Santa Fe Desert Chorale Launches The Road Home CD at No. 3 on the Billboard Chart

Promotional Appearances in Santa Fe, NM, Chicago, IL, and Pasadena, CA Sold-out

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Santa Fe, New Mexico, April 2 2018: The Santa Fe Desert Chorale (SFDC) announced today that the release of its first commercial recording, The Road Home, launched at No. 3 on the Classical and Classical Crossover Billboard Charts. The “Hot Shot Debut” album followed John Williams’ soundtrack for the blockbuster film: Star Wars: The Last Jedi in the No. 1 spot.

iTunes reviewed the disc performed by the all-professional Santa Fe Desert Chorale under the direction of Artistic Director, Joshua Habermann: “Santa Fe Desert Chorale takes us on a beautiful journey through America’s deep choral heritage with richly expressive, blended singing. Simple Shaker songs from the mid-nineteenth century performed in both their original, pure forms ̶ introducing some terrific solo voices ̶ and in sumptuous arrangements by Sean Kirchner, whose warm-hearted “Angel Band” takes full advantage of the choir’s wide-ranging sonorities. Jake Runestad’s

“Reflections,” commissioned by the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and Morten Lauridsen’s “Mid-Winter Songs” represent the best of contemporary choral music while the final three works, including Stephen Paulus’ “The Road Home,” remind us of the folk-song roots of jazz, gospel, and blue grass.”

The first commercial release in SFDC’s 36-year history was recorded at Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, TX, released on the London-based AVIE label, and distributed worldwide by NAXOS. Jeff Lankov is the collaborative pianist. Six-time GRAMMY® Award recipient Elizabeth Ostrow is the Producer and Brad Michel, recipient of the BBC Music Magazine Award for Technical Excellence in Recording and numerous Gramophone Awards, is the Engineer. The recording was underwritten by Faith Strong of California.

Following the Santa Fe release concert at Cristo Rey Church on Canyon Road, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale appeared at the Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater in Chicago, IL and at the First United Methodist Church in Pasadena, CA as the headline ensemble at the American Choral Directors Association Regional Conferences. Capacity audiences responded to the concerts with enthusiastic standing ovations.

For more information on the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, please visit: desertchorale.org

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ABOUT THE SANTA FE DESERT CHORALE:

Founded in 1982 by Lawrence “Larry” Bandfield, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale is one of the longest continually performing professional music organizations in New Mexico, as well as one of the most distinguished. In his review of the “American Voices” program, Scott Cantrell of The Dallas Morning News wrote “The variety certainly displayed the ensemble’s impressive versatility. Habermann consistently got vivid performances, introspective music elegantly colored and shaped, extrovert fare delivered with great pizzazz. Individual singers got lots of solo exposure.”

Now in his tenth season, Artistic Director Joshua Habermann leads the Chorale in repertoire spanning seven centuries, from early polyphony to contemporary works. The composition of the Chorale is truly national in scope and the ensemble is recognized among the finest American chamber choirs. A highlight was an invitational appearance at the American Choral Directors Association National Conference in Utah, which was later broadcast by Minnesota Public Radio. In the 2017-2018 Season, the Chorale was heard in Chicago, Dallas, Fort Worth, Los Angeles, and Oklahoma City as well as in regular winter and summer seasons in New Mexico. Now in its 36^th year, the Desert Chorale summer festival season is a centerpiece of the cultural life of Santa Fe, and among the nation’s most significant choral events.

Throughout its history, the Chorale has maintained a commitment to give voice to music from Hispanic and Native American communities. Dedicated to advancing the composers of our time, the Chorale has commissioned twenty-three works by nineteen composers; three quarters of the composers commissioned have been American. In addition, another seven works have been given their world or American premieres by the Santa Fe Desert Chorale. The ensemble performs at historical sites in Santa Fe such as the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi and Loretto Chapel, as well as other venues throughout the Southwest.

The Desert Chorale prides itself on its strong relationships within the community of Northern New Mexico, and enjoys collaborations with the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, New Mexico History Museum, Performance Santa Fe, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Santa Fe Symphony and Chorus, The Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, and The Santa Fe Opera, among others. Community engagement and fostering the next generation of singers and arts administrators are integral parts of the Desert Chorale’s mission.

SANTA FE DESERT CHORALE MISSION STATEMENT:

The mission of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, one of the nation’s premier professional vocal ensembles, is to excite, engage, and inspire diverse audiences with the beauty and power of great choral music.

JOSHUA HABERMANN, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Joshua Habermann, Artistic Director, is in his tenth season with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale. Since joining the Chorale he has raised the ensemble’s artistic profile and broadened its programming to include choral-orchestral masterworks as well as cutting-edge a cappella programs.

