Ring in the Holiday Season with Kimmel Center Presents’ Second Annual Sing Along Messiah
November 21, 2007
Members of the Public Are Invited to Bring Their Vocal Scores and Vocal Chords
Kimmel Center Presents rings in the holiday season with the second annual Sing Along Messiah in Verizon Hall on Friday, December 7, 2007 at 7:30pm. Music Director Jeffrey Brillhart leads the Singing City Choir through various movements of Handel’s Messiah with accompanying organist, Nathan Laube, and a renowned ensemble of soloists including soprano Barbara Shirvis, mezzo-soprano Suzanne DuPlantis, tenor Bryan Hymel, and bass-baritone Ben Wager. Joining the Singing City Choir will be the Northeast High School Concert Choir and the Upper Darby High School Encore Singers. Audiences are encouraged to join the choir in a spirited holiday celebration with family and friends, and are invited to bring their own vocal scores (any edition). While not mandatory, it will be suggested that audience members sit in sections according to vocal parts. A full list of actual sections from Handel’s Messiah to be performed can be found online at www.kimmelcenter.org and is listed below.
This concert is a special concert associated with the Master Musician Organ Series scheduled for the 2007/2008 season. The next concert in the series will be Hector Olivera on Saturday, February 16, 2008 at 3pm.
Tickets for Sing Along Messiah are $20 and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply.) For group sales call 215-790-5883.
A limited number of $10 tickets are available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance at the Kimmel Center. Tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office beginning 2.5 hours prior to curtain time and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one ticket per person.
Founded in Philadelphia in 1948, Singing City Choir remains committed to artistic excellence and to the betterment of the community. As a result of critical acclaim through performances with The Philadelphia Orchestra, the choir was invited to perform in Israel with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic and also in Jordan and Egypt while on tour in the 1970's and '80's. Singing City was the first Western choir to perform with the Leningrad Philharmonic in Leningrad in 1990. In May 2000, Singing City was the lead choir at the First International Choral Festival de Cuba. The choir toured Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the summer of 2004.
Singing City continues to bring choral music to the underserved, performing not only in concert halls, but also in homeless shelters and nursing homes in and around Philadelphia. Singing City's nationally recognized school residency program, Singing City in the Schools, has brought music rudiments, choral singing, and composition techniques to children in the Philadelphia public schools and to some private schools in the area. Singing City in the Schools was taken to a new level with the launching of the Singing City Prize for Young Composers last spring.
Jeffrey Brillhart has served as Director of Music and Fine Arts at the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church since January 1983. He held his first position as an organist at the young age of 11. In 1994 he won first prize in the American Guild of Organists National Competition in Organ Improvisation. Subsequently, in May 2005, he was appointed Lecturer in Organ Improvisation at Yale University. He has worked with internationally renowned artists such as Dave Brubeck, Nick Page, and Rossen Milanov.
A native of Chicago, Nathan Laube began his music studies at age five and later studied at the Chicago Academy for the Arts. At age 15, he was accepted as a full scholarship student at the renowned Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. At age 19, he is a fourth year student at The Curtis Institute. Recognition of Nathan’s talent is evidenced by the first place awards he earned in the prestigious National Albert Schweitzer Organ Competition in September 2004, as well as in the Chicago Chapter of the American Guild of Organists/Quimby Regional Competition for Young Organists in February 2007.
Suzanne DuPlantis, mezzo soprano, is co-founder of Lyric Fest, a new concert series in Philadelphia that brings a variety of singers together with a pianist to present dynamic, theme-oriented programs. She made her New York debut in the St. John Passion of Bach at Alice Tully, where she returned during the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center to sing Apollo et Hyacinthus. Duplantis is well known in the region for her solo appearances with The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Orchestra (Messiah), Hadddonfield Symphony, Reading Symphony, among many others.
A New Orleans native, tenor Bryan Hymel first came to attention at age 19 when he was a winner in the 1998 Verdi Aria Competition at the Aspen Musical Festival. At 20, he was a grand finalist in the 2000 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and received an Encouragement Grant from the George London Foundation for Singers the next year. Hymel has since graduated from Loyola University and has sung with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Baton Rouge Symphony, the Rogue Valley Symphony Orchestra, and Haverford-Bryn Mawr College Choirs, among others. In December 2006, Hymel was the tenor soloist for A Colonial Holiday at the Kimmel Center and sang Handel’s Messiah with the Singing City Choir.
Barbara Shirvis has been acclaimed for her "gorgeous tone, technical security and a touching vulnerability" by the Boston Globe. Since she began her career at the New York City Opera where she sang for a decade, Shirvis has performed with countless operas to rave reviews. On the concert stage, Shirvis has performed with the Florida Orchestra, the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, the New Mexico Symphony, and the Dallas Symphony, among many others. Messiah performances include appearances with the Jacksonville Symphony, the Pacific, Houston, and Colorado symphony orchestras. Shirvis's 2007-08 season includes performances of Liu in Turandot in a return to Kentucky Opera and Countess in Le nozze di Figaro with North Carolina Symphony, as well as duo recitals with her husband, baritone Stephen Powell.
