Written by Mary Dan Eades on February 14, 2014
On March 29 and 30, in a concert that promises to be one of the most beautiful collections of choral music in recent memory, conductor JoAnne Wasserman has programmed a repertoire of masterworks sure to please the most ardent choral fan.
Masters: Past and Present
The first half of the concert will be devoted to contrasting a pair of past masters’ settings of the same liturgical text — Te Deum — astoundingly different in their style. The earlier, Franz Josef Haydn’s Te Deum, is typical of the composer, with beautiful 1/16th note runs and the chorus acting as a well-tempered clavichord under the conductor’s baton. The second interpretation, by 18th Century composer, Anton Bruckner, is much more vigorous and, at times, even bombastic.
Juxtaposed against these past masters, the second half of the concert will be devoted to an exploration of a pair of modern masters. From the pen of Julliard-trained Ola Gjielo, a 34-year old Norwegian composer (now living in America), the mood will shift to the ethereal, with his settings of four works: Ubi Caritas, The Ground, Prelude, and Northern Lights. The ethereal feel continues with the focus of the evening, a tribute to American legend, Morten Lauridsen. The chorus will perform his breathtaking Lux Aeterna and there will even be a surprise in store for the audience! You won’t want to miss it.
Performances: Saturday March 29 at 8 pm and Sunday March 30 at 3 pm at the Lobero
Tickets: $40, $30, $20 (a facility fee of $1.50 will be added by the Lobero to the price of each ticket.)*
*Tickets may be purchased in person at the Lobero Box Office at 33 W. Canon Perdido, Santa Barbara, CA or by contacting the Lobero Box Office. Tickets bought online or by phone incur an additional convenience fee from the Lobero.
American baritone, Ralph Cato has travelled the world extensively, telling stories in song with his warm, clarion baritone voice.
Tenor, Benjamin Brecher has performed over fifty operatic roles with many of the world’s most prestigious opera companies, specializing in the high lying lyric tenor repertoire. He has performed 16 roles with New York City Opera alone. Career highlights include performances with Opera Orchestra of New York, L’Opera de Nice, Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, L’Opera de Montreal, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, among many others. His orchestral solo repertoire includes Mozart, Handel, Orff, Bach, Haydn, as well as many performances of Britten. In 2000 he began performing the great Irish Tenor songs in a concert produced for him entitled A Celtic Celebration, Twenty years later, the show has become a North American hit with performances with 45 Symphonies in North America. Ben continues his discography having added his twelfth recording in 2016 Forgotten Liszt, with pianist Robert Koenig, and will record a new release in 2022 entitled “Three Centuries of Thomas Moore” including the music of Britten, Berlioz, and Sarah Gibson on MSR Classics. He is a Professor of Voice at University of California Santa Barbara, where he has served as the Head of Voice.
Tracy Van Fleet is pleased to return to the Santa Barbara Choral Society. As a soloist, she has performed with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Lüneburg Symphony in Germany, Orquesta Filarmónica de Boca del Río in Mexico, Pasadena Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, Los Angeles Bach Festival, San Diego Chamber Orchestra, Colorado Philharmonic, USC Symphony and Chorus, and others. She has had many appearances with the Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Opera Pacific, San Diego Opera and Opera Colorado.
Born and raised in Southern California, April Amante is a versatile soprano with expertise and facility in repertoire spanning from early music to contemporary musical theater.