Matre presents the folksong melody first in a single voice before allowing it to blossom into a richly textured fourteen-part choral setting with children's chorus and orchestra. Matre's work is based on a haunting Norwegian folksong traditionally sung at funerals, with the final verse of profound gratitude and exaltation sung as the coffin is lowered into the ground. Highlighting the evening are the last two works to be performed on the concert: the world premieres of Orjan Matre's Halleluja, var strid er endt (Hallelujah, the strife is over) and Julian Revie's Mass of the Divine Shepherd. No less than six esteemed conductors will lead various works from the stage: David Skinner (Director, Choir of Sidney Sussex College, Fellow, Praelector and Osborn Director of Music at Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge) Luke McEndarfer (Artistic Director, National Children's Chorus) Richard Gard (Director for the Center for Music and Liturgy and Music Director of Saint Thomas More Chapel at Yale) Hannu Norjanen (Artistic Director, Helsinki Philharmonic Chorus and Contores Minores Boys' Choir) Hakon Daniel Nystedt (Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, Oslo Chamber Choir and the Norwegian contemporary music choir Ginnungagap), and Stephen Layton (Founder and Conductor, Polyphony Director, Choir of Trinity College Cambridge Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the City of London Sinfonia), who oversees the entire evening, along with Mr.
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This special, one night only event presents some of the world's most esteemed and distinguished choirs joining forces as the 400-voice International Festival Chorus: Oslo Chamber Choir (Norway), Tapiola Chamber Choir (Finland), Choir of Sidney Sussex College (Cambridge University, United Kingdom), Choir of Saint Thomas More Chapel (Yale, Connecticut), Schola Contorum of the Cathedral of Saint Joseph (Connecticut) singers from Westminster Williamson Voices (Westminster Choir College, NJ), Vassar College Choir (Vassar College, Massachusetts) and University of Massachusetts Choir(UMass Amherst), along with the Archdiocesan Children's Choir of Philadelphia, Nittany Valley Children's Chorus, and the 150-voice National Children's Chorus.Īudiences will also hear individual performances from: The Choir of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Tapiola Chamber Choir Oslo Chamber Choir, and the National Children's Chorus. The evening will feature well-known and important sacred works by Mozart, Bach, Bruckner, and Monteverdi, as well as William Byrd, Thomas Tallis, Toivo Kuula and Knut Nystedt, culminating with two new world premieres of liturgical music by Orjan Matre, Composer in Residence, Oslo Philharmonic (Norway) and by Julian Revie, composer in Residence, Saint Thomas More Chapel at Yale (Connecticut). Saint Thomas More Chapel at Yale formally launches the Saint Thomas More Center for Music and Liturgy with a Jinaugural concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City.