February Big Freeze
“It’s one of the biggest projects we’ve done,” said Cappella Romana’s Executive Director Mark Powell in recent communication with Oregon Arts Watch Executive Editor Bob Hicks. Powell was referring to CR’s much anticipated Canon for Racial Reconciliation concert coming up in Seattle and Portland on February 28 and March 1. But what should have been a jubilant proclamation was instead tinged with concern due to the recent federal freeze on grants. (Read the feature story about that here).
After a few nail-biting weeks the funds arrived (read the update here). Cappella Romana’s season will proceed as planned beginning with the Canon for Racial Reconciliation co-composed by Orthodox chant scholar Nicholas Reeves and renowned gospel music expert Isaac Cates.
Cappella Romana’s Music Director Alexander Lingas met Reeves over a decade ago at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Yonkers, New York where Lingas now serves as Professor of Music and Associate Director of the Institute of Sacred Arts.
“I got to know Nicholas,” wrote Lingas in recent email, “when he was teaching at St. Vladimir’s. As Assistant Professor here he worked with the choirs in the chapel, led composition classes, and collaborated with Peter Bouteneff on the Seminary’s Arvo Pärt Project that laid the groundwork for the founding of Institute of Sacred Arts.”
Co-composer Cates and Anthony Maglione, newly appointed Principal Conductor of the Houston Symphony Chorus, will co-conduct the Seattle and Portland concerts of the Canon for Racial Reconciliation. The same co-conducting duo premiered the work, which was commissioned by William Jewell College (Liberty, Missouri) and premiered in Kansas City in November of 2023. Cates and Reeves set the music to a collection of poetic reflections on race relations by poet Carla Thomas. The Canon draws from the scriptures and ritualistic liturgy of Eastern Orthodox Christianity and fuses it with emotional and free forms of traditional music of the Black Church.
Reeves offers more information about Orthodox canon in liturgical use and specifically Carla Thomas’s “Canon for Racial Reconciliation” here.
“I have had a bit of direct contact with Dr Thomas who serves on the Board of the Fellowship of St Moses the Black and as a Trustee of St Vladimir’s,” wrote Lingas. You can read Thomas’s entire Canon text and view the music score in this link to The Fellowship of St. Moses here.
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Music and faith reaching out in peace and reconciliation.
Isaac Cates and Anthony Maglione conduct Cappella Romana in Canon for Racial Reconciliation in Seattle on February 28, 7:30 at Town Hall Seattle and in Portland on March 1, 7:30, at First United Methodist Church. Tickets and details are here.
Polyphonic Pleasures
John Eisemann, Grant High teacher and director of In Medio Choir, is passionate about Renaissance polyphony. Eisemann, his wife Jen Melius, their colleague in music Alex Johnson and another handful of local professional singers want to share their love of Renaissance, and nothing but Renaissance, with you. Come hear their choir, Evenstar Ensemble, in its inaugural concert on February 22.
Evenstar invites you two get to know two two “greats” of the Spanish Renaissance: Tomás Luis de Victoria and Christóbal Morales. Victoria (1548-1611) is noted for introducing more emotion into his sacred works and for sometimes being a rule-breaker in voicing (parallel motion, egad). Marian Consort sings Victoria here.
In Morales (1500-1553) you will delight in the harmonic cross-relations and cross-rhythms, both of which are likely to get special attention from this competent new ensemble. They recently enjoyed some special mentoring from the Marian Consort who performed earlier this month in Portland.
An evening with these two composers will explain why Evenstar Ensemble loves to perform Renaissance Music and now wants to share “Echoes of Spain” with you in their inaugural concert on Saturday, February 22 at 7 pm, The Parish of St. Mark, Portland. Tickets and program may be found here.
On March 16, new Portland choir, Northwest Vocal Arts, will also offer Renaissance polyphony, including the earliest known publication of such in the western hemisphere. Hanacpachap cussicuinin, (in SSA arrangement here) is a processional hymn in the Quechua language of Peru. Though oft attributed to publisher, cantor, translator and indigenous language specialist Juan Pérez de Bocanegra, a friar in the Spanish Imperial Kingdom of Peru, it may have been the work of an indigenous musician.
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The concert will feature NWVA’s professional chamber choir and the NWVA youth choir performing works celebrating a variety of sounds and rhythms from the Caribbean and South America like Guido Lopez Gavilan’s El Guayaboso (The Liar). The centerpiece of the concert will be Misa Criolla by Ariel Ramírez for choir and traditional Argentinian instrumentation. When Ramirez’s piece was recorded in 1964 it hit the top of the charts. But a 2009 recording with José Carreras as tenor soloist also scored very well. Listen to Carreras sing the “Kyria” here:
NWVA presents “Cordillera: Range of the Americas” on March 16, 3 pm at Rose City Park United Methodist Church. Tickets and more information are here.
