Join Us for Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols

Tickets are going fast! The Saturday Dec 7 4PM concert is almost sold out, so to be sure of seats get your tickets for the
Friday Dec 6 7PM concert now!

 
 

A Celebration of British Carols by
Britten, Rutter, and Chilcott

Ceremony of Carols celebrates the rich tradition of holiday music from Great Britain. In recognition of Bob Chilcott's 70th and John Rutter's 80th birthdays we offer a selection of their most popular carols sung by the Chorale in past seasons including Chilcott’s “Mid-winter” and Rutter’s “The Very Best Time of the Year.” At the center of the concert is Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols, one of his best-known and most-performed works. It is a brilliantly conceived and dramatic concert work of 11 movements written after Britten’s return from a trip to the U.S. in 1942. Its text consists of an eclectic mix of anonymous medieval texts and later poems rather than familiar carols. Not all the texts are festive, or even about winter!  Originally written for female voices and harp, Britten subsequently published a version for mixed voices which we perform in this concert.

Read George’s program notes here and view the full concert program below.
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Friday December 6, 2024, 7pm
Saturday December 7, 2024, 4pm

St. Bede’s Episcopal Church
550 W San Mateo, Santa Fe

 

Whitbourn’s Annelies Was a Moving Experience
for the Chorale and Audiences Alike

 

In the opening concerts of our 47th season October 19-20, the Chorale performed British composer James Whitbourn’s oratorio Annelies, drawn from the words of Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. Annelies achieves much of its impact by the interplay of voices and instruments, reflecting Anne’s Jewish and German heritage, as well as the sounds she might have heard while in hiding. We were honored to be joined by Jenny Perez singing Anne’s words from her diary, Stephen Redfield violin, Kasey Cote clarinet, and pianist Debbie Wagner to bring Annelies’ compelling interplay of voices and instruments to our audiences.

Anne’s words of faith, hope, and humanity in the face of horrific challenge remain an inspiration for all humanity: “And yet, when I look at the sky, I feel that everything will change for the better”.

 The concerts concluded with Whitbourn’s uplifting All Shall Be Amen and Alleluia based on the words of St. Augustine. Separated by centuries and by different cultural and religious heritages, All shall be Amen and Allelluia echoes the hope and faith of Anne’s words in her diary: "We shall rest and we shall see. We shall see and we shall know. We shall know and we shall love."

 
 

School Choral Teacher Workshop
June 10, 2024

As part of our commitment to support young choral students and teachers in northern New Mexico, the Chorale held a conducting workshop for school choral teachers on June 10.  Three young music teachers/conductors had the opportunity to study and conduct the Chorale under the instruction of Music Director George Case. Not only will the teachers benefit from their conducting workshop experience, their many students will benefit, too. The Chorale also benefited from the experience of having to pay close attention to different directors and their different styles, as well as learning from George’s engagement with them. A great time was had by all!

The Chorale is grateful for your continued generous support. Ticket sales cover less than one-third of our costs and your support is essential for the outreach programs in our schools and community and in bringing great singing to you!

Singer Sidebars, Virtual Concerts, and Musical Works in Progress enabled us to stay in touch with our audiences while we could not perform in person. The entire archive is available here.

 
 
 

Watch https://www.facebook.com/sdcchorale/ for periodic links and pointers to music and music stories that have moved us during challenging times. Be safe and listen to good music!

 

The mission of the Sangre de Cristo Chorale is to entertain, educate, unite, and inspire singers and audiences by performing quality choral music.