The Trio of Tributes

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. 

23rd Annual Arts Advocacy Day

"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

Support CCS via United Way and the CFC

 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:

United Way number:  8638

Combined Federal Campaign:  62850

For more information, please click here.

 

Egg Roll

Our friends at the DC Youth Orchestra were featured performers at the White House Easter Egg Roll! 

Want to learn more about the DCYO? Become a fan on Facebook!

British Choir Festival Interview Series

"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.

Did you have your Raisin Brahms today???

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.

Final Lenten Series Concert - Washington National Cathedral

20th Century France: Durufle Requiem

• Tickets: $20-$40.
• Buy tickets now

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.