The full Portland State University choral landscape
“We have a university choir for everyone” reads Portland State University’s School of Music and Theater website. Two consecutive upcoming weekends provide evidence for that claim. Take in the full choral PSU landscape beginning on February 28, 7:30 with “Kaleidoscope” featuring PSU Chamber Choir and two other choirs, Rose (tenor and bass voices) and Thorn (soprano and alto voices).
That concert repeats on March 2 at 4 pm; both concerts are at First United Methodist Church. Here’s where you can find tickets and more information about these often-sold-out concerts.
Then on Friday, March 7 enjoy the music of three more PSU choirs: University (all student, non audition); Community (open to all PSU affiliated or community folks who just love to sing); and the sixteen-voice jazz stylin’s of the PSU Vocal Collective. This concert, entitled “But a Thimble”, is at 7:30 pm at First Christian Church. More info is right here.
And more like that…
Just a reminder of what’s coming up for fans of jazz, blues, ballad standards and singable oldies with music by Porter, Ellington, Gershwin, Fats Waller and so many more vocal tunes. Yup. “It’s Just One of Those…” uh, annual Choral Arts Ensemble “Pops” concerts sung by full CAE ensemble and CAE soloists plus an extra special treat when accompanist Jennifer Creek Hughes performs three Gershwin preludes. Full repertoire list and Program notes by Susan Wladaver-Morgan are available on CAE’s website.
Concerts are Saturday, March 1, 7:30 pm and Sunday, March 2 at 3 pm, both concerts at Rose City Park United Methodist Church. Ticket information is here.
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Youth unite
On March 2, the Metropolitan Youth Symphony “extends its reach to break barriers through film and video game” music (MYS website). And for one of the extended pieces, Christopher Tin’s stunning Waloyo Yamoni, they have enlisted the help of Pacific Youth Choir. PYC alums Anthony Nguyen and Grace Weaver perform the virtuosic solo roles.
Cinematic and richly scored, Waloyo Yamoni swirls into the air and pulls the listener along for the ride. PYC conductor Chris Maunu remarked on the youth-relatable pop fusion tones, the learning of the Lango text and the excitement of collaborating with MYS conductor Raúl Gómez-Rojas and the symphony musicians. If you aren’t up on your modern media music listen to it, with the composer on the podium, here:
Also on the program is the MYS Authentic Voice Series/Fear No Music Young Composer’s collaborative world premiere of Music for a Short Animated Film. It’s also a premiere screening of an animated short film by students from Portland Arts Museum’s Center for an Untold Tomorrow.
“Music for Millions: Film and Video Games” are performed by the Metropolitan Youth Symphony with special guests Pacific Youth Choir on Sunday, March 2, 4 pm at the Newmark Theater. Ticket information and full program are here.
One in the spirit in Portland and Salem
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral Music kicks off Mardi Gras with the faith-based jazz, gospel, spiritual and folk sound of Theodicy Jazz Collective. Hear the poetry of Portlander Brandt Maina as this acclaimed liturgical jazz ensemble, in collaboration with Trinity Choir, performs a nine-movement work: Love is the Way: A Freedom Suite by William Z. Cleary.
Listen here to the final movement of the Freedom Suite, Cleary’s swinging arrangement of “We are one in the Spirit” written by Peter Scholtes.
Following the Saturday, March 1 concert Theodicy offers their musical gifts to Trinity’s weekly 10 am Sunday service and then travels south to perform in Salem for a 4:00 pm jazz vesper service at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Good times roll.
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Tune in to 89.9 FM KQAC All Classical “Thursdays @ 3” on February 27 to get the insider information and a preview of Trinity’s Theodicy Jazz Collective concert. T@3 broadcasts are archived for two weeks here.
Tickets for the Theodicy Jazz Collective/Trinity Choir concert on Saturday, March 1, at 7 pm at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral may be purchased here. Learn more about Salem appearance here.
Wonders of Women
Saturday, March 8th is International Women’s Day and three local women’s choirs are inviting you to celebrate with them as they celebrate women past and present all around the world.
At In Mulieribus’s Women’s Day event at 4 pm the ensemble uplifts local women in arts and activism. Experience their voices, music, strength and talents with musical performances by In Mulieribus, Naomi Littlebear Morena, Izetta Smith (noted for promoting singing as a healing art and her cultural and political work), Judy A. Rose, and Flamencas Silvestres (guitarist Janna Auslam and singer Christy Yenni). Enjoy poetry by Alicia Jo Rabins, and visual art by Deb Stoner, Rita Robillard, and Junko Iijima. You might know some of these artists. But if some of them are not familiar to you (links above will help) come and meet them. These are women among us who contribute to the culture and vibrancy of our local communities and beyond.
You might also enjoy the participatory pop-up tribute quilt, or a conversation at an activist info table while you share desserts and libations. A multi-sensory, stimulating and illuminating late afternoon.
