New Beginnings
Sunday, November 10, 2024
7:30pm
Penn State Recital Hall
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Erik Clayton, Artistic Director
Singet dem Herrn
Johann Pachelbel
Dixit Dominus
G. F. Handel
Fern Hill
John Corigliano
Five Hebrew Love Songs
Eric Whitacre
The Ground from Sunrise Mass
Ola Gjeilo
Be Still My Soul, a commissioned piece
Sheridan Seyfried
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New Beginnings explores a kaleidoscope of first experiences in life. We begin with Johann Pachelbel’s Singet dem Herrn, a setting of Psalm 96 in double choir that exhorts us to “Sing to the Lord a new song”. His earliest surviving choral manuscript, Handel’s Dixit Dominus follows as a dazzling tour de force of vocal virtuosity, demonstrating mastery of both contrapuntal and dramatic elements. Following intermission, we journey back to childhood through the text of Dylan Thomas’ Fern Hill, brilliantly set by John Corigliano with music that encapsulates the bittersweet nostalgia of the poem. After the recognition of passing youth, we embrace new love in Eric Whitacre’s Five Hebrew Love Songs, written when the composer was on honeymoon and filled with the dizzying bliss of young love. Finally, the concert concludes with The Ground by Ola Gjeilo, filled with peace and gratitude at the dawning of a new day.
Christmas Gloria!
Saturday, December 7, 2024
3:00pm
State College Area High School Performance Hall​
Erik Clayton, Artistic Director
Cantate Domino
Claudio Monteverdi
O Magnum Mysterium
Morten Lauridsen
Gloria
John Rutter
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
arr. Mark Hayes
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Our annual free Christmas with the Choral Society concert will feature one of the masterpieces of the season, John Rutter's Gloria. In three movements, the outer fast movements have the energetic exuberance of a John Williams movie score, while the slow inner movement evokes the wonder and mystery of a star-filled night. This concert will feature performances by local school choirs, as well as an audience sing-along of familiar seasonal favorites. As in years past, this concert is also a food drive for a local food bank, so please remember to bring some donations in lieu of the cost of a concert ticket!
Romance Is In the Air
Saturday, February 22, 2025
7:30pm
Penn State Recital Hall​
Erik Clayton, Artistic Director
Liebeslieder Waltzes, Op. 52
Johannes Brahms
Sing We and Chant It
Thomas Morely
I Love My Love
Gustav Holst
Dashing Away with the Smoothing Iron from The Sprig of Thyme
arr. John Rutter
A Red, Red, Rose
James Mulholland
Nelly Bly
Stephen Foster, arr. Jack Halloran
Somewhere from "West Side Story"
Leonard Bernstein, arr. Roger Edgerton
Arise, Beloved!
Rosephanye Powell
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In February, we will present Brahms’ timeless masterpiece the Liebeslieder Waltzes. A collection of sixteen short songs in ¾ time, this is Brahms at his most charming and tuneful, bounding from flirtation to dejection, rage to contentment. The second half of the concert contains a bouquet of favorite love songs from the English and American traditions, including a stunning arrangement of Somewhere from "West Side Story".
Beethoven Bash
Saturday, May 3, 2025
7:30pm
Sunday, May 4, 2025
3:00pm
Penn State Recital Hall
Mass in C Major
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 4
Ludwig van Beethoven
Help us close out our 76th season as we join the Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra in their epic season finale. The dramatic and powerful Mass in C Major opens the program, with the energetic Symphony No. 4 as a perfect end to an exciting season. You won't want to miss this one!
Gerardo Edelstein, Music Director
Laura Choi Stuart, soprano
Timothi Williams, mezzo-soprano
Andrew Sauvageau, tenor
Timothy LeFebvre, baritone
Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra
featuring the State College Choral Society
Concert Sponsors: Gary & Christina Schell
