Seattle Choral Company: Mozart Requiem
Advance: $27 ($22 senior, $5 student) |
At the door: $30 ($25 senior, $5 student) |
Ages 6-10 free
- Ellaina Lewis, soprano
- Sarah Mattox, mezzo-soprano
- Stephen Rumph, tenor
- Zachary Lenox, baritone
- North Corner Chamber Orchestra (NOCCO)
- Freddie Coleman, conductor
Jasmine Barnes — Epoch of Hughes (world premiere)
The Seattle Choral Company (SCC), under the leadership of founding director Freddie Coleman, is proud to announce the mid-season concert of their 43rd season, "Mozart Requiem."
The performance will take place on Saturday, March 15, 2025, at 8pm at Saint Mark's Cathedral. Attendees are also invited to a pre-concert discussion led by Director Coleman at 7pm.
The concert will feature two major choral works: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s iconic Requiem in D minor, K. 626, and the world premiere of Epoch of Hughes, a newly commissioned piece by Emmy Award-winning composer Jasmine Barnes.
Mozart's Requiem, composed during the final months of his life, remains one of the most revered works of the Classical repertoire. This deeply emotional and dramatic piece explores themes of human mortality with its striking melodies, shifting between dramatic intensity, heartfelt pleading, and quiet reflection. The unfinished work has long been surrounded by mystery, including questions about the identity of its commissioner and whether Mozart viewed it as a premonition of his own death. Despite these unanswered questions, its profound beauty and emotional depth have made it a favorite among singers and audiences alike.
Paired with this timeless masterpiece is Jasmine Barnes' Epoch of Hughes, a groundbreaking new work created specifically for the Seattle Choral Company. This piece is inspired by the poetry of Langston Hughes, one of America's most celebrated Black poets, and uses Hughes' reflections on the four seasons as its foundation. Barnes explains, "These poems collectively tell a story of an epoch, or a passage of time, in Hughes' life, serving as an homage. Each poem reflects the world around the poet. I chose to immerse myself in the soundscape of Hughes' life while incorporating elements of my own musical language. Overall, I believe this piece captures the vastness and complexity of American music."
This premiere represents an exciting addition to the contemporary choral repertoire, and audiences will have the rare opportunity to hear Barnes' work brought to life for the first time. Jasmine Barnes herself will be in attendance for this historic performance, making the evening even more memorable.
For the performance of Mozart's Requiem in D minor, the SCC will be joined a quartet of accomplished Seattle soloists: Ellaina Lewis, soprano; Sarah Mattox, mezzo-soprano; Stephen Rumph, tenor; and Zachary Lenox, baritone. Members of the North Corner Chamber Orchestra will complete the roster of guest artists for this immersive concert experience.
About Seattle Choral Company
Founded in 1982 by Artistic Director Freddie Coleman, the Seattle Choral Company has, over the course of 40 years, become one of the region's most accomplished and respected choral organizations. Maestro Coleman's finely-tuned yet spirited interpretations of the masterworks of classical choral music have been acclaimed by critics and audiences, including Berlioz's Te Deum, Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky, Orff's Carmina Burana, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Haydn's Creation, Mozart's C minor Mass, Bach's St. John Passion, and many more. After a recent performance at Benaroya Hall featuring Johannes Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem, The Gathering Note wrote that the performance "was anchored by deep emotions, a strong sense of purpose, and an excellent advocate in Freddie Coleman and the Seattle Choral Company."
Freddie Coleman has also championed America's finest contemporary choral composers, offering area listeners their first live hearing of such works as Arvo Pärt's Te Deum, Philip Glass' Itaipu, Hawley's Songs of Kabir, Roxanna Panufnik's Westminster Mass, and Morten Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna. In 2001, the SCC commissioned a new choral work, Seattle, by New York composer William Hawley, as part of the city of Seattle’s sesquicentennial celebrations. Additionally, the Company has commissioned and premiered new works from gifted Seattle composers, such as Donald Skirvin and Bern Herbolsheimer. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer recently applauded this commitment, stating "it's not surprising that Coleman…would devote an entire program to contemporary music. He has long been an advocate for living composers."
In the 1980s the Seattle Choral Company toured to Australia and the former Soviet Union. (Their work as cultural ambassadors was recognized with a commendation from the Washington State legislature.) The many albums it has recorded, including The Moon Is Silently Singing, When the Morning Stars Sang Together, Carmina Burana, and Unearthed, have been highly praised and received extensive radio exposure. The Company has recorded soundtracks for Public Television (Death: the Trip of a Lifetime) and NBC (Crime and Punishment and Noah's Ark), and its recordings have been used in at least a dozen Hollywood movie trailers.
The Seattle Choral Company has become a valued collaborator with other performing arts organizations in the region. It has appeared on stage with the Pacific Northwest Ballet many times, including several mountings of Kent Stowell's staging of Orff's Carmina Burana, and Hail to the Conquering Hero, featuring choruses by Handel. In 2010, the SCC appeared with the Seattle Youth Symphony in Mahler's Symphony No. 2 ("Resurrection") at Benaroya Hall. The SCC has appeared with the Seattle Symphony on many occasions, including Those Glorious MGM Movie Musicals, Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, Holiday Pops with Doc Severinsen, Holiday Pops with Marvin Hamlisch, New Year's Eve with the Seattle Symphony, and most recently The Matrix Live In Concert. On four occasions, they have appeared at the Paramount Theater in the touring production of Video Games Live, and members of the Company sang in both the Seattle and Portland productions of Star Wars In Concert. The SCC is partnered with the Northwest Sinfonietta, and is an artist-in-residence at Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral.
http://www.seattlechoralcompany.org