He has led honor choirs and choral festivals in North and Latin America, Europe, and Asia. As a singer (tenor) he has performed with the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus (Eugene, OR) and Conspirare (Austin, TX). Recording credits include three projects with Conspirare: Through the Green Fuse; Requiem, a GRAMMY® nominee for best choral recording in 2006; and Threshold of Night, a GRAMMY® nominee for best choral recording and best classical album in 2009.

In 2011, Joshua Habermann was named Director of the Dallas Symphony Chorus, the official vocal ensemble of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, now in its 40th anniversary season. As Director, he prepares the 200-voice chorus for classical and pops series concerts. Highlights with the DSO include performances of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Verdi’s Requiem, Berlioz’ Te Deum, and Britten’s War Requiem, which was performed for the national meeting of the American Choral Directors Association in 2013.

From 2008-2011 Joshua Habermann was Director of Choral Studies at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, where he led the graduate program in conducting and directed the Frost Chorale. Notable projects in Miami included an appearance at the Florida Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association convention, and collaborations with the New World Symphony and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas in music of Ives, Schubert, and Beethoven.

During this same period, Dr. Habermann led the Master Chorale of South Florida in performances of masterworks such as Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Haydn’s Creation, and Mozart’s Requiem.

From 1996-2008 Habermann was Assistant Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, and Professor of Music at San Francisco State University, where under his direction the SFSU Chamber Singers undertook international engagements in Havana, Cuba, and concert tours in Germany, the Czech Republic, and China. In 2006 he led a collaboration between the SFSU Chamber Singers and the Orchestre des Jeunes de la Méditerranée in music of Poulenc and the Requiem of Maurice Duruflé in concerts throughout France. National invitations include the Waging Peace Festival in Eugene, OR, multiple appearances at the California Music Educators Convention, and an appearance at the American Choral Directors Association regional convention in 2008.

A native of California, Joshua Habermann is a graduate of Georgetown University and the University of Texas at Austin, where he completed doctoral studies in conducting with Craig Hella Johnson. He lives in Dallas with his wife Joanna, daughter Kira, and son Kai.

JEFF LANKOV, PIANO

Pianist Jeff Lankov has been hailed for his “alternately ferocious and sensitive” (The New York Times), “muscular and moving” (The Dallas Morning News) “performances of brilliance and dedication…there seems to be nothing that eludes his grasp” (New York Concert Review). As a soloist and sought-after collaborative artist, Mr. Lankov has performed in the world’s major concert venues, and is a specialist in the works of living composers and the American minimalist movement. He has recorded compositions by Adams, Finnissy, Gershwin, Messiaen, Piazzolla, and Rodríguez. Jeff Lankov’s repertoire includes works by composers as diverse as Blind Tom, Henry Cowell, George Crumb, Morton Feldman, Anthony Heinrich, Frederic Rzewski, and Jacob TV, along with music for toy piano and prepared piano, and his own solo piano transcriptions of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and The Firebird. In the popular genre, the pianist has performed on Broadway and at Radio City Music Hall. His multimedia performance pieces combine music with theatrical elements, visual art and computer-generated sounds and images, often in unusual juxtapositions that explore the synthesis of popular and classical forms. Jeff Lankov holds a PhD in Piano Performance from New York University.

JANICE L. MAYER, SFDC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/RECORDING EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Janice Mayer joined the Santa Fe Desert Chorale as Executive Director in June 2015. She began her career in the performing arts as a National Opera Institute Fellow at the New York City Opera during Beverly Sills’ tenure as General Director. Over the next two decades, she served as National Group Sales Director of The Shubert Organization, Inc., Associate Director of Marketing Promotion at the Metropolitan Opera, Director of Artistic Planning and Communication of the Van Cliburn Foundation, Associate Director of Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS, and as Executive Director of both Musica Sacra, Inc. (NY) and Executive Director of Caminos del Inka, Inc. (TX).

After seven years as a Vice President and Manager at Columbia Artists Management, Inc., she established Janice Mayer & Associates LLC, an international artist management firm dedicated to advancing the vocal arts. As chief administrator of the firm for eleven years, she managed the careers of composers, conductors, and vocalists worldwide. She is also Founding President of Backshore Artists Projects, Inc., a nonprofit chamber music commissioning organization that has coordinated world premieres, additional performances, and recordings of works by composers such as William Bolcom,

Shih-Hui Chen, Jake Heggie, Thea Musgrave, and Joan Tower. She has served as Executive Producer of Let Evening Come, Briefly It Enters, and Cabaret Songs Vol. 3 & 4 – William Bolcom, Composer, with Benita Valente and Joan Morris (Centaur); Flesh & Stone; The Songs of Jake Heggie – Jake Heggie, Composer, with Frederica Von Stade, Joyce Castle, Mary Phillips, and Eugenia Zukerman (Americus Records, Inc.); The Hawthorn Tree – William Bolcom, Composer, with Joyce Castle (Americus Records, Inc.).

