performances Archive

http://www.bachfestival.org/

Jubilate in C
Missa Brevis in D
Hymn to the Virgin
Antiphon
Canticle: Abraham & Isaac
Hymn to Saint Cecilia
Cantata: Saint Nicolas

Benjamin Britten, England’s leading 20th century composer, enjoyed writing music celebrating the joys of childhood. The program’s first half includes some of Britten’s most beloved choral works, including the Missa Brevis written for the boys of Westminster Cathedral Choir, which displays his characteristic flair for writing for children while retaining a devout liturgical gravitas. The Hymn to the Virgin, which he wrote when he was only sixteen, held an affectionate place in Britten’s heart, and was one of only two of his pieces performed at his funeral. Britten completed The Hymn to Saint Cecilia, a setting of a poem by W. H. Auden, on his voyage home from America in 1942. This work was especially important to him because he was born on Saint Cecilia’s day, and Saint Cecilia is the patron saint of music. The Canticle: Abraham and Isaac is a two-person mini-opera using text which Britten adapted from medieval language of the Chester Miracle Plays. The piece dramatically portrays the moment of Abraham’s near sacrifice of his beloved son Isaac. The program concludes with the Cantata: Saint Nicolas, the patron saint of children, which contrasts youthful playfulness with a profound seriousness. Britten welcomed audience participation in the singing of the two hymns in Saint Nicolas. These hymn tunes were familiar to a generation educated in English public schools, where chapel and hymn singing were daily events. By requiring a level of participation beyond passive listening, Britten drew his audience back to their own childhood. It is Britten’s remarkable layering of musical elements, so well exemplified in Saint Nicolas, which engages the audience and which provides great listening pleasure.

We are delighted that members of the acclaimed Young People’s Chorus of New York City, founded in 1988 by Artistic Director Francisco J. Nuñez, will join our choir to perform Saint Nicolas. With five World Choir Olympics medals to their credit and recognized as “a national model of artistic excellence and diversity” by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, the Young People’s Chorus is in residence at the 92nd Street Y; Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, and WNYC, New York Public Radio.

Performer(s):

• The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys
• Young People's Chorus of New York City
• Orchestra of St. Luke's
• John Scott, conductor
• Geoffrey D. Williams, countertenor
• Mark Bleeke & Steven Caldicott Wilson, tenors
• Frederick Teardo, organ
• Rachelle Jonck & Eric Malson, piano

I'm thrilled to be singing again with this amazing group. I'll be singing the solo in the premiere of James Blachly's "Nunc Per Speculum in Aenigmate".

http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/webcasts/videos/music-at-trinity/the-trinity-choir/new-york-music

From the Trinity website: "In the final concert of the season, we look inside and outside with selections by current and former choir members, all accomplished composers in their own right, including Caleb Burhans and James Blachly. The final selection will reveal a new talent chosen from a competition for previously unperformed works.

Steven Fox, acting director of Music, conductor."

The first truly large-scale masterpiece of Western music, Claudio Monteverdi’s monumental 1610 Vespers stands at the junction between Renaissance restraint and Baroque splendor. Sacred music but also high theatre, the dances and virtuosic vocal concerti, alternating with music in the ‘old style’, are performed with one singer per part accompanied by cornets, sackbuts, recorders, organs and strings.

(from the venue's website)

The Choral Art Society and Portland Ballet Company collaborate again to bring "Mozart's Requiem" to the Merrill Stage. The Choral Art Singers and Camerata will be joined by soloists Ashley Emerson, soprano; Teresa Herold, mezzo soprano; Steven Wilson, tenor; and Aaron Engebreth, bass.

The dancers of Portland Ballet, together with the Choral Art Society, continue the musical construct of Mozart's vision. The score of Mozart's Requiem is an amazing force bringing the listener through an extraordinary journey as the man and artist struggles at first, then finds knowledge and peace with the eternity that was always present. Choreographer Kennet Oberly's vision portrays the incredible moment of transition that brings forth how we, and everything about us, is connected by the spirit and held together by love.

In this masterpiece, Monteverdi blends the newer baroque practice with the musical styles of the Renaissance to set the Psalms, Litany and Magnificat of the Vespers service. The result is music that is both dramatic and sublime and which is further enhanced by the exceptional acoustics of Saint Thomas Church. His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts, England’s leading early wind ensemble, and Concert Royal Strings accompany the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys in a performance of Monteverdi’s powerful Vespers, celebrating the 400th anniversary of the work’s publication.

Performer(s):

• The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys
• His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts
• Concert Royal Strings
• John Scott, conductor
• Jolle Greenleaf & Jennifer Ellis Kampani, sopranos
• Geoffrey D. Williams, countertenor
• Oliver Mercer & Steven Caldicott Wilson, tenors
• Richard Lippold & Christopher Herbert, baritones
• Craig Phillips, bass