Contact: Allison Griffin
Public Relations Associate
503-416-6347
March 2, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … The Portland Symphonic Choir will be featured in “Voices of the Spirit,” the next classical concert led by Music Director Carlos Kalmar, on Saturday, March 31 at 7:30 p.m. and Monday, April 2 at 8 p.m. in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
The choir will open the program with the Symphony’s premiere of Samuel Barber’s Prayers of Kierkegaard. Drawn to Kierkegaard’s unceasing quest for spiritual truth, he composed a single-movement cantata comprised of four prayers by the Danish theologian and philosopher. The prayers chosen by the composer were taken from Kierkegaard’s journals and sermons, which emphasized the belief in the power of God’s redemption through affirmative human deeds and personal self-awareness.
The Symphony and Choir will also perform Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. Referred to by the composer as a “major sabbatical act,” the piece includes music originally written for West Side Story after the Dean of Chichester Cathedral commissioned Bernstein in 1964 to write a choral work and commented, “I think many of us would be very delighted if there was a hint of ‘West Side Story’ about the music.” As a result, the piece is full of jazzy Broadway rhythms that characterize his music. The work contains three complete psalms in original Hebrew that center around the mood of the piece: joyful exuberance with moments of violent frenzy and tender entreaties for peace.
The concert will conclude with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, “Pathetique.” He conducted the piece, his last, two weeks before his death. “I love it as I have never loved any one of my musical offspring before,” he said. The work is still very controversial today; Tchaikovsky refused to disclose any specifics about the subject matter. However, many scholars and critics agree that the highly emotional music is a declaration of forbidden love for his nephew Vladimir Davidov.
“The piece is unbelievable,” said Kalmar. “Especially the third movement—it’s so tragic that usually the audience can’t help but be moved to applaud.”
Portland’s oldest and largest independent choral organization, the Portland Symphonic Choir has been a strong presence in Portland’s cultural and artistic communities. Under the direction of Dr. Steven Zopfi, the choir consists of 130 voices and is especially known for its performance of choral masterworks.
Tickets are $20 to $88 and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket
Office, located at 923 S.W. Washington. Ticket office hours are Monday
through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets can be charged by phone
at (503) 228-1353 or
(800) 228-7343, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday,
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tickets may also be purchased at Ticketmaster outlets or by calling (503)
224-4400. Discounted tickets for groups of eight or more are available through
the group sales hotline at (503) 416-6380. Support for the concert is
provided by the Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation. Media support
is provided by The Oregonian and KINK fm.
Images and guest artist bios are available at www.orsymphony.org/media.