Her consulting clients have included: Boston Lyric Opera, Bridge Records, The Harlem School of the Arts, Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, Kurt Weill Foundation, ML Falcone Public Relations, OPERA America for the NEA Opera Honors, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Copyright Society of the United States, and the U.S. State Department Cultural Fellows Program.

Ms. Mayer has served on grant review panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Westchester (NY), the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and the Kurt Weill Foundation. She has adjudicated vocal competitions including the Joy in Singing Competition in New York City, the McCammon Competition at Fort Worth Opera, and The Juilliard School Vocal Honors Recital Award Competition.

The first artist manager elected to the Board of Directors of OPERA America, she was awarded a 2006 Bravo Award for service to the opera community and a 2007 Bravo Award of distinction for outstanding service to the Board of Directors. She also served on the Board of Directors of the North American Association of Performing Arts Managers and on the National Conference Committee of Chamber Music America.

Janice Mayer holds a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies and History from Connecticut College, where she was the recipient of the Fielding Memorial Award as the outstanding woman in the graduating class, and a Master of Public Administration with a specialization in Arts Administration from New York University. She was a participant in the select NEA Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera, completed the Interim Executive Director Training Program at the Support Center for Nonprofit Management, and was certified as a mediator by Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. She has taught as adjunct arts administration faculty at both Purchase College, State University of New York and New York University.

BRAD MICHEL, ENGINEER

Brad Michel, recording engineer and session producer for Harmonia Mundi USA and owner of Clarion Productions is known worldwide for his vivid and lifelike portrayal of classical and acoustic music. Trained as a classical musician at both Northwestern University and the Eastman School of Music, his fascination with the creative combination of microphones and music developed while working in the studios at Eastman. A recording professional for almost 30 years, Brad Michel previously held positions at The Boston University School of Music and Soundmirror Inc.

Now working with Harmonia Mundi USA for over 20 years, he has been involved in hundreds of productions for the label, and together with Robina Young, Harmonia Mundi Executive Producer and Artistic Director, make up one of today’s most prolific and respected recording teams.

Lauded by both the music and audio press, past recordings have earned distinctions including The BBC Music Magazine Award for Technical Excellence in Recording, numerous Gramophone Awards, Gramophone Critic’s Choice Awards, multiple GRAMMY® Awards and nominations, Classic FM Record of the Year (England), Juno Award (Canada), Diapason d’Or, Cannes Classical Award (France), Der Deutscher Schallplatten Preis (Germany), and The Edison Award (The Netherlands). Recordings are frequently included on audiophile lists including Stereophile’s Record of the Month and Records to Die For, and The Absolute Sound’s Golden Ear awards.

Brad Michel has collaborated with groups including, The English Concert, The Academy of Ancient Music, Stile Antico, Anonymous 4, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Frieburger Barockorchester, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Conspirare, Taflemusik, and the Tokyo String Quartet, and with solo artists including Andrew Manze, Richard Egarr, Paul Hillier, Daniele Gatti, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Jon Nakamatsu, Olga Kern and Paul O’Dette.

ELIZABETH OSTROW, PRODUCER

Elizabeth Ostrow has produced over 85 recordings, six of which have won GRAMMY® Awards in categories including Best Orchestral Performance, Best Opera, Best Chamber Performance, and Best Contemporary Composition. She has recorded numerous discs with the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the St. Louis Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. She has produced over 40 world premiere recordings, many with major American composers, including the GRAMMY®- nominated recording of Jennifer Higdon’s Cold Mountain and Mason Bates’ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs with the Santa Fe Opera.

Other artists she has worked with include Trinity Choir, the Emerson Quartet, Boston Symphony Chamber Players, Emanuel Ax and Edgar Meyer, Marc-Andre Hamelin, Joyce Yang, and Augustin Hadelich.

As Audio Director for various “Great Performances” and other public television programs, she recorded the first televised Nixon in China with the Houston Grand Opera (winner of an Emmy award), The Aspern Papers with the Dallas Opera, Pavarotti and the Italian Tenor, and New Moon.

AVIE RECORDS

AVIE Records operates a unique business model based on artist ownership. This model is as robust today as when the label launched in 2002, and allows artists a unique creative freedom. AVIE is run by experienced executives and has offices in the UK and the US.

A trail-blazing label, AVIE has been hailed as “adventurous” (The New York Times), “enterprising (Gramophone),” and “admirable” (The Sunday Times – London). According to leading classical e- tailer ArkivMusic.com, “in a relatively short time, AVIE has put together an impressive catalog.” www.AvieRecords.com