Tickets are on sale now for The Joy of Christmas! at the Strathmore Music Center
Monday, December 20th 8:00pm!
Review: Joy of Christmas, Joe Banno
Positive responses to music director J. Reilly Lewis's "Joy of
Christmas" programs with his Cathedral Choral Society have become almost
as much a tradition of the season as the concerts.But, as Saturday's annual presentation proved again, these are the
smartest, least-hackneyed and most musically satisfying of the plentiful
choral events on offer in the Washington area each December.The cathedral, of course, always adds powerfully to the atmospherics at
work - whether wrapping an evocative halo around the divided-chorus
antiphony in Elizabeth Poston's "Jesus Christ the Apple Tree" during
Saturday's opening Advent wreath procession, or providing crisp
reverberation to the athletically virtuosic brass-quintet playing from
members of the Washington Symphonic Brass. But the fresh repertoire on offer brought comparable rewards, with a mix
of rarely heard material from Felix Mendelssohn and 16th-century
composer Jacob Handl, and lovely contemporary pieces by Stephen
Caracciolo, Alexander L'Estrange, Frank La Rocca and Richard Wayne
Dirksen.The premiere of a newly commissioned carol, "The Nine Gifts" by Robert
Chilcott, revealed a warmly consonant charmer. But there was challenging
pungency in the torrential onslaught of Adolphus Hailstork's Toccata on
"Veni Emmanuel," played with great verve by organist Todd Fickley. Even
that tired chestnut of Christmas choral concerts, the guest appearance
by a high school chorus, was elevated here by the pure tone, rich blend
and superior musicianship of the Maret School Concert Choir, which,
under James Irwin's sensitive baton, more than held its own against the
rarefied beauty of the Cathedral Choral Society.The program will be repeated in the airy, if more secular, acoustics of Strathmore Hall on Dec. 20.
- Joe Banno
In preparation for this season's Joy of Christmas performances, we sat down with composer and conductor, Stephen Caracciolo to get the scoop on his biggest influences and inspirations. Hear his work -"The Lamb" from Songs of Innocence - in action at this season's Joy of Christmas performances at Washington National Cathedral and the Music Center at Strathmore
How old were you when you first seriously considered
making music your career?
About 12. I was singing in a men and boys choir and fell
in love with the whole idea of making music with others. The Anglican liturgy
was beautiful, and the way music, liturgical action, and spoken word was
combined has informed the rest of my life.
Who supported and inspired you to make the choice?
First my mother, second my HS choral conductor.
Do you have a pre-composition ritual or practice that
helps you get started?
Not really. Finding good texts is the hardest thing for
me. I'm really selective.
Which composers most influence your style?
Almost anyone British, any era.. Also, as strange as this
may sound, Alfred Burt, whose carols I sang in high school. His tonal style but
with near "jazz" colorings I find creeping into my music even when I
didn't intend it too. Have you ever taken a Burt Carol and added a rhythm
section to it? You get something close to a jazz chart. Sometimes my scores
have that same character. "The Lamb" has seventh chords, and added
note chords, and twists of harmony that sound something close to jazz if you
add a "beat".
In light of the recent economic downturn, what advice
would you give to aspiring singers and composers?
Become very good at your craft while still diversifying.
My real job is serving as a conductor and teacher, but I compose and sing on
the side. Enjoy working with people. Get some business experience in while you
are young, you may have the opportunity to work in arts administration to help
support yourself. Get into the very best university program you can, aim high.
Most importantly, after you graduate with whatever degree, do not be afraid to simply
volunteer your time to other musical artists and professionals whom you respect
in your community. Established mentors in the field can help you find a
productive slot in the local musical scene. If I had my life to live over, that
is what I would do.
Could you briefly tell us about the creation of The Lamb?
