Doug is a composer
“vivid, emotive, with contemporary twists” — New York Times
“weird in the best possible way” — I Care If You Listen
“light-hearted yet dark…it had the audience laughing one minute and in tears the next…” — I Care If You Listen
“Brilliant” — DC Theater Scene
“bizarrely delicious...it probably meets no academic standard of correctness. What of it? As the song says, ‘If loving you is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.’” — incidentlight.com
DOUG IS A POET
“Get ready to know Doug Balliett—a name you will remember after this year” —Charleston Today
“the poetry was brilliant and witty” —New York Times
“[He] used a fast rhythmic patter to introduce a bard character, straight from the medieval oral-tradition, but contemporized...Move over Lin Manuel Miranda. Your phenomenon has ignited the world and paved the way for new music-theatre makers.” —DCTheaterScene.com
DOUG PLAYS BASS
“elegantly played” —New York Times
The instrumental highlight of the evening was Domenico Gabrieli’s Sonata prima à basso solo…This sonata not only showcased the talents of Doug Balliett on the baroque bass, but also those of theorbist Paul Holmes Morton. Theatricality and remarkable musicianship are the hallmarks of these two fine performers. — Seen and Heard International
“Hearing Balliett’s warm tones, played with a curious bow, a replica of one heard in Mozart’s time, brought depth and complex balance to the piece like a grand cru.” — DCTheaterScene.com
“a neat romp that employed a variety of textures and sounds” — The Charleston Post & Courier
He is professor of baroque bass and violone at the Juilliard School, since 2017.
PROJECTS
COMING UP
COMPOSITIONS
July, 2025 / New York City / Rome is Falling! (opera) / American Modern Opera Company
August 28, 2024 / Saint-Juire-Champgillon, France / St. Mark passion / Les Arts Florissants, Juilliard School, Emmanuelle Negri, Cyril Auvity, William Christie, Tom Dunford, and more
August 10, 2024 / The Clark Institute, Williamstown, MA / Rome is Falling! (opera) / American Modern Opera Company, Ariadne Grief, Reggie Mobley, Paul Appleby, Doug Williams
May 10, 2024 / Full tour / A Season on the Wind (song cycle) / Majel Connery, Bowerbird Collective
THEOTOKOS
Sacred music ensemble
2026-2027 Season
October 10, 2026: The Epic of Gilgamesh. With World Poetry Slam Champion Danny Sherrard. St. Mary’s Church, NYC.
December 17, 2026: Historia Sancti Uldarici (12th. c.) 3rd Thursdays, Rochester, NY
December 19, 2026: Historia Sancti Uldarici (12th. c.) St. Mary’s Church, NYC.
December 31, 2026: Gawain and the Green Knight. The annual performance of the original New Year’s Eve opera.
January 30, 2027: Hildegard/Bernard/Abelard. By popular demand, an expanded version of our monastic concert.
May 29, 2027: Elisa Sutherland carte blanche.
St. Mary’s on Grand St.
Theotokos performs at St. Mary’s
Theotokos is a sacred music project devoted to historically-informed yet contemporary interpretations of sacred music from the 9th century to the present day. Founded in 2020, the ensemble is in residence at St. Mary’s Church on the lower east side of New York City.
Theotokos has given immersive concerts of sacred music in Europe and America. In 2025 they were awarded the Odyssée Residency at the gardens of William Christie in Thiré, France; that same year they performed at the Kloster St-Lioba in Freiburg, Germany. Theotokos has been a featured artist on the Chelsea Music Festival, on Carnegie Hall’s Well-Being Series, and on the Death of Classical concert series in the crypt of St. John the Divine Cathedral. Recent projects have included Telemann’s Harmonischer Dottesdienst cantatas, the sacred madrigals of Marenzio, “The Passion Before Bach”, “Hildegard//Bernard”, and “Music in the Time of Charlemagne”. In October, 2026 Theotokos collaborated with World Poetry Slam Champion Danny Sherrard on a concert version of his rendering of The Epic of Gilgamesh.
Driven by a special interest in early Christian music, Theotokos has embarked on a multi-year project exploring the neglected historiae of the 9th-15th centuries, in 2025 with Hermann of Reichnau’s Historia Sancti Magni (Working Titles, Chelsea Music Festival, Freiburg) and in 2026 with Udalscalcus’s Historia Sancti Udalrici (Rochester, New York City).
As a functioning church music ensemble, founder and director Doug Balliett composes new works each week, tailor made for the ensemble’s kaleidoscopic roster, based on and tightly linked with the liturgical readings assigned to that date. In addition, theologically relevant baroque and pre-baroque music is performed in situ during the Mass.
The passion, historical curiosity, and imagination of the Theotokos project has attracted visiting guests of extraordinary stature and variety, including Davoné Tines, Karim Sulayman, Nicholas Phan, Jessica Niles, Majel Connery, Matt Aucoin, Jean Rondeau, Thomas Dunford, Myriam Rignol, Danny Sherrard, and William Christie, as well as many of NYC’s top choral soloists. In 2021 Theotokos began a fruitful collaboration with the Juilliard School Historical Performance program, in which students are given the opportunity to perform, compose, and experience the sacred music tradition from within.
