As it begins its 30th anniversary season, Los Robles Master Chorale will offer
Sounds of the Season on December 8 and 9 at the Performing Arts Center at Moorpark College.
In a harmonious concert of Christmas-themed choral music under the direction of James Stemen, the chorale will sing music spanning 400 years, from the Renaissance composer Michael Praetorius to contemporary works by two of today's premier composers of choral music, American Morten Lauridsen and Englishman John Tavener.
A centerpiece of the concert will be
The Magnificat by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, an Italian Baroque master who composed fifteen operas, twelve cantatas, and more than thirty sonatas, symphonies and concertos before he died at age twenty-six. Other highlights will include a cluster of beloved carols, including
Deck the Halls, Joy to the World, O Come, All Ye Faithful, and
God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen, in the classic arrangements of Robert Shaw and Alice Parker; Charles Ives's
A Christmas Carol; Franz Biebl's
Ave Maria; and
In the Crystal Starlight, an original carol by Westlake Village resident and Moorpark College professor Jane Autenrieth Chapman. The audience will be invited to sing in the holidays by joining the chorale on a number of familiar favorites.
As its special guests, the Master Chorale welcomes renowned Duo Handbell Ringers Donna Riesen and Michael Larsen. Celebrated for their synergistic combination of traditional English handbells and synthesizer accompaniment, Riesen and Larsen will perform three original holiday arrangements.
Angels' Jubilee uses themes from Haydn's
Christmas Eve Canon and
Angels We Have Heard on High;
Bells of Christmas, is based on
Carol of the Bells and
What Child is This; and
A Christmas Canticle combines Pachelbel's
Canon in D with
The First Noel and
Jolly Old Saint Nicholas.
A musical staple in Ventura County for three decades, Los Robles Master Chorale's mission is to provide the finest performance of great works of choral art, pleasing and illuminating audiences and providing an opportunity for singers to obtain artistic satisfaction and growth.
Sounds of the Season will be performed Saturday, December 8 at 8 pm and Sunday, December 9 at 4 pm at the Performing Arts Center, Moorpark College, 7075 Campus Road, Moorpark. Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 at the door, with group rates available for parties of ten or more. Call 805/827-3943 for information or to purchase tickets. Information is also available at http://www.orgsites.com/ca/lrmc/.