UW Summer Chorale
“Embracing the Journey”
Wednesday, August 13, 2014 7:30pm
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON SCHOOL OF MUSIC
EVENT
The UW Summer Chorale presents “Embracing the Journey,” a program of music spanning the ages from the Baroque and Romantic eras to the present and emotional landscapes from despair and sorrow to hope, faith and comfort. Program selections include the Bach cantata “My Heart Swims in Blood,” new work by Seattle composer Susan Maughlin Wood and Ola Gjeilo, and Coldplay’s “Fix You,” among others.
DATE & TIME
Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014
7:30 p.m.
LOCATION
University Presbyterian Church
4540 15th Ave NE Seattle
206-524-7300
TICKETS
FREE
PROGRAM DETAIL
Embracing the Journey
The UW Summer Chorale takes the audience on a journey through a dramatic arc from despair, finding hope and faith, and concluding with a sense of comfort and happiness in liberation from sorrow. With music from the Baroque and Romantic periods intertwined with contemporary choral repertoire, alternative pop arrangements, and Americana idioms, the concert is sure to entertain on many levels.
The Bach cantata, “My Heart Swims in Blood” (performed in an English translation), serves as a narrator in this universal dramatic structure of anguish emboldened to resolve and strength. Other selections are interpolated between the movements of the cantata to contextualize and modernize the emotions expressed. Our adaptation of Bach’s music is a special anniversary appearance, as it was first performed on August 12, 1714.
The performance also features newly composed music by local composer, Susan Maughlin Wood. In this collaborative project, she scored music for string quartet and electronics that incorporates textual and melodic themes from the program to create interludes between several selections. The artistic goal is again to contextualize historical text and music while creating a flow that keeps the listener progressing through the Journey with the ensemble.
The Performers
Ryan Ellis - conductor
Jane Heinrichs - collaborative pianist
Ginger Ellingson - soprano
Luke Fitzpatrick, Sol Im, Rick Neff, Emily Hu - String Quartet
Brenda Mohr - organ
Luke Stromberg - piano, organ
Stephen Bent - guitar
UW Summer Chorale
The University of Washington Summer Chorale assembles many of the talented singers who perform with the other UW ensembles throughout the year, plus some alumni and other community voices. This summer’s choir is near 60 voices strong with singers of various backgrounds and choral experience. The group’s repertoire features several soloists from within the choir, as well as men’s and women’s ensembles. In addition to J.S. Bach, this summer concert will also feature Nystedt, Childs, Brahms, Coldplay’s Fix You, and Ola Gjeilo’s new epic work, Dark Night of the Soul.