Theotokos is fiscally sponsored by the Gotham Early Music Society.
Recent (non-mass) performances and events:
October 10, 2026: The Epic of Gilgamesh. NYC, with Danny Sherrard.
August, 2026: Green Box Residency. Green Mountain Falls, CO.
May 28, 2026: Music in the Time of Charlemagne. Midtown Concert series, St. Malachy’s Church
May 21, 2026: St. Mary’s Bicentennial Celebration.
March 28, 2026: Sovereign Stranger: Empress Theophanu and the Greek Mass.
February 26, 2026: Bach, Buxtehude, and Pachabel with Nicholas Phan. Carnegie Hall’s Well-Being Series, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
January 16, 2026: Claude le Jeune’s Octonaire
December 31, 2025: Gawain and the Green Knight.
November 15, 2025: Hildegard/Bernard: Music and Monasticism in the 12th century.
October 8-11, 2025: Relics and Martyrs: Buxtehude, Shaw, and Balliett with The New Consort. Death of Classical Series.
March 13, 2025: Doug Balliett: St. Mark Passion
February 27, 2025: Theotokos @ Thiré France (Odyssée Residency)
February 21, 2025: Hermann of Reichenau at the Kloster St-Lioba (Freiburg, Germany)
January 15, 2025: The Passion before Bach
December 31, 2024: Gawain and the Green Knight
November 24, 2024: Marian Music @ Cold Spring Harbor
November 15 and 17, 2025: Hermann of Reichenau in NYC
March 28, 2024: Marenzio’s Sacred Works
December 31, 2023: Gawain and the Green Knight
December 7, 2023: 5 Boroughs Music Festival: Advent cantatas from Telemann and Balliett
May 25, 2023: Psalms and Saints (with The Chivalrous Crickets)
February 7, 2023: Charpentier’s Leçons de Tenebrae
December 31, 2022: Gawain and the Green Knight
December 29, 2022: Midtown concerts: Cantatas from the Harmonischer Gottesdienst
Theotokos performs at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
Theotokos after mass with choristers and guest artist William Christie
St. Mary’s Church on Grant St.
SCORES FOR SALE
Venmo @Doug-Balliett
All of Mr. Balliett’s scores are available for purchase, and more will be added regularly. To purchase a score simply Venmo the marked amount to @Doug-Balliett, with the title of the piece you want. Or, use the CONTACT tab to email for more information.
“Beauty Is”
song from The Passionate Pilgrim
for soprano, flute, harp, and strings. 3.5’. $40
BEAST FIGHTS
Dramatic oratorio
scored for tenor, harp, and 7 double basses. 22’. $80
THE FOUR SEASONS OF NYC
Concerto for bass and chamber ensemble. 30’. $100
OVID CANTATAS
A series of cantatas for narrator and baroque ensemble. Roughly 15-20’ each. $80 each.
PHAETHON - for narrator, soprano, vibraphone, guitar, harp, keyboard (harpsichord and piano), English horn, violin, and cello (non-baroque)
DAPHNE - for narrator, soprano, tenor, violin, double bass, and continuo
ECHO AND NARCISSUS - for narrator, mezzo, tenor, flute, oboe, 2 violins, viola, viola da gamba, contrabass, and continuo
PELEUS AT TRACHIN - for narrator, soprano, 5-string cello, and viola da gamba
BACCHUS - for narrator, SATB, flute, oboe, bassoon, harp, percussion, 2 violins, viola, cello, contrabass
CALLISTO - for narrator, soprano, 4 violas da gamba
BAUCIS AND PHILEMON - for narrator, tenor, flute, bassoon, 2 violins, viola, viola da gamba, contrabass, and continuo
ACTAEON - for narrator, soprano, tenor, flute, oboe, bassoon, violin, viola, viola da gamba, contrabass, and continuo
PYRAMUS AND THISBE - for narrator, soprano, tenor, flute, oboe, bassoon, 2 violins, viola, viola da gamba, contrabass, and continuo
OCYRHOE - for narrator, soprano, harp, guitar, English horn, and viola da gamba (non-baroque)
ERYSICHTHON - for narrator, soprano, cello, viola da gamba, and harpsichord
CLYTIE AND THE SUN - for narrator, soprano, saxophone, harp, piano, and electric guitar (non-baroque)
HERMAPHRODITUS - for narrator, soprano, alto flute, oboe, bass clarinet, bassoon, flugelhorn, and piano (non-baroque)
THE FLOOD - for narrator, baritone, violin, viola, cello, and bass
CADMUS - for narrator, soprano, tenor, baritone, flute, oboe, bassoon, 2 violins, viola, cello, bass, and continuo
SACRED MUSIC
Mr. Balliett has composed approximately 110 mass-cantatas assigned to specific Sundays and Feast Days for the liturgical calendar. Most are composed for a 1-4 solo vocalists and instruments, plus continuo. If you would like more information or to find music for a specific week, please use the CONTACT tab at the top of the page.