Gloria Musicae Announces 2015-2016 Season
Gloria Musicae’s 37th season includes Haydn’s masterpiece, “The Creation,” presented with the Sarasota Orchestra and the Florida premiere of “Barnum’s Bird,” Libby Larson’s operatic exploration chronicling the relationship between P.T. Barnum and Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind.
(Sarasota, FL) Gloria Musicae launches its 37th season with more of the innovative, cutting-edge programming that has become the organization’s hallmark under the artistic direction of Joseph Holt. Characterized by the combination of vibrant programming and outstanding musicianship, Gloria Musicae’s 2015/16 season is rich with eclecticism, collaboration, and–above all–great music. At the heart of the season are two show stoppers. In February, “The Creation,” Haydn’s majestic oratorio, will be presented in collaboration with the Sarasota Orchestra and the State College of Florida Concert Choir. In April, Gloria Musicae is presenting the Florida premiere of “Barnum’s Bird,” composer Libby Larsen’s operatic score chronicling the relationship between pioneering showman P.T. Barnum and Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind.
The season opens with “A Classical Christmas,” featuring romantic impressions of the holiday season as inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach, December 2, 7 p.m., at the First United Methodist Church, 104 S. Pineapple Avenue, Sarasota. The concert program will feature two 19th-century masterpieces: Camille Saint-Saëns’ warmly romantic “Oratorio de Noël,” and Mendelssohn’s “Vom Himmel hoch,” as well as a selection of traditional holiday carols for the entire audience to sing. “Bach’s influence on the works of Felix Mendelssohn was monumental considering that Mendelssohn resurrected the works of JS Bach in the 1830s, thus saving for generations to come the works of this remarkable Baroque composer,” says Dr. Joseph Holt, artistic director of Gloria Musicae. “Both composers represented in this concert incorporate several techniques of Bach oratorio composition, including arias, recitatives and choruses. The one unique feature that both composers utilize is the Lutheran Chorale, developed by Martin Luther and adopted by Bach in all of his choral compositions.”
The season continues with “The Creation,” Haydn’s majestic oratorio, presented in collaboration with Sarasota Orchestra and the State College of Florida Concert Choir, February 28, 2016, 3 p.m., at Church of the Palms, 3224 Bee Ridge Road, Sarasota. Considered by many to be Haydn’s masterpiece, the oratorio depicts and celebrates the creation of the world as described in the Book of Genesis and Milton’s “Paradise Lost.” The performance will also feature nature photographs provided by the Science and Environmental Council of Southwest Florida. Holt says that the photographs are “visual representations of the Creation, which we as human beings have been entrusted as caretakers.”
Next up is the Florida premiere of “Barnum’s Bird,” composer Libby Larsen’s operatic probe into the uneasy struggle between art and entertainment, April 3, 7.p.m., at Neel Performing Arts Center at the State College of Florida, 5840 26th Street West, Bradenton, and April 5, 7 p.m., at the Venice Performing Arts Center, 1 Indian Avenue, Venice. Larsen’s eclectic and imaginative score chronicles the relationship between pioneering showman P.T. Barnum and Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind, an artist and also a savvy businesswoman in her own right. The composer, Libby Larsen, will be a guest commentator for The Ringling’s “The Ringling Viewpoint,” and is also a guest for SILL”s Musical Mondays,” hosted by June LeBell and Joseph Holt.
Gloria Musicae concludes its season with a “Patriotic Spectacular,” its annual July 4th celebration of American composers and the American spirit July 4, 2016, 4:30 p.m., at First United Methodist Church in Sarasota.
The Gloria Musicae Singers will once again be partnering with the Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota in a number of concerts this season, including an October tribute to the music of Jerry Herman at the Sarasota Opera House; December holiday concerts at the Historic Asolo Theater in Sarasota; and two tributes to the music of Rogers and Hammerstein, in March at the North Port Performing Arts Center and in May at the Historic Asolo Theater.
“Our 2015-2016 season promises to be an exceptional one,” says Holt. “We’re honored to be performing ‘The Creation’ with the full Sarasota Orchestra and to be premiering ‘Barnum’s Bird,’ Libby Larsen’s fascinating insight into the intersection of art and marketing. Both pieces reflect our ongoing commitment to offer audiences new musical experiences in the choral realm, and to further our mission to use our voices to move, inspire and delight.”
Ticket prices for the 2015-2016 season of concerts will be announced in early October. For more information about Gloria Musicae, visit www.GloriaMusicae.org.
About Gloria Musicae
Gloria Musicae celebrates choral music through innovative performances. The critically acclaimed group, the Gloria Musicae Singers, under the artistic direction of Dr. Joseph Holt, performs a repertoire spanning four centuries, and includes orchestral works, intimate madrigals, church motets, folk songs, close-harmony jazz, and Broadway show music. The ensemble also specializes in premiere performances of lesser-known choral works, particularly music by living American composers. The Gloria Musicae Singers has performed premieres by René Clausen, Dick Hyman, Robert Levin, Gwyneth Walker, and James Grant, along with the premiere of a new edition of a rarely heard score by Rossini. For more information about Gloria Musicae, visit www.gloriamusicae.org.
