Press

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February 24, 2009

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Contact: Don Scott Carpenter, General Director, at 505-988-2282, donscott@desertchorale.org

 

SANTA FE DESERT CHORALE’S 28TH SUMMER FESTIVAL JULY 13th–AUGUST 13th FEATURES FIVE PROGRAMS INCLUDING MONTEVERDI’S VESPERS OF 1610.
Tickets on sale Monday, March 1.

 

The Santa Fe Desert Chorale’s 28th annual Summer Festival season opens July 13 under the direction of music director Joshua Habermann. The five week festival consists of five programs and thirteen performances returning to familiar venues and a first ever performance in Linda Durham Contemporary Art opening with Song of Songs, a program conceived for the soaring acoustic of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. The season continues with Mystics and Mavericks at the intimate Loretto Chapel and The Romantic Guitar at the Scottish Rite Center. We also present HeArt Songs at Linda Durham Contemporary Art, a program of art songs based on the theme of love presented by members of the Desert Chorale.

 

The Desert Chorale performs Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610 (Vespers of the Blessed Virgin 1610) by Claudio Monteverdi with chamber orchestra at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in honor of the 400th anniversary of the composition of the work and in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Diocese of Santa Fe (also in 1610).

 

The Desert Chorale is a chamber ensemble of twenty-four professional singers who travel to Santa Fe from all over the United States and Europe for the annual summer festival. Auditions for this year’s ensemble were at a historic level. General Director Don Scott Carpenter stated, “Summer Festival 2010 may be the most exciting season of our 28 year history. Not only does the Desert Chorale continue to present the finest chorale music ever written, but we are also able to take part in celebrating the 400 years of rich history in Santa Fe. As music director Joshua Habermann and I were traveling the country auditioning for this year’s festival, we agreed that this year’s ensemble will be the finest ever assembled.” Tickets go on sale through Tickets Santa Fe on Monday, March 1 by calling 505-988-1234 or www.ticketssantafe.org.

 

Song of Songs With its rich imagery and mix of sacred and secular elements, the Song of Solomon has inspired some of the most stunning music in the choral repertoire spanning five centuries.

• Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi
• 213 Cathedral Place, Santa Fe
• July 13, 22 and August 3 (8pm)

• Immanuel Presbyterian Church
• 114 Carlisle Blvd SE, Albuquerque
• July 18 (4pm)

• San Francisco de Asis
• St. Francis Plaza, Ranchos de Taos
• July 25 (4pm)
• *****

Mystics and Mavericks Explore the transcendent music of Arvo Pärt and other choral visionaries. The groundbreaking and eclectic soundscapes of Meredith Monk round out a program of otherworldly visions including the world premiere of Robert Kyr’s Santa Fe Vespers 2010.

• Loretto Chapel 211
• Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe
• July 20, 29 and August 4 (8pm)
• *****

The Romantic Guitar From early lute songs to Spanish flamenco, the combination of voices and guitar offers limitless variety. A setting of Walt Whitman’s intensely moving Civil War poems A Procession Winding Around Me by Jeffrey Van and the exciting Romancero Gitano on poems of Federico García Lorca are featured works on this enchanting program.

• Scottish Rite Center
• 463 Paseo de Peralta
• July 27, August 5 and 10 (8pm)
• *****

HeArt Songs Enjoy a rare opportunity to hear members of the Desert Chorale perform duets, trios and quartets on the subject of love. This program from the vast art song literature includes Brahms’ famous Liebeslieder Waltzes for vocal quartet and four-hand piano.

• Linda Durham Contemporary Art
• 1807 Second Street #107, Santa Fe
• August 8 (4 and 8pm) *****

Vespers of 1610 Composed in 1610, the same year as the founding of the Santa Fe diocese, Monteverdi’s masterpiece earned him the job of music director at St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. Soaring Renaissance melodies fuse with Baroque pageantry in a virtuoso tour de force. The sounds of instrumental fanfares and vocal flourishes will fill the Cathedral as we celebrate the 400th anniversary of this glorious masterwork and of our city.

• Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi
• 213 Cathedral Place, Santa Fe
• August 13 (8pm)
• *****

Venice in Santa Fe Gala Join us for both our season finale performance of Monteverdi’s Vespers and a gala dinner at Santa Fe’s elegant five star Amavi Restaurant. Savor the tastes of Venice with a sumptuous meal prepared by award-winning chef David Sellers along with musical entertainment and a live auction. Included in the gala ticket price is a premium seat to the concert and VIP parking at the Cathedral.

