Chicago Bach Project January 2012 press release

Chicago Bach Project February 2012 press release

Chicago Bach Project April 2011
St. Matthew Passion performance,
St. Vincent de Paul Church, Chicago
(Photo: Antony Caldaroni)

On Friday, March 2, 2012, 8:00 p.m. CST (9:00 p.m. EST; 2:00 a.m. March 3 GMT) the Chicago classical radio station, 98.7 WFMT, is re-broadcasting the 2011 Chicago Bach Project performance of the St. Matthew Passion.

This is a broadcast you won't want to miss. The original concert was the launch event for SDG's Chicago Bach Project in April 2011 and was aired live on WFMT. The concert received rave reviews from critics and audience alike, and was named "One of the Top 10 Performances of 2011" by Chicago Classical Review.

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St. John Passion during Holy Week
Preparations for our second annual Chicago Bach Project concert are well underway, with rehearsals beginning in March. We are delighted to welcome a world-class roster of soloists for this year’s performance of Bach’s St. John Passion, along with some of Chicago’s top professional musicians, many of whom  are associated with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Music of the Baroque, Grant Park Festival, Ars Viva, and music faculties of DePaul University and Wheaton College.

Given that last year’s Chicago Bach Project performance was named “One of the Top 10 Performances of 2011,” we expect this year’s concert to be a sell out. If you’re thinking about attending, now would be the time to get your tickets, to ensure the best seat selection!

Program Notes from the St. John Passion
South Dakota Is the Place to Be
     (Kellogg premiere)
SDG Highlights
Board Updates
SDG Commissions to Premiere in Wales
     (Byrar, Bannister premieres)
Wyner Psalm Recap
The CEO Search Is On
New Reviews of Our Beethoven
     Missa Solemnis DVD
Dont's Miss This!
     (St. Matthew Passion rebroadcast)
What's Ahead . . .

Daniel Kellogg

On February 25 and 26, 2012, the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Maestro Delta David Gier, will present the world premiere of Daniel Kellogg’s From Everlasting to Everlasting. Commissioned by Soli Deo Gloria, this new 17-minute work is a Psalm cycle for orchestra and mezzo-soprano and is the fifth SDG commission from Dr. Kellogg.

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Dilijan Chamber Music Society
and soloist Daniel Plaster
at the L.A. premiere

September 25, 2011
Zipper Concert Hall
Colburn School of the Performing Arts
Los Angeles, CA

Dilijan Chamber Music Society
Movses Pogassian, Varty Manouelian, violins
Gina Coletti, viola
Vardan Gasparyan, cello
Daniel Plaster, tenor

The Dilijan Chamber Music Series, dedicated to showcasing traditional pieces of Western classical chamber music, as well as Armenian chamber works, performed the world premiere of Vache Sharafyan's work for string quartet and tenor, Have Mercy on Me, O God. As one audience member so eloquently stated:

"The painful, querying, pleading and searching quality with which he began ("Have Mercy on me") led to pianissimo major chords in the strings, as if the prayer had become a breath being taken or a heartbeat in anticipation of further prayer." - Grant Barnes, Esq.

Mr. Sharafyan is one of the most important living composers from Armenia and is an official composer for The Silk Road Project founded by cellist Yo Yo Ma. This new work, based on Psalm 51, is deeply influenced by the espressiveness of Armenian medieval sacred hymns.

See Have Mercy on Me, O Lord  for information on the commission and to hear the premiere of this work.

Westminster Kantorei

October 29, 2011
Westminster Choir College
Bristol Chapel
Princeton, NJ

Andrew Megill, conductor
Westminster Kantorei

When Swedish composer Sven-David Sandström traveled to the U.S. for the premiere of his SDG-commissioned, a cappella choral work God Be Merciful, little did he, or the choir at Westminster Choir College, know what lay in store for them. Despite the wild weather brought on by a surprise early winter snowstorm, the concert went on, and Sandström's work uplifted the spirits of the listeners with its sonorous chords and unique rhythmic textures.

Sven-David Sandström
speaking informally
with compostion students
at Westminster Choir College

In sessions preceding the performance, the students were thrilled to meet and interact with this world-renowned composer. Mr. Sandström talked with them about his desire to create "smooth and beautiful sounds" and shared this personal statement: "Before I die, I wish to see church music flowering as it was in 1650."

Commissioned by Soli Deo Gloria, in cooperation with the Sacred Music Department at Westminster Choir College, God Be Merciful is the third premiere in the SDG Psalms Project,

See God Be Merciful for information on the commission and premiere.

West Window,
American Cathedral in Paris

Soli Deo Gloria is pleased to announce the world premiere of the next SDG commission in the Psalms Project, The Lord is close to the heartbroken, by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Yehudi Wyner.

Written for mixed chorus, the work is based on Psalms 34 and 68, using what the composer calls “a slight mélange” of several scripture translations. He has carefully selected his text with a keen ear for language that is singable and with a desire to call attention to what he describes as “the remarkable purity and hopefulness of the text itself.”

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Chicago Bach Project 2012 Nov 2011 Press Release

Finnish composer
Einojuhani Rautavaara
Photo: Maarit Kytoharju / Fimic

A notable event took place on November 25, 2011, in the Netherlands. The Jacobikerk in Utrecht was the site of the world premiere of a new 25-minute choral work, Missa a cappella, by Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara, performed by the internationally renowned Netherlands Radio Choir.

The event is notable for several reasons, the first and foremost being that a new large-scale work by Rautavaara, the leading Finnish composer of his generation, is a major event in itself. The Mass, which has been forty years in gestation (he wrote the Credo in 1972), not only has intrinsic value but also constitutes something of a spiritual testament. It was received with a standing ovation, with the choir repeating the beautiful Agnus Dei as an encore.

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