CARMINA BURANA
November 20, 21, 22, 2015
Carl Orff’s enchanting Carmina Burana, one of the blockbusters of the 20th century choral repertoire, kicks off our 2015-16 concert season. Taken from a 13th century manuscript discovered in a cave in the late 19th century, the often bawdy text—a set of 24 medieval secular poems about spring, tavern life, and love—describes life and the fate of people in the Middle Ages. After the initial success of the work, the composer authorized a “chamber” version for groups such as ours, employing two pianos and four percussionists in place of the full orchestra. That’s the second half of the concert.
In the first half of the concert, the BCG chorus, with piano, soprano and alto soloists, will sing Gloria, by the late Peter Hallock, longtime organist and choirmaster at Seattle’s St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. The Ragazzi Boy’s Chorus, the boys chorus for Carmina, will follow with a set of their own. Ragazzi for those of you who may not know, is the Bay Area’s premiere boys chorus, an internationally recognized group with nearly 30 years of experience.
In addition to Ragazzi, we have a stellar group of soloists and instrumentalists joining us for this concert. Nikolas Nackley, Carmina baritone soloist, lives in San Francisco and is much in demand for his work on the concert and operatic stage in the Bay Area and beyond. Vai Rangarajan, Carmina soprano soloist, is a member of the BCG chorus and solos regularly in our concerts. Other BCG members are soloing in the Gloria: soprano Amy Wordenand alto Allie Leeper.
Our pianists for Carmina and Gloria are Tim Getz and Duane Soubirous. Tim is BCG’s regular accompanist, a concert pianist and the Director of Music Ministry at Grace Lutheran Church in Palo Alto. Pianist and organist Duane Soubirous studied with Angela Kraft Cross, and is a senior at Oberlin College.
The percussion section is headed by Kent Reed, a percussionist with the San Francisco Symphony, Opera and Ballet orchestras as well as Philharmonia Baroque, American Bach Soloists, and Symphony Silicon Valley. He will be joined by his son, Henry Reed, as well as Patrick McCaffrey and Connor Carroll.
Read more about our performers in this blog entry.
Read the program notes by artistic director Sanford Dole.
In the first half of the concert, the BCG chorus, with piano, soprano and alto soloists, will sing Gloria, by the late Peter Hallock, longtime organist and choirmaster at Seattle’s St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. The Ragazzi Boy’s Chorus, the boys chorus for Carmina, will follow with a set of their own. Ragazzi for those of you who may not know, is the Bay Area’s premiere boys chorus, an internationally recognized group with nearly 30 years of experience.
In addition to Ragazzi, we have a stellar group of soloists and instrumentalists joining us for this concert. Nikolas Nackley, Carmina baritone soloist, lives in San Francisco and is much in demand for his work on the concert and operatic stage in the Bay Area and beyond. Vai Rangarajan, Carmina soprano soloist, is a member of the BCG chorus and solos regularly in our concerts. Other BCG members are soloing in the Gloria: soprano Amy Wordenand alto Allie Leeper.
Our pianists for Carmina and Gloria are Tim Getz and Duane Soubirous. Tim is BCG’s regular accompanist, a concert pianist and the Director of Music Ministry at Grace Lutheran Church in Palo Alto. Pianist and organist Duane Soubirous studied with Angela Kraft Cross, and is a senior at Oberlin College.
The percussion section is headed by Kent Reed, a percussionist with the San Francisco Symphony, Opera and Ballet orchestras as well as Philharmonia Baroque, American Bach Soloists, and Symphony Silicon Valley. He will be joined by his son, Henry Reed, as well as Patrick McCaffrey and Connor Carroll.
Read more about our performers in this blog entry.
Read the program notes by artistic director Sanford Dole.
