CURRENT SEASON
Complementing last season’s theme States of Being, the Chorus’ 64th season will explore various Altered States—of both music and venue. We will introduce audiences to either buildings or compositions that have changed their original appearance, arrangement or purpose. Such an innovative program supports our mission, “not merely to entertain, but to educate and inspire.”
Philip Barnes, Artistic Director
Swimming Over London
Masonic Prince Hall Grand Lodge
4525 Olive Street, Central West End, 63108
Water flows through the repertoire chosen for this space, which was once a swimming pool, from part songs by Frederick Delius and Samuel Barber to lieder by Brahms & Silcher. Melissa Dunphy offers a brand new piece lamenting the fallen of World War One with Waves of Gallipoli, while the concert's title is taken from a 2010 surreal song by British composer, Bob Chilcott.
10.6.19
3pm
Audiences will enjoy music from familiar composers including Samuel Barber, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Robert Schumann, and of course be treated to works from lesser-known composers such as Australia’s Peter Sculthorpe, Chinese-American composer Zhou Long and English rock musician, Matt Bellamy. We will continue to champion female composers and will feature their work in every concert of the season. Other highlights of Altered States will include three world premieres and four reprises of earlier SLCC commissions. From a traditionally African American masonic lodge in St. Louis to one of the newest parishes in St. Charles County, you don’t want to miss this opportunity to see and hear the Chorus’ next invention.
The Year of the Pig
The Link Auditorium
4504 Westminster Place, Central West End, 63108
To salute the final year in the Chinese zodiac, the Chorus presents Zhou Long's Words of the Sun, together with porcine paeans from Percy Grainger, Mátyás Seiber and even Homer Simpson! The venue is a historic treasure by architect Theodore Link, perfect for two pieces new to St. Louis, the Missa 'Je Ne Mange Point de Porc' of Renaissance master Orlandus Lassus, and a new commission from Sasha Johnson Manning that explains the origin of Dongpo Pork.
11.10.19
3pm
Christmas Down Under
St. Louis Abbey
500 S. Mason Road, Creve Coeur, 63141
Celebrating the season at the hottest time of year changes one's perspective, as shown by the 'bush' carols of William James. Even familiar carols find new harmonies by Australian and New Zealand composers from Malcolm Williamson and Peter Sculthorpe, to Owen Elsley and Clare Maclean. Fresh arrangements of holiday favorites will resound in one of St. Louis' most original buildings.
12.22.19
3pm
Einstein Considered Light
As Waves
Second Presbyterian Church
4501 Westminster Place, Central West End, 63108
How is light viewed as a concept? Einstein's theory is declaimed by Dobrinka Tabakova, while the illumination of the heavens is explored by Robert Schumann and Randall Thompson. Light as 'restorer' is recounted by a commission from Steven Stucky, and in a modern masterpiece in 16 parts by Swedish composer, Ingvar Lidholm, … a riveder le stelle.
2.16.20
3pm
The Dog Was Speaking of You
Sts. Joachim & Ann Catholic Church
4112 McClay Road, St. Charles, 63304
Folk songs often contain hidden truths or bizarre falsehoods. Here is a program of songs from lost countries by composers who didn't exist, of alternative realities and life imitating art. Composers such as Darius Milhaud and Mårten Jansson rub shoulders with Sister Veronica von Dieselheim and Wenceslas Mimm: find out who is real, and who is not!
4.5.20
3pm
Leonardo Dreams of His
Flying Machine
Third Baptist Church
620 N. Grand Boulevard, Grand Center, 63103
The words of poet Charles Anthony Silvestri, who provided the concert title, will be heard in a startlingly original creation by Eric Whitacre, examining how the metamorphosis of an idea can produce an ideal or a nightmare. Yakov Gubanov recounts how the last Romanovs have become saints, while rock musician Matthew Bellamy adapts Palestrina to lament the militarizing of drones. Such trials and tribulations are ultimately transformed by our capacity to love, exquisitely portrayed by Elaine Hagenberg and Tony Silvestri.
5.31.20
3pm