The Gustavus Choir
The Department of Music at Gustavus is pleased to present the Gustavus Choir and Guest Conductor Timothy O’Brien in a spring concert, Harmonious Sisters, Voice and Verse, Saturday, May 7, 2011, at 3:30 p.m. in Christ Chapel. O’Brien, conducting while Gregory Aune is on leave, will be joined by Organist Chad Fothergill and narrators Robert Gardner and Ethan Bjelland for this performance.
In the words of the conductor, “The tradition of English choral music developed alongside one of the world’s richest and most treasured bodies of poetry. Neither art developed in a vacuum; …. (The) program invites contemplation of the work of some of England’s most celebrated composers in light of works written by poets, some of whom were their contemporaries, and some of whom are separated from them by centuries. It is hoped that the contemplation of English music in light of the English poetic tradition (and the reverse!) will provoke fresh understanding of these composers and their works.”
Saturday’s program includes readings from works by John Milton, Gerard Manley Hopkins, William Wordsworth, John Donne, Dylan Thomas, Stevie Smith and T.S. Eliot as introductions or connections to choral works from the 16th through the 20th centuries. Among the works presented will be Robert Parson’s Ave Maria, the “Kyrie” and “Gloria” from Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Mass in G, and selections from The St. Paul Service by Herbert Howells. Other composers with works in the program are Robert Parsons, Charles Wood, Edward Elgar, John Stainer and William Byrd.
This spring concert by the Gustavus Choir is it’s final major performance in a season that included a three-week concert tour in Italy. Conductor Timothy O’Brien, a native of St. Peter, is interim conductor of the Gustavus Choir while Conductor Gregory Aune is on a faculty sabbatical for the spring semester. Tim is a 1999 graduate of Gustavus with a Masters of Arts from the University of Minnesota. He is a long-time member of the St. Paul-based Rose Ensemble and a past member of the Dale Warland Singers.
The Gustavus Choir’s Honors Day concert begins at 3:30 p.m. in Christ Chapel. The performance is free and open to the public.