On Christmas Night: From darkness into light
$25 (students free)
Edward Henderson — Star Song
Craig Hella Johnson — Light of a Clear Blue Morning
Fredrik Sixten — O Magnum Mysterium
Traditional — Lo How a Rose E’re Blooming/The Rose
Michael McGlynn — Maria Matrem Virginem
Jason Robert Brown — Hanukah Suite
Traditional — The First Noel
Traditional — Away in a Manger
Gustav Holst — In the Bleak Midwinter
Traditional — Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
Ralph Manuel — Alleluia
Jan Sandström — Gloria
Dolly Parton — Selected works
Donald McCullough — Selected works
Ola Gjeilo — Selected works
Freddie Coleman, director
Resonance Hand Bell Choir, guest artists
The winter solstice is the longest night of the year and a turning point, after which each day will become imperceptibly a little longer. Marking its seventh annual Cathedral Christmas series at Seattle’s Saint Mark’s Cathedral, the Seattle Choral Company invites listeners to experience through music the deepest reaches of darkness and the returning of light in our lives.
On Christmas Night: From darkness into light will feature music of all styles, artfully melded into a collage, that combines music and poetic narration. SCC director Freddie Coleman skillfully blends classical works, carols, popular songs and more, to create a unique and intensely meaningful experience.
The public is invited to arrive one hour before the start of the program to hear program information from the director. The traditional family carol sing-along will then take place at 7:30 p.m. At 7:45 p.m., pre-concert carols will be played by guest artists, The Resonance Hand Bell Choir.
Holiday works on the program will include:
Michael McGlynn – Maria Matrem Virginem
arr. Donald McCullough – Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
Fredrik Sixten – O Magnum Mysterium
arr. Ola Gjeilo – The First Nowell
arr. Ola Gjeilo – In the Deep Midwinter
arr. Ola Gjeilo – Away in a Manger
arr. Craig Hella Johnson – Lo How a Rose E’re Blooming/The Rose
Jan Sandström – Gloria
J. David Moore – I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day
Edward Henderson – Star Song (Seattle premiere)
Jason Robert Brown – Chanukah Suite
Dolly Parton /arr. Craig Hella Johnson – Light of a Clear Blue Morning
Ralph Manuel – Alleluia
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