If I recall, "The Lamb" was one of those Summer
Christmas itches. I settled on the text, wrote the melodic material first, then
created the harmonies around that. A very simple construction. My scores tend
to explore the tension between dissonance and consonance. Where is the harmony
going? How tight can I twist the dissonances before I release them? That
character is especially clear in this short setting; at "We are called by
his name", for instance. Just weeks after completing this text, I received
a new commission, so I selected three additional Blake texts and created a set,
"The Songs of Innocence". Thank you for singing the setting of
"The Lamb" from that set. I look forward to seeing you at next
Monday's rehearsal.
Stephen Caracciolo is a choral conductor recognized for his passionate
artistry, creative teaching, and is a nationally known composer and
arranger whose choral works have been performed throughout the United
States and Europe. Mr. Caracciolo is currently Assistant Professor of voice and conducting at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
October 8thmarks the 140th
anniversary of Louis Victor Jules Vierne, famed French organist and no stranger
to tragedy. Although the dramatic extent of Vierne’s life varies among sources,
one cannot deny the presence of some unfortunate circumstances appearing in his
music.
Vierne was born in 1870 to doting parents in Poitiers.
Facing the odds from the beginning, Vierne suffered from congenital cataracts
rendering him nearly blind. Previously thought to be inoperable, his father, a
journalist, facilitated an operation by the inventor of the iridectomy – the introduction
of an artificial pupil to the iris. This revolutionary procedure allowed Vierne
to be what we consider today, legally blind.
Although severely visually impaired, Vierne was not without
tremendous talent. His musical inclination was visible at a very early age and
fostered by his uncle, Charles Colin, professor of Oboe at the Paris
Conservatory and winner of the Prix de Rome.
Although Colin was an accomplished oboist – his works still performed
widely – he was also an organist, and first introduced his new nephew to the
instrument on which he excelled.
At age 11, Vierne lost his uncle to an acute respiratory
illness and found himself simultaneously devastated with grief but with a
renewed fervor to pursue a career as an organ recitalist. His father continued
to be supportive both emotionally and financially until the time of his death which would come prematurely.
By the age of 15, Vierne had learned to read Braille as a result of partial
blindness, become an organ phenomenon and lost his two strongest mentors and
supporters – his uncle, and now his father.
Determined to persevere as an organist and composer, Louis
Vierne became a pupil of the renowned Cesar Franck at the Paris Conservatory. One
year later, no stranger to tragedy, the young man found himself another loss with
which to contend. Cesar Franck was killed suddenly as the result of a tragic
traffic incident. Vierne continued his studies at the conservatory haunted by
the death of so many seminal figures in his life at the young age of 19.
Vierne’s career took off, and he was appointed assistant
organist at Church of Saint-Sulpice. After winning a fierce competition, he was
finally appointed organist of the Cathedral at Notre Dame and married soprano,
Arlette Taskin. Vierne took many pupils that would later become fixed marks in
music, including Nadia Boulanger and Maurice Duruflé. Things were looking up.
But tragedy has a way of following us around. Over the next
decade, Louis Vierne would divorce his wife as a result of her affair with his friend, an
organ-builder – oh the irony. He would lose both brothers in the battlefields of
World War 1, lose a child to tuberculosis and nearly lose his own leg in an
automobile accident that would come close to costing his career at the organ. This is
where most people would give up and live a life of relative obscurity.
Not Vierne. He continued composing, teaching and performing. He
even embarked on a North American tour to raise funds for the restoration of
his beloved instrument at Notre Dame that had fallen into disrepair. The tour included a performance on the Wanamaker Organ in
Philadelphia. Through the face of
immense personal tragedy, Vierne’s career flourished. Music was his refuge, and
he often remarked to friends that he wished his death to be in the midst of
creation, to die while at the organ.
On June 2nd, 1937 with Maurice Duruflé at this
side, Louis Vierne got his wish. He suffered a heart attack at the Cathedral of
Notre Dame, on the bench mid-performance, at the console of his beloved instrument that never let him down. When
he collapsed, his foot hit the E pedal, echoing relief and peace throughout the
Nave of Notre Dame.
In December, singers from the Cathedral Choral Society were invited to perform at the White House for the Executive Branch and Press Corps holiday parties. We graciously received a photo this week to commemorate the event and would like to share it with you all! This photo was given to us with written permission by the White House Photo Office for use on the CCS Facebook page and this blog. Any other usage will be considered unlawful. We thank you in advance for your cooperation!
