On Sunday December 18th at 4 pm, the Cantabile Youth Singers
will present a sparkling program of holiday music in the
first of their annual holiday programs, Holidays
with Cantabile at the beautiful Mission Santa Clara, famous
for its excellent acoustics and the exquisite ambiance of
the Spanish Baroque. Featuring all choirs; Preparatory, Intermediate,
Concert and Chamber, this program will deliver music from
northern hemisphere composers, including Benjamin Britten’s
Ceremony of Carols, John Rutter’s Dancing Day, (England)
Srul Irving Glick’s Psalm 47 (Canada), Eleanor Daley’s
What Sweeter Music (Canada), Donald Patriquin’s Ach
Synku (Canada) and Claude Debussy’s stunning Noel des
Enfants. Also featured will be a set of traditional
Inuit chants arranged by Stephen Hatfield – a wild
ride through the barren and beautiful artic landscape. The
audience will also delight in such traditional favorites
as Winter Wonderland and Silent Night.
Benjamin Britten wrote the well-known Ceremony of Carols, originally
scored for treble voices and harp, on his return voyage to
England from America during the 2nd World War. The
piece was composed on a ship in the Atlantic, without the benefit
of a piano, or harp. Each movement tells a story: The
processional is taken from the Gregorian chant “Hodie
Christus Natus est”, and sets the stage for the first
two movements, “Wolcum Yole”, and “There
is no Rose.” “Wolcum Yole” uses a very
old text to welcome the New Year by calling out the names of
saints, martyrs, and innocents with youthful excitement. “There
is no Rose” celebrates the perfection of Mary, and the “heaven
and earth” in her womb. “That Yonge Child”,
a solo movement for alto, and “Balulalow” are written
as a set, and are carols about the crèche. “As
Dew in Aprille” is an anonymous 15th century carol that
describes the mystery of the nativity, followed by the powerful
and fiery “This Little Babe”.
Guest artists for the Cantabile concert will include Dan Levitan,
harpist with Symphony Silicon Valley, as well as other talented
musicians from the Bay Area. Conductors for the evening
will be Keri Lindell, Shane Troll and, guest conductor, Karen
Robinson, local composer and music educator. Come join
us for an exciting evening of music!
Cantabile Youth Singers is under the artistic direction of
Elena Sharkova and in her second season as Artistic Director,
having taken over from founding director Signe Boyer, who retired
in 2004.
Cantabile Youth Singers is part of the Cantabile Choral Guild
and the Foothill College Performing Arts Alliance and welcomes
dedicated singers ages 6-18 and rehearse in Los Altos. Cantabile
Youth Singers just returned from New York where on June 24-27
they participated in a national youth choir festival at Carnegie
Hall, lead by Elena Sharkova.
###
|