Bass-baritone Ben Wager, a native of Havertown, PA, received his BA from the University of Delaware. Currently a third-year resident artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts, his roles there include Monterone and Sparafucile, Rigoletto; Don Basilio, Il barbiere di Siviglia; Prince Gremin and Zaretsky, Eugene Onegin; and Kaspar, Der Freischütz. Other roles include Monterone, Rigoletto; Doctor, Notary, Gianni Schicchi; the Mandarin, Turandot; Second Armored Man, Die Zauberflöte, OperaDelaware.
Kimmel Center Presents 2007/2008 season is sponsored by Citi. Support for the Mellon Jazz Series comes from The Bank of New York Mellon. The Great Orchestra Series is supported by ARC Wheeler. Additional support is provided by the University of Pennsylvania Health System and American Express.. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. Toyota is the Official Vehicle of Kimmel Center Presents Mellon Jazz, Mellon Jazz Up Close and World & Pop. NBC-10 is a Media Partner for Kimmel Center Presents, and additional media sponsors include WDAS, WRTI, WJJZ, Afro-Pop, WXPN and WXPN's Kids Corner 20th Anniversary.
The Kimmel Center also receives support from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The William Penn Foundation, The Wachovia Foundation, Verizon Foundation, PNC Foundation, The Philadelphia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and the Philadelphia Music Project and Dance Advance, Initiatives of The Pew Charitable Trust administered by The University of the Arts. In-kind support is generously provided by Deloitte.
Free in the Plaza programming and subsidized tickets offered to the community and social service groups for $10 are made possible through the Wachovia Gateway to the Arts Community Access Program, supported by a generous grant from Wachovia Foundation.
KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS SPONSORED BY CITI
Friday, December 7, 2007 | 7:30pm
Verizon Hall
Master Musicians Organ Recital Series
Jeffrey Brillhart, conductor
Singing City Choir*
Barbara Shirvis, soprano
Suzanne DuPlantis, mezzo-soprano
Bryan Hymel, tenor
Ben Wager, bass
Nathan Laube, organist
*Singing City Choir is joined by the Northeast High School Concert Choir with Director Tim Flaherty, and the Upper Darby High School Encore Singers with Director Barbara Benglian.
The Master Musicians Organ Recitals are generously supported by the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
FREE AT THE KIMMEL EVENTS:
Friday, December 7, 2007 | 6pm
Commonwealth Plaza Stage
Haddonfield Memorial High School Madrigal Singers
Sunday, December 9, 2007 | 6:30pm
Commonwealth Plaza Stage
TBD
Messiah Sing-in
Overture (Organ)
2. Recitative: Comfort Ye, My People (Tenor)
3. Aria: Every Valley Shall Be Exalted (Tenor)
4. Chorus: And the Glory Of The Lord (Audience/Choir)
5. Recitative: Thus Saith the Lord (Bass)
6. Aria: But Who May Abide? (Alto)
8. Recitative: Behold, A Virgin Shall Conceive (Alto)
9. Aria and Chorus: O Thou That Tellest (Alto/ Audience/Choir)
10. Recitative: For Behold, Darkness (Bass)
11. Aria: The People That Walked in Darkness (Bass)
12. Chorus: For Unto Us A Child Is Born (Audience/Choir)
13. Pastoral Symphony (Organ)
14. Recitative: There Were Shepherds (Soprano)
15. Recitative: And The Angel Said Unto Them (Soprano)
16. Recitative: And Suddenly There Was With The Angel (Soprano)
17. Chorus: Glory To God (Audience/Choir)
18. Aria: Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter Of Zion (Soprano)
19. Recitative: Then Shall The Eyes Of The Blind (Alto)
20. Aria: He Shall Feed His Flock (Alto & Soprano)
21. Chorus: His Yoke Is Easy (Singing City Choir)
Part II:
22. Chorus: Behold the Lamb (Audience/Choir)
23. Aria: He Was Despised (Alto)
24. Chorus: Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs (Audience/Choir)
29. Recitative: Thy Rebuke Hath Broken His Heart (Tenor)
30. Aria: Behold, And See If There Be Any Sorrow (Tenor)
33. Chorus: Lift Up Your Head, O Ye Gates (Audience/Choir)
38. Aria: How Beautiful Are The Feet (Soprano)
40. Aria: Why Do The Nations (Bass)
42. Recitative: He That Dwelleth In Heaven (Tenor)
43. Aria: Thou Shalt Break Them (Tenor)
44. Chorus: Hallelujah! (Audience/Choir)
Part III:
45. Aria: I Know That My Redeemer Liveth (Soprano)
46. Chorus: Since By Man Came Death (Audience/Choir)
47. Recitative: Behold, I Tell You A Mystery (Bass)
48. Aria: The Trumpet Shall Sound (Bass)
53. Chorus: Worthy Is The Lamb (Audience/Choir)
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