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
On Sunday, a broad swath of Washington's music community turned out to
celebrate one of its pillars, the choral conductor and organist J.
Reilly Lewis, who celebrated his 25th anniversary as the head of the
Cathedral Choral Society with a typically informal, personal event
called "Reilly and Friends."
In the classical world, 25 years is a drop in the bucket -- Norman
Scribner, founder of the Choral Arts Society, is currently wrapping up
his 45th anniversary season with that group, and Lewis himself has
served for more than 30 years as head of the Washington Bach Consort.
But the anniversary was an excuse for many to come cheer the popular
Lewis -- including Scribner himself, who conducted one of the pieces.
The concert at Washington National Cathedral included everyone from the
Washington Ballet (Andile Ndlovu danced an athletic if stylistically
incongruous interpretation of the aria from the "Goldberg" Variations)
to the Washington Symphonic Brass to the kids of the St.
Albans-National Cathedral Schools Chorale, the girls in purple
patterned skirts that made a funky contrast to the demure purple
ruffle-necked robes sported by the smallest members of the cathedral's
Choir of Men and Boys.
Lewis's musical autobiography, as presented here, was intimately
bound up with the cathedral, whose difficult acoustic he made a virtue
by placing choruses in different parts of the building to highlight the
ways the sound ricocheted off the high pale stone. It was also bound up
with a tradition of sacred music distinct from the 19th-century
classical canon, and, like the cathedral itself, somewhat newer: The
early 20th-century French and Belgian organ composers Lewis has loved
(he played Maurice Duruflé's Toccata himself), and the living composers
he has worked with. One highlight was the world premiere of Dominick
Argento's "The Choir Invisible"; the composer set a thoughtful and
slightly convoluted text by George Eliot with gentle declamatory grace.
A third component, inevitably, was Bach, in several incarnations,
including the familiar Sinfonia melody from Cantata No. 156 played
respectably on cello by the head of the Washington Performing Arts
Society, Neale Perl, in the unaccustomed role of performer.
A 25th anniversary is an active thing: still in progress, not truly
venerable. Rather than the hush of ancient tradition, Sunday's concert
exuded the ruddy good health of the comfortably middle-aged. The
choruses entered to a plump, Wagner-influenced Richard Strauss
processional from 1909, and exited, at the end of a long afternoon, to
the raucous mewlings of a gaggle of bagpipers and the accompanying
drummers from the St. Andrew's Society. After leading the crowd
outdoors, the pipers stood in a semicircle in front of the cathedral
and continued to play: the focus of a community, standing around them
soaking up the music, and the sun.
Champagne Reception
In honor of Maestro Lewis' 25th Anniversary Season, there will be a champagne reception immediately following the concert. Tickets to the reception are $25 a person.
Free parking in the Cathedral underground garage courtesy of the Cathedral Choral Society
We’ve been in a celebratory mood lately, alive with excitement and preparation for events commemorating our esteemed music director’s 25th anniversary with the Cathedral Choral Society. J. Reilly Lewis has become a mainstay on the DC choral scene and provided invaluable artistic insight and leadership to all involved with this organization.
Reilly began his career at age 8 as a member of the Junior Boy Choir at Washington National Cathedral. We can’t think if a more fitting place to celebrate his career and contributions than right here where it all began. Next weekend will mark what we like to call The Trio of Tributes. Our annual gala will kick off the celebration right here at Washington National Cathedral under a tent on the North Lawn. This is sure to be a tasty event, catered by Ridgewells of Bethesda! Our last subscription concert entitled Reilly and Friends is a celebration featuring many beloved choral works and exciting collaborations with many of Washington’s finest performing artists on Sunday, May 16th followed by a post-concert champagne reception under the tent.
