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Music of the Americas
The Cal Poly Humboldt School of Dance, Music and Theatre presents University Singers and Humboldt Chorale, led by choral director Rachel Samet, in two live concerts featuring 120 voices and chamber orchestra on Saturday, December 9th at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, December 10th at 2:00 p.m. This widely anticipated event, performed on campus in Fulkerson Recital Hall, is titled “Music of the Americas” and includes a range of compositions from across North and South America, as well as from across cultures and musical eras.
The focal point of the evening is a rarely heard Mass written by Afro-Brazilian composer José Maurício Nunes Garcia, who was a prolific and celebrated South American contemporary of the great European classical composers including Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Garcia set Missa pastoril para a noite de natal for choir and chamber orchestra and this performance will include all 120 voices, plus soloists, duos and trios, and instrumentalists selected by Dr. Samet from a wealth of local talent, including students, alumni, music faculty, and community members, making for an exciting musical performance and a powerful community engagement.
Tickets are available in advance at www.centerarts.humboldt.edu or may be purchased at the door. $10 General, $5 Children and Seniors, and Free for Cal Poly Humboldt students with ID.
The concerts begin with the one hundred voice strong Humboldt Chorale, performing a round adapted from a traditional Shaker tune originally titled “New Year’s Greeting.” Next on the program is “Safe with Me” by Bryan Sharpe, a young composer and arranger from Dayton, Ohio. It is a poignant and expressive piece about the importance of comforting one another, and providing safety in the face of obstacles and the unknown. The set concludes with “Going Home,” which imbues the theme made famous by Anton Dvořák in his New World Symphony with a rich contemporary harmonic sensibility. Dvořák himself was profoundly influenced by African-American spirituals and music. Arranger Rollo Dilworth, who is a respected music educator and composer from St. Louis, Missouri, adapts the theme in a gospel music style and incorporates the beloved spiritual “Deep River” as the starting point for the piece.
The University Singers take the stage next, opening with the African-American spiritual “My Lord, What a Mornin’,” a stirring hymn dating back to the American Civil War era, and made popular in the 20th century by singers like contralto Marian Anderson and folk artist Joan Baez. This arrangement is by Harry T. Burleigh, the widely respected baritone and composer who is credited with helping break down the color barrier for both performing artists and musical repertoire, and is often seen as America’s first prominent Black composer. “Juramento,” which means oath or vow, is a bolero by the prolific and celebrated Cuban songwriter and performer Miguel Matamoros. This arrangement is by Electo Silva, a Cuban choirmaster and choral arranger who championed the preservation and performance of Cuban music. Minnesota-based J. David Moore’s fun and toe-tapping arrangement of the traditional Appalachian tune “Will the Circle be Unbroken” closes the first half of the program.
For the second half of the concert, Humboldt Chorale and University Singers join forces, assembling a 120 member choir supported by a 27 piece orchestra. The first piece performed together is the uplifting and celebratory arrangement of the Quaker hymn “How Can I Keep from Singing?” by the popular New England composer Gwyneth Walker. The centerpiece of the program is Garcia’s Missa pastoril para a noite de natal. A composer, organist, and music educator born in Rio de Janeiro in 1767, Garcia was the grandson of enslaved people and during his lifetime became the greatest proponent of Western classical music in the Americas.
“We are so excited to share Garcia’s work with our audience. First of all, the music is absolutely beautiful. It is emblematic of its time, with soaring melodies and ornate embellishments. It is also varied in structure, with gorgeous choral movements as well as compelling solos, duets, and trios that allow us to feature many talented singers, including faculty, students, and community singers. I am particularly excited to share with our community the work of this little-known but worthy composer. And to perform with the combined choir of 120 singers with an orchestra is incredibly exciting! This is truly an event on a grand scale. The singers in the choirs have fallen in love with this piece and we are so excited to perform this work by a composer who is becoming more and more well-known and valued along with his famous peers in Europe.” Conductor Rachel Samet
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- Phone: 707-826-3566
- Email: mus@humboldt.edu
- Web site
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