Choirs
Early Music Ensemble: Bach in the Mission III
Saturday, January 26, 2013
8 p.m. Mission San Luis Obispo
The Cal Poly Early Music Ensemble and some members of the Cal Poly Symphony will present “Bach in the Mission III” at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26, in Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa.
The student ensemble will be joined by members of the Cal Poly music faculty and professional musicians from Southern California. Featured soloists will be soprano Elissa Johnston and oboist Paul Sherman. Both live in Los Angeles and have performed internationally.
The program, featuring works by J. S. Bach, includes Cantata No. 84, “Ich bin vergnügt mit meinem Glücke” (“I am content with my fortune”) for solo soprano; Oboe Concerto in D minor, BWV 1059R; “Brandenberg” Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048; and Motet No. 3, “Jesu, meine Freude” (“Jesus, my joy”), BWV 227.
Johnston has been hailed by Musical America for “her voice pure and ethereal, her expression embracing and heartfelt.” She has performed with such orchestras as the Atlanta Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Festival appearances include the Oregon Bach Festival. Last May she appeared in San Luis Obispo as soprano soloist in the Cuesta Master Chorale’s performance of Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion.” Johnston will be featured in the solo cantata.
Sherman has performed annually in the Bach in the Mission series. He teaches at Chapman University and at USC and specializes in playing both modern and baroque oboes. He will be featured in the oboe concerto.
Cal Poly music faculty members include vocalists Meredith Brammeier, Ken Habib, and Susan Azaret Davies; violinist Paul Severtson, cellist Jeanne Shumway; bassoonist Lisa Nauful; bassist Ken Hustad; and organist and harpsichordist Paul Woodring.
Local professionals include violinist Pam Dassenko, violist David Hennessee, and vocalists Jill Anderson, Paul Osborne, and Grey Brothers, who teaches at Westmont College.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for our talented Cal Poly students to sit next to professional musicians and make music at a very high level,” said Music Professor Thomas Davies, who will conduct the concert.
Tickets ($14 general, $12 seniors, $9 students)
Winter Concert: Water Works
Saturday, February 23, 2013
8 p.m. Harman Hall, Performing Arts Center
The Cal Poly Choirs, conducted by Professor Thomas Davies, will present their annual Winter Concert in Harman Hall of the Performing Arts Center’s Christopher Cohan Center.
Titled “Water Works,” the program will feature compositions with a theme influenced by the beauty and power of water.
Special guests featured on the program include Paul Hondorp, director of choral activities at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky., and the Cuesta College Chamber Singers, conducted by John Knutson.
Each choir will present its own set of pieces. The Cal Poly Choirs (PolyPhonics and The University Singers) will present works by Heinrich Schütz, Henk Badings, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Hildor Lundvik, and Joseph Haydn.
All the choirs will combine to sing three numbers at the end of the program: “I Gondolieri” (“The Gondoliers”) by Gioachino Rossini, conducted by Hondorp; the spiritual “Deep River,” arranged by Norman Luboff and conducted by Knutson; and “Cloudburst,” composed by Eric Whitacer and conducted by Davies.
Hondorp is a Cal Poly alum who earned a business degree in 1990. He was a member of several Cal Poly choirs as an undergraduate. He later earned music degrees at CSU Long Beach and Temple University, then completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting at Michigan State University. He is now in his 10th year at Western Kentucky.
Tickets ($14 and $12 general, $12 and $9 seniors and students)
Early Music Ensemble: Mission Milestones
Friday, May 24, 2013
8 p.m. Mission San Luis Obispo
Music Professor Craig Russell will be the guest artist leading us through an evening of newly constructed masterpieces from the California and Bolivian missions, including Friar Durán’s harmonically lush “Misa del quarto tono,” Friar Sancho’s exquisite “Lamentations,” and foot-tapping classical works by Torrejón y Velasco, Araujo and Aparicio.
Tickets ($12 general, $9 seniors and students)