February 2, 2009
For Immediate Release
Chorus pro Musica, led by guest conductor Michael Driscoll, presents the Boston premiere of British composer Jonathan Dove’s Köthener Messe on Saturday, March 14 at 8 pm, in the Church of The Covenant, 67 Newbury St, Boston. Also on the program are J.S. Bach’s Cantata 161, “Komm, du sŸsse Todesstunde” and G.F. Händel’s virtuoso work Dixit Dominus. Featured soloists are Frank Kelley, tenor, Susan Consoli, soprano, and Deborah Rentz-Moore, mezzo-soprano.
Dove, who turns 50 in 2009, won a British Composer Award for his Köthener Messe, a short Mass inspired by Bach’s great secular compositions during his stay at the court in Köthen—among them the Brandenburg Concertos and the Well-Tempered Klavier. Full of allusions to and quotations from Bach and performed with a chamber orchestra of strings, harpsichord and recorders, the work is nevertheless thoroughly modern. Critics have noted similarities to Arvo Pärt, Gabriel Fauré and John Adams, calling the work “a tapestry that makes perfect musical sense.” Bach’s own Cantata 161 is a gem from Weimar, a calm and assured meditation on death and salvation marked by exceptional sound painting that concludes with a lushly harmonized chorale. Handel’s Dixit Dominus, written when he was just 22, is a thrilling tour de force that marked a breakthrough for the young composer, his “explosion into genius.”
Michael Driscoll, making his debut concert appearance with Chorus pro Musica, prepared the chorus for their November 2007 performance of Roger Ames’s Requiem for Our Time. He is Director of Choirs at Brookline High School and is Music Director of Saengerfest Men’s Chorus, a Boston-based community chorus of 65 singers. He has been Associate Conductor of The Masterworks Chorale under Steven Karidoyanes and was Assistant Conductor for four years under Allen Lannom. He has also directed the choirs at Emerson College and the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. Michael received his Masters degree in Choral Conducting at the New England Conservatory, where he studied with Simon Carrington, a founding member and former co-director of the King’s Singers. He earned BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and worked as a software development engineer prior to beginning graduate studies at New England Conservatory in 2001.
Concert tickets are $25, $35 and $45, with discounts available on selected seats for groups, students, seniors and WGBH members. Reserved seats may be selected and tickets purchased at www.choruspromusica.org, or by phone (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) at 800-658-4CPM (800-658-4276). For wheelchair-accessible seats, call 617-267-7442.
Chorus pro Musica is a distinguished, independent Boston-based chorus recognized for versatility and excellence in performing traditional, adventurous and seldom-heard works. The chorus was founded in 1949 by the late Alfred Nash Patterson and quickly built a superb reputation for its professional-level musical standards and innovative programming. These strengths have led to collaborations with such organizations as the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra as well as with opera companies including the Opera Company of Boston and Commonwealth Opera.
The 2008–2009 season concludes on Sunday, May 31, 2009 at NEC’s Jordan Hall, when the chorus celebrates Giacomo Puccini’s 150th anniversary with a concert performance of his grand opera Turandot conducted by Jeffrey Rink, with soprano Othalie Graham as Turandot, tenor Kip Wilborn as Calaf, and soprano Eleni Calenos as Liu.
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See the Chorus pro Musica online press kit at:ÊÊ http://www.choruspromusica.org/press.shtml
Media, for more information contact:
Peter Pulsifer, Concert Promotions Director, at 617-267-7442.
Posted February 1, 2009.