With a new lease on life, the new conductor of St Luke's Orchestra is sharing his love of Bach all over New York City.

Conductor Bernard Labadie leads the Orchestra of St. Luke's through a rehearsal of Bach's music. It's no secret: Bach is his favorite.

"He's my god," Labadie said. "Bach is the composer that does not know any boundaries of trend or fashion. Bach's music will always sound modern to people."

And so the orchestra is presenting a Bach Festival of Concerts, performances with Paul Taylor Dance Company, and more at Carnegie Hall, The Manhattan School of Music, and at the orchestra's home, the DiMenna Center.

"All the notes are incredibly fine-tuned," said Jesse Mills, a violinist for the orchestra. "But the farther we go in detail to rehearse this, the more we realize there is to rehearse."

With his excitement for the music, it's hard to believe that just a few years ago Labadie battled lymphoma, a blood cancer. He was put in a medically induced coma and didn't know if he'd live, let alone conduct again.

"It was a very nasty cancer and the odds were very low. I got extremely lucky on so many different levels," Labadie said. "But the end result is that I have to conduct seated, which I have been doing since I came back to work, and actually I ended up liking it very much because it's a different rapport to music and to the musicians. I have the feeling that I'm embracing the whole orchestra."

It's a fitting sentiment for an orchestra founded in 1974 by musicians who performed at the Church of St. Luke in the Village, and today performs all over the city.  

"It's a different place because of that," Labadie says. "The musicians feel that it is their home, and they welcome you into their home."

Labadie is certainly happy to just be here in his first season with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, even if most New Yorkers have trouble with his French-Canadian name. Labadie is used to people mispronouncing his name and he's ok with that. Just don't call him Maestro.

"It's from a time when conductors were towering over people," Labadie says. "These days are gone, thankfully, and especially in my situation where I feel very close to the musicians. Life is fabulous."

Especially when playing Bach. The festival runs through June 23. For more details, go to oslmusic.org

-----

Like this story? Sign up to get similar ones delivered to your inbox every Thursday evening with our Boro by Boro newsletter.