Chorale Performs a Celebration of Excellence with Orchestra
The Central Chamber Chorale will present an encore performance of Dan Forrest’s “Requiem for the Living” with chamber orchestra. The composer notes that “…the traditional Dies Irae has been replaced by a biting essay on the vanity and pain of existence.”
The Forrest Requiem also features three vocal solos, including Janet Alekna, Soprano, of Wisconsin Rapid; boy Soprano Mason Peckham of Marshfield, and Thomas Bartow, Tenor, Marshfield.
The orchestra will be led by Timothy McCollum, Concert Master, of Marshfield. The components of a traditional requiem (in slightly altered order) are found in Requiem for the Living but the composer combines the traditional with some very contemporary sources of inspiration—including images from the Hubble Space Telescope.
The Chorale will also perform The Requiem of Maurice Duruflé with piano and bass accompaniment of Linda and Bruce Feldt. It is said that Duruflé drew on the treasure chest of Gregorian chants that are a permanent part of Christian service music. Duruflé left out some of the more chilling references of earlier Requiem masses and accentuated the aspect of forgiveness. The “Pie Jesu” movement features a mezzo –soprano solo performed by Nancy Young of Pittsville.
The performance is on Sunday, March 19th at 3 p.m. at Christ Lutheran Church, 1208 W. 14th St., Marshfield. There are also performances on Friday, March 17th at 7:30 p.m. at the First Congregational Church in Wisconsin Rapids and Saturday, March 18th at 7:30 p.m. at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 321 N. Park Ave in Medford.
The concerts are open to the public without charge. This is the last Chorale concert series under the direction of Greg Reierson after 21 years as the musical director. It will also be the last Concert series for accompanist Linda Feldt who has been with the Chorale for 26 years.
The concert is sponsored, in part, by a grant from the Greg and Sally Rindfleisch Performing Arts Fund in the Marshfield Area Community Foundation, the Weathershield Lite foundation, and the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the state of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the arts.
For more information about the Central Chamber Chorale and its mission of keeping the Joy of Great Choral Music Alive, visit www.centralchamberchorale.org or like us on Facebook for concert updates.
