For Immediate Release February 6, 2012
World Premiere
Beethoven, Bevan and the Bard!
St. Catharines, ON – CHORUS NIAGARA, Niagara’s premier 100-voice ensemble, conducted by Artistic Director Robert Cooper, in collaboration with The Orpheus Choir of Toronto, presents the world premiere of Canadian composer Allan Bevan’s No Mortal Business, along with Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Mass in C Major, on Saturday March 3rd at 7:30pm at the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, 67 Church St., St. Catharines. Audiences are invited to a pre-concert chat 45 minutes prior to the concert.
No Mortal Business, an original Canadian work commissioned by Chorus Niagara, is inspired by William Shakespeare’s final play The Tempest and blends majestic fanfares, military drums, Gregorian chant, dramatic narration, organ and mass choir into a lyrical multi-dimensional creation rich in allusion and meaning. Some of The Tempest’s best known songs and prose have been set by Bevan in richly imaginative choral and orchestral arrangements. Veteran classical stage actor Geraint Wyn Davies, evokes Prospero’s search for life’s inner truth in this wonderfully theatrical and powerful choral experience. Audiences will recognize Wyn Davies from his many theatrical performances at the world famous Stratford and Shaw festivals.
Beethoven’s Mass in C Major was a major commissioned piece first performed in 1807. It was written as the composer was experiencing profound hearing loss and the threat it posed to his musical and personal life. Both the Mass in C Major and No Mortal Business plumb the depths of humankind’s search for meaning in the face of physical deterioration and eventual death. These two masterful works consider the mortality each of us face and seek to resolve in peaceful resignation and acceptance.
The 160-voice combined choir will be joined by Orpheus’ Sidgwick Scholar soloists, featuring soprano Johane Ansell. The Talisker Players and Chorus Niagara accompanist Lynne Honsberger provide rich orchestral accompaniment. TWO great Choirs, TWO magnificent works……ONE GREAT CONCERT!
Tickets are available from the Brock University Box Office in St. Catharines 905-688-5550 ext. 3257; toll free 1-866-617-3257; online www.arts.brocku.ca or from a chorus member.
Media Contact Paul Price 905-227-2356 or mail to paul.price@cogeco.ca
This concert is generously sponsored by Peter and Janet Partridge.
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221 Glendale Avenue, P.O. Box 25019, St. Catharines, Ontario L2T 4C4 905-934-5575 www.chorusniagara.ca
“To entertain, educate and inspire through the performance of fine choral music”
