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Next Sunday, August 23, at 5:00 PM, the Pacific Chorale will present a Choral Festival in the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. An invited Festival Chorus of Orange County and Southern California singers from community, school, university, church and temple choirs joins the voices of Pacific Chorale, Artistic Director John Alexander, as well as eminent organist Frederick Swann for this free public performance.
The concert will feature masterworks from the classical choral repertoire and is designed as a showcase of "Great Choral Treasures". The performance will include works by Bach, Beethoven, Fauré, and Mendelssohn, with a closing set of American hymns and spirituals. World-renowned organist Frederick Swann is the featured guest artist, performing solo organ selections as well as accompanying the choir on the new William J. Gillespie Concert Organ. This event is part of the Orange County Performing Arts Center's Free at the Center."
According to Margie Montell, a Southern California Choral director, "The festival provides a great opportunity for both performers and concert-goers to experience the unparalleled excitement of live performance of marvelous choral literature.
Live performance allows for the ultimate experience of music’s dynamics and richness of timbre that cannot be achieved by recordings. Also there can be a very real connection established between performer and listener. Live performance is a communal experience that is meant to be shared. People are communicating with each other in real time, not through the use of a sterile recorded medium.
The performance of great classic repertoire makes the spirit soar as the music communicates the majesty of creation, the glory and passion of God, the joy and pathos of beauty and the entire realm of human emotion. When one is surrounded by the majesty of the pipe organ and a hundred singers the thrill is undeniable. It is comparable to standing inside Notre Dame Cathedral as opposed to looking at a picture of it. The reality is hugely greater than the photo. I heartedly recommend attending this event!"
The program (subject to change) includes:
*Hallelujah from The Mount of Olives Ludwig van Beethoven
*Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, BWV 147 Johann Sebastian Bach
*Introit and Kyrie from Requiem, Op. 48 Gabriel Fauré
*And then shall your light break forth from Elijah Felix Mendelssohn
*Peace Like a River arr. Mack Wilberg
*Battle Hymn of the Republic arr. Peter Wilhousky
Pacific Chorale Festival:
Free admission, first come , first serve, doors open at 4:30 pm, August 23, 2009, Sunday, 5:00 pm
Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, 600 Town Center Drive Costa Mesa, CA 92626