at Brooklyn College, the New School for
Social Research, the New England Conservatory of Music,
Yale University, Sacred Heart University, the University
of Texas in Austin (visiting lecturer), the University of
Alabama (visiting lecturer), and the University of British
Columbia (guest clinician).