When a career spans over 25 years, friends are bound to be made. The Reilly and Friends program will feature works from friends Reilly has acquired over the years including Wayne Dirksen, Bob Shafer and Dominick Argento. Reilly was and continues to be inspired by these pillars of choral music:
“Wayne Dirksen was my choirmaster, organ teacher, mentor, and then esteemed colleague. It was he who opened up for me the mysteries of music in this magnificent sacred space.” -J. Reilly Lewis on Wayne Dirksen
“Shortly after I returned from New York City, I heard a performance on my car radio that was so engaging, so captivating, and so exquisite - That performance said it all. It inspired me to drive straight to the school to introduce myself to this remarkable young conductor. Thus began our lifelong friendship.” -J. Reilly Lewis on Bob Shafer
“No words of mine can express the love and gratitude I feel for Dominick’s generosity of spirit in setting this incredibly moving text to music. One of the joys of being music director of this venerable organization has always been the opportunity to nurture the talents of others.” J. Reilly Lewis on Dominick Argento
We hope you will join us next weekend in celebration of 25 years with Music Director, J. Reilly Lewis, and offer a toast to 25 more.
"All religions, arts, and sciences are branches of the same tree"
- Albert Einstein
On Monday, Americans for the Arts hosted the 23rd annual "Arts Advocacy
Day." It’s the only national event that brings together a broad cross-section
of America's cultural and civic organizations, along with hundreds of
grassroots advocates from across the country, to underscore the importance of
developing strong public policies and appropriating increased public funding
for the arts.
As a forward looking organization, CCS often sends a staff representative to
various seminars and workshops in the non-profit world to ensure we're always
doing our best for our singers and supporters. We attended arts advocacy day
and learned a great deal about the legislative process, importance of strength
in numbers and facts and figures about the state of the arts in America.
NEA Chairman, Rocco Landesman addressed the advocates and armed us with
three main points to help anyone seeking funding for the arts articulate their
purpose.
ART WORKS!
1. The arts increase social responsibility. People involved with arts
organizations or patrons of the arts are typically more involved with other
local organizations and the democratic process in general.
2. The quality of life increases, particularly for children. In areas where
the arts are a prevalent part of the community, truancy and delinquency are at
an all time low.
3. Art is a poverty fighter and economy builder. The arts create jobs and
contribute to tourism. A visitor to Washington is twice more likely to attend a
performance at the Kennedy Center than a DC resident.
Our favorite Rocco anecdote: You don't think the arts create jobs? Well
there are 200,000 people employed in the arts in CA, and only 125,000 lawyers.
ART WORKS!
Yesterday, Rocco testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on
the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies. For the full text, click HERE
CCS is part of the Combined Federal Campaign! If you are an employee expected to contributed to a charity VIA the CFC or United Way, you can now designate CCS as the beneficiary!
The mission of the CFC is to promote and support philanthropy
through a program that is employee focused, cost-efficient, and
effective in providing all federal employees the opportunity to improve
the quality of life for all.CFC
is the world's largest and most successful annual workplace charity
campaign, with more than 300 CFC campaigns throughout the country and
internationally to help to raise millions of dollars each year. Pledges
made by Federal civilian, postal and military donors during the
campaign season (September 1st to December 15th) support eligible
non-profit organizations that provide health and human service benefits
throughout the world. The Director of OPM has designated to the Office
of CFC Operations responsibility for day-to-day management of the CFC.
To contribute to CCS through the Combined Federal Campaign, please use the following codes:
"As much as it is a military and economic
superpower, England has always been an artistic, even choral, superpower. You
don't have to be an Anglophile to appreciate that England has produced one of
the world's richest choral traditions." - Mickey Butts, San Francisco
Classical Voice
To honor this tradition, the Cathedral
Choral Society proudly presents an annual British Choir Festival at Washington
National Cathedral. The first official festival took place in 1986, when the
Laura E. Phillips endowment for the festival was created.
This year, we are so pleased to host
the Saint Thomas and New College Choirs for British Choir Festival - 2010! In the
weeks leading up to the festival on April 18th, we will feature a brief
interview with past and present members of each choir to discuss what the
tradition means to them and where it all started.