In Mulieribus welcomes the stories of brave, talented and inspirational women on Saturday, March 8, 4 pm at The Old Madeleine Church, Portland. All are invited to this FREE event but please RSVP beforehand here.
Multigenerational voices of womankind abound at Aurora Chorus’s Annual International Women’s Day concert, “Undivided”, with Portland Symphonic Girlchoir joining in. The Girlchoir performs “One Voice” by Tom Shelton, featured composer for their upcoming April 6 Music-in-the-Making concert. The choirs come together for two songs: Bob Dylan’s The Times They are a-Changing (arr. Adam Podd) and Still I Rise by Rosephayne Powell, heard here.
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Still they rise, changing, with one voice – “Undivided.” It’s Aurora in sisterhood with Portland Symphonic Girlchoir on Saturday, March 8, 7 pm at First United Methodist Church. Purchase tickets and find out about the livestream option here.
Wait, there’s one more March 8th International Women’s Day show of special mention. Local female artists present Song Suffragettes PNW, “an evening of diverse musical styles, powerful storytelling and soulful performances” (event website notes). Hear from Yawa, Rosa Linda, Marianna Thielen, Naomi LaViolette, Kathryn Claire and The Cider Janes. Suffrage activists of the early 20th century used music, many texts adapted to known tunes, to voice and spread their messages (see this U.S. Library of Congress site for more information). That music speaks on.
Song Suffragettes PNW speak to our community of today on March 8, 7 pm at McMenamins historic Kennedy School Gymnasium. Tickets and more details on the artists are here.
On March 17, another women’s chorus performs a rainbow of colors and collaboration. Multnomah Women’s Chorus presents a wide palette of hues including indie rock, classic ballads, blues and folk tunes which includes “Black Coffee”, “Deep Purple” and “Lullaby in Blue” by Bob Chilcott. MWC concert choir, MWC chamber singers and soloists vary the texture. Joining MWC’s accompanist Kelly Bard for some works are guests Dan Gaynor, piano; John Moak, trombone; Leon Cotter, sax/clarinet; Chuck Israels, bass; and Michael Rodenkirch, percussion. It’s a kaleidoscopic celebration of the many shades of modern choral music.
“Colors” is presented by Multnomah Women’s Chorus on Monday, March 17, 7 pm at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church. More concert information is available here.
Resonance Nova
A new name (Orchestra Nova Northwest), a new collaboration (with Resonance Ensemble) and a choral/orchestral performance of Margaret Bonds’s Credo, a work which had been packed away – literally – for decades. Pair that with Ralph Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem and the concert is almost complete. But begin the concert with Caroline Shaw’s To The Hands – it’s a trinity of repertoire with relevance.
Vaughan Williams’s 1936 Dona Nobis Pacem’s six movements draw text from Walt Whitman, the Bible and 19th century anti-war political speech. Vaughan Williams served in World War I and the Dona Nobis Pacem is a plea for peace as he watched the world move toward further conflict. The work was commissioned by an English choir, Huddleston Choral Society, for their centennial anniversary; the choir continues to this day. Robert Shaw conducts the “Agnus Dei” here:
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A few years before RVW wrote the Dona Nobis Pacem, Margaret Bonds–just out of her teen years–was completing her master’s degree at Northwestern (where she was allowed to study but could not use certain university facilities) and had been the first African-American to perform with the Chicago Symphony. In 1965 the prolific composer finished the piano version of the seven-movement Credo. The orchestral version performed in this concert was first performed in 1972, the year in which Bond’s died of a heart attack. Then both versions went unheard until being recovered, almost four decades later, in old boxes ready to be discarded. Bonds sets W.E.B. Du Bois’s Credo from his 1920 autobiography, Darkwater: Voices from within the Veil. A live performance of the orchestral version is a privilege.
“I will be your refuge” references Emma Lazarus’s New Colossus; “what are those wounds in the midst of our hands” paraphrases Zechariah; and numbers spoken aloud provide statistics on persons displaced due to conflict and human rights atrocities. These are some of the texts of Caroline Shaw’s 2016 To The Hands. Listen to the final movement (No. VI), “I Will Hold You”, here:
On hand to hear and participate in these works will be students from Lewis and Clark and Reed Colleges. And they will perform with ONN and Resonance on the Vaughan Williams. Young hearts and voices to carry the messages forward.
ONN’s Steven Byess and Resonance Ensemble’s Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon and Associate Conductor Shohei Kobayashi conduct.
A new partnership with a shared mission brings our community two superluminous evenings of music by Shaw, Bonds and Vaughan Williams on Saturday, March 15, 7:30 pm at Reynolds High School, Troutdale (tickets and details are here) and on Sunday, March 16, 3 pm at the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts, Beaverton (purchase Reser tickets here).
Connections
Professor John Michael Cooper’s new book Margaret Bonds is due out any day from Oxford University Press. Here’s more information on this first biography of American, pianist, activist, Black female composer, Margaret Bonds.
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