Santa Fe Desert Chorale Announces 35^th Anniversary Tour to Dallas, Fort Worth, and Oklahoma City. 

American Voices program reflects four centuries of American repertoire.

Commercial recording of the program to be released by Avie Records and distributed by NAXOS.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Santa Fe, New Mexico, September 21, 2017: The Santa Fe Desert Chorale (SFDC) announced the programming and scheduling for its 35^th anniversary tour to Dallas, Fort Worth, and Oklahoma City. In making the announcement, Music Director Joshua Habermann said, “I am thrilled to present the Desert Chorale to the Dallas/Fort Worth choral community that has been my home for the last seven years.”

The American Voices concert repertoire performed by the all-professional Santa Fe Desert Chorale spans three centuries: from Shaker music of the 1800s to works by leading 21st century choral composers including Sydney Guillaume, Shawn Kirchner, Morten Lauridsen, and Stephen Paulus. It includes a world premiere, Reflections by Jake Runestad set to journal writings by Henry David Thoreau. In writing about Reflections, the composer said, “the beauty of American music is that it is filled with the influence of traditions from the diverse cultures that make up our community. This new work, while attempting to capture what makes America unique, is inspired by the diversity of our collective experiences and comments on an element of life as a citizen of this ever-changing cultural landscape.” The Runestad work was commissioned by the Santa Fe Desert Chorale and underwritten in part by Jane Clayton Oakes.

The Santa Fe Desert Chorale will perform at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Oklahoma City, OK on Friday, October 20, 2017 at 7:00 p.m., at the Kimbell Art Museum’s Renzo Piano Pavilion in Fort Worth, TX on Saturday, October 21, 2017 at 2:00 p.m., and on The David R. Davidson Tower Arts Series at Highland Park United Methodist Church on Sunday, October 22, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. The Fort Worth performance is dedicated to the memory of Marlene Nathan Meyerson, and is sponsored in part by the Marlene Nathan Meyerson Family Foundation and the David Nathan Meyerson Foundation. The American Voices Tour received leadership support from the Carol Franc Buck Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. American Airlines is the official tour airline of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale. Ticket prices range from $20 to $40 (with reduced student ticket prices) depending on the venue. For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit www.desertchorale.org or call (505) 988-2282.

Following the three public tour performances, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale will give two abbreviated concerts for the students in the Choral & Elementary Music program in The Visual and Performing Arts Department of the Dallas Independent School District, which is under the direction of its Director, Bradley Olesen, Ph.D. The opportunity for the students to hear the professional choir in performances at Highland Park United Methodist Church supports the department’s goal to “increase, improve, and implement quality enrichment opportunities for all students during both in-school and out-of-school time.” The school performances will take place on Wednesday, October 25, 2017 at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and are closed to the general public.

Additionally, 16 members of the Chorale, Dr. Joshua Habermann, and Artistic Coordinator, Dr. Kyle Nielsen will be in residence at the College of Music at the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton, TX on October 26, and 27, 2017 where they will lead choral singing and choral conducting workshops. The residency is under the direction of Dr. Richard Sparks, a Professor of Music and Chair, Division of Conducting and Ensembles and Dr. Allen Hightower, Director of Choral Studies at UNT.

The tour culminates with a commercial recording of the American program, and will take its title from Stephen Paulus’ composition The Road Home. The first commercial release in SFDC’s history will be recorded at Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, TX, released on the Avie label, and distributed by NAXOS. 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 is underwritten by Faith Strong of California.

Composer Shawn Kirchner spoke about the Chorale and inclusion of his tri-part work Heavenly Home on the recording: “My relationship with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale began in July 2013 when I spent several days with Dr. Joshua Habermann and the choir in preparation for their summer performances of my composition Heavenly Home: Three American Songs. (Heavenly Home is a choral cycle based on three ‘classic’ 19^th century gospel songs that utilizes the virtuosity of an advanced choir, with many textural layers, rich harmonies, and improvisatory elements.)” He continued, “the collaboration was very successful due to Dr. Habermann’s interpretive gifts and the talented singers’ great ‘feel’ for the piece. The success was also enabled by something every choral director who programs concerts knows: There is a unique, palpable connection that audiences experience when listening to traditional American music.” He added, “as one of the nation’s leading choirs, their unique artistic contributions and high quality programming ‘raise the bar’ and inspire the whole choral community. A recording project of American choral music will both document their achievement and further their ‘reach,’ enabling more to partake of their inspired choral artistry.”

An exclusive patron tour that includes not only the Chorale’s concerts, but specially-arranged cultural and culinary experiences in Dallas and Fort Worth, will take place in conjunction with the Chorale’s tour.

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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.