Today's interview
features Matthew Brown, a UK native. Mr. Brown has been singing in the
Anglican tradition since childhood. He now resides in New York City, and
sings with the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys as a countertenor.
How/when did you begin singing?
I played violin from an early age, and could
read music and hold a line, so I joined the school choir when I was ten. I
joined my first church choir at Saint Margaret's, Westminster shortly thereafter
(as a treble).
What does singing in this British Anglican
tradition mean to you?
It means singing beautiful music with talented
musicians, and giving long-dead composers eternal life through the performance
of their music.
What does the choir bring to your understanding
of yourself as a singer?
It helps me listen to others; to understand the
importance of working in an ensemble for one's own musical development.
What are the best parts of singing with your
choir?
Singing in the amazing space at Saint Thomas
Church and the feeling of pride when singing to a packed crowd.
What is it like to come together with other
similar choirs to sing in this Festival?
It's amazing to sing with other choirs, and to
quickly adapt to new conductors. It also gives us the opportunity to sing Spem
in Alium, which would be impossible with just one choir.
What is your favorite thing about Washington
National Cathedral?
The sense of space, the mix of the modern and
the traditional, the smell of history in the air.
The average kid is provided insufficient time
to learn and experience the arts. This PSA campaign was created to
increase involvement in championing arts education both in and out of
school.
Come to the Cathedral and
join us for the fourth and final concert in the series of Lenten
Concerts given by the National Cathedral’s concert ensemble, Cathedra.
Twentieth-century France produced as rich a seam of liturgical music as
has been seen in the history of western music. Arguably two of its
giants were Francis Poulenc and Maurice Duruflé. In tonight’s program
we hear the Four Lenten Motets of Poulenc and his unaccompanied Mass. The series closes with Durufle’s sublime Requiem, using his first edition with string orchestra and organ.
Poulenc composed music that reflects that fervent
Catholicism of his paternal side and the provocative artistic heritage
of his mother’s family. In the Quatre motets pour un temps de
pénitence, the former shines through. Although Poulenc’s inventive use
of harmony and rhythm are far from conservative, his choice of texts
and the intensity of their settings are unequaled. The Mass in G,
on the other hand, plays more with musical texture and color, employing
the singers like instruments, rather than striving toward the text
painting achievements of his motets.
Duruflé’s Requiem ranks among the most
beloved pieces in the Washington National Cathedral Choir’s repertoire.
The precise counterpoint of the Kyrie, the ecstatic climaxes of the
Domine Jesu Christe and Sanctus, and the powerful restraint of the solo
Pie Jesu are a breathtaking sequence of musical events. The angelic
conclusion of the In Paradisum transports the listener and singer alike
into a higher realm of consciousness.
Cathedral Choral Society: sublime Passion
by Cecelia Porter
A sublime performance of sublime music does not come along every
day. But it did on Sunday at Washington National Cathedral, when J.
Reilly Lewis conducted the Cathedral Choral Society and Orchestra,
along with the Cathedral Choristers and stellar vocal and instrumental
soloists, in J.S. Bach's epic "St. Matthew Passion." A portrayal of the
impelling events leading up to the Crucifixion, the "St. Matthew" is a
three-hour-long drama of realism as wrought with conflicting emotions
as Shakespeare's "Macbeth" or Wagner's "Ring" cycle. The libretto
combines scriptural accounts with Bach's personal choice of other texts
according to the Lutheran tradition of his day. (read more after the jump)
Bach
demands impossibly Olympic standards of performers, such as assigning
wind players extended melodic lines and singers never-ending solo
passages on just one syllable -- without time to breathe. But in
Sunday's performance, everyone met the technical challenges with
seeming ease. Chorus and soloists also rendered Bach's text with German
consonants and vowels unblemished by English pronunciation,
intensifying the cutting edge of a story pitting violence and guilt
against compassion.
Lewis's every motion drew from his forces the tumultuous scenario of
individual remorse, screaming multitudes, even the thunder and
lightning of nature's fury. As the Evangelist, Rufus Müller narrated
the shattering story with both overwhelming vocal magnitude and telling
physical bearing. Likewise, the other soloists coupled vocal excellence
with dramatic gestures. Portraying their roles with deep conviction
were soloists Christòpheren Nomura, Gillian Keith, Clare Wilkinson,
Alan Bennett and Craig Phillips.