• Amavi Restaurant (5:30pm)
• 221 Shelby Street, Santa Fe
• Cathedral (8pm)
• August 13
• *****

For more information: www.DesertChorale.org.

 

ABOUT THE SANTA FE DESERT CHORALE The Santa Fe Desert Chorale is New Mexico’s premier professional chamber choir, and each summer and during the December holiday season 16-24 of the finest singers from around the country come to Santa Fe to perform works from the rich choral literature tradition. There are no other summer or winter music festivals in the United States devoted exclusively to choral music that surpass the Desert Chorale’s annual two seasons in virtuosity of performance and programming breadth. The CD catalog includes one title conducted by Joshua Habermann (2009), one title conducted by Don Scott Carpenter (2009), one title conducted by Simon Carrington (2008), six titles conducted by Linda Mack (2004-2007); four titles conducted by Dennis Shrock (1999-2003) and one early recording from founding artistic director Lawrence Bandfield (1982-1998).

 

Founded in 2002, the Desert Chorale Children’s Choir provides an opportunity for children ages 8 to 14 to grow together in their love of music and singing. Public performance is an important component of the program, and each season the children make many appearances in a variety of settings throughout Santa Fe.

 

To download PDF of press release click HERE

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October 5, 2009

Contact: Don Scott Carpenter, General Director, 505-988-2282 donscott@desertchorale.org

SANTA FE DESERT CHORALE WINTER FESTIVAL 2009 LED BY MUSIC DIRECTOR JOSHUA HABERMANN FEATURES THREE PROGRAMS IN SANTA FE AND ALBUQUERQUE.

The Santa Fe Desert Chorale’s 26th annual winter season opens December 13 and runs until December 22 under the direction of Joshua Habermann. The sixteen members of the Desert Chorale will perform three programs in five different venues in both Santa Fe and Albuquerque over the course of the ten-day season. This will be Habermann’s first winter as music director following his critical and popular success this summer in his debut season.

The Desert Chorale celebrates the Festival of Lights with A Chanukah Celebration on December 13 at Congregation B’nai Israel in Albuquerque and on December 15 at Temple Beth Shalom in Santa Fe. Early works of the Renaissance and Baroque era composers Salamone Rossi and Louis Saladin and Romantics Felix Mendelssohn and Franz Schubert, traditional Sephardic folk songs and contemporary American composer Eric Whitacre’s Five Hebrew Love Songs are some of the featured works on this eclectic celebration of Jewish sacred and secular music.

Winter Festival continues on December 18 with Carols and Lullabies at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe and on December 20 at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque. Additional Santa Fe performances will take place at the Cathedral on December 21 and at Cristo Rey Church on December 22. The program features American composer Conrad Susa’s Carols and Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest, a setting of Spanish songs for chorus, marimba, guitar and harp. Traditional chants, sacred hymns and carols including “Angels We Have Heard on High”, “Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day” “Wexford Carol” and the Chorale’s traditional candlelight recession to “Silent Night”, are included in this holiday musical feast.

A Family Holiday Christmas, features popular holiday carols and songs performed by the Desert Chorale and the Children’s Choir. This one night only concert for young and old will be presented on December 19 at Cristo Rey Church in Santa Fe. Details of this program will be available in November.

ABOUT THE SANTA FE DESERT CHORALE
The Santa Fe Desert Chorale is New Mexico’s premier professional chamber choir, and each summer and during the December holiday season 16-24 of the finest singers from around the country come to Santa Fe to perform works from the rich choral literature tradition. There are no other summer or winter music festivals in the United States devoted exclusively to choral music that surpass the Desert Chorale’s annual two seasons in virtuosity of performance and programming breadth. The CD catalog includes six titles conducted by Linda Mack (2004-2007); four titles conducted by Dennis Shrock (1999-2003) and one early recording from founding artistic director Lawrence Bandfield (1982-1998).

Founded in 2002, the Desert Chorale Children’s Choir provides an opportunity for children ages 8 to 14 to grow together in their love of music and singing. Public performance is an important component of the program, and each season the children make many appearances in a variety of settings throughout Santa Fe.

 

Click HERE to download a PDF of the press release.