As Sunday's performance ended, the audience delayed applause for a few moments. That told it all. -- Cecelia Porter
By
Anne Midgette
|
February 23, 2010; 5:00 AM ET
Profoundly religious yet intimate in its expression of human feeling, the St. Matthew Passion tells of the days leading to the Crucifixion as the music arcs from the exultant to the tragic, sweeping the listener into the drama.
Join us at 2:30 pm for a free pre-concert discussion in Perry Auditorium (7th Floor of the Cathedral) with Michael McCarthy, Director of Music at Washington National Cathedral.
Ernest Hemingway once said, "What greater gift than the love of a cat?"
Anyone
who ever entered the Cathedral's greenhouse and library has experienced
such love. A memorable, American Short-hair named Katherine of Tarragon
has graced the lives of visitors and staff on the close for over 15
years, and at this time, announces her retirement.
Ms.
Tarragon was only a kitten when she began her work as an entry-level
mouse catcher in the Cathedral Greenhouse 15 years ago. It is there,
where she spent most of her career until the closing of the Greenhouse
in 2008. During which time, Ms. Tarragon inspired a retail product line
at the Cathedral's Museum Shop where Katherine cards can be found. She spent the remainder of her professional career in the
Cathedral Library, helping CCS and Cathedral records staff with daily
office activities such as chasing strings across the floor, sleeping on
the outgoing mail, and basking on the warm floor in front of the copy
machine. Ms. Tarragon spent most mornings outside the front door of the
library greeting everyone from staff and bike messengers, to visiting
dignitaries.
As her primary care taker, Tom Wright describes,
"Katherine is a robust 15.5 years old." She has developed some
non-threatening, age-related health issues, and following the advice of
her primary feline care provider has decided to retire. Ms. Tarragon
will live out her days in a posh townhome in Georgetown, with daily and
loving attention - and a new feline friend!
Katherine is, and will continue to be, a part of many lives. She
is a reminder that even amidst the most trying of times, we can all
find a common thread in the happiness - of that which occurs in nature - can bring.
It is difficult to talk about the end of 2009 when our season is only at the halfway mark. The 2009-2010 season has been a series of amazing events and celebrations, and we are ready and raring for 2010. This season, we have created a wonderful new group called the "CCS Ensemble Singers." The group is comprised of a rotating handful of regular CCS members that are available for local events and parties. They have performed at our fall retail fund raising events, the New Zealand Embassy, and in December, received the ultimate invitation: To provide holiday music at The White House.
This was a wonderful honor for the singers representing CCS and was hugely successful. Their artistic interpretation of holiday favorites entertained the likes of Al Roker, Andrea Mitchell, Bill O'Reilly and Wolf Blitzer. The singers were led by chorus master, Todd Fickley, and following the performance, were all introduced to the President of the United States and the First Lady.
We on the CCS staff are so proud of all the singers who participate in the "Ensemble Singers," for representing entire chorus so beautifully.
There are several exciting things in store for this season including more Young Professionals events, a "Twitter Balcony," and our final concert, Reilly & Friends: A Celebration of Twenty-Five Years - a concert sure to be a treat you will not want to miss.
The Cathedral Choral Society is the resident symphonic chorus of Washington National Cathedral. The 160-voice chorus is the oldest choral group in Washington, founded in 1941. Since 1985, J. Reilly Lewis has conducted the Society in musical masterpieces from plainsong to contemporary works. The four major concerts each season are often performed with full symphony orchestra. Since its founding, the Cathedral Choral Society has presented numerous world premieres, many of them commissioned by the Society, and has maintained a tradition of showcasing both promising young soloists and internationally known artists. CCS is dedicated to enriching the community in which we live through reaching out to the Washington, DC public schools with our educational outreach programs.
All content posted on this blog is the property of Cathedral Choral Society.
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