SPOKANE SYMPHONY CELEBRATES THE CHORALE WITH ROMANTIC MASTERPIECES

Nov 8, 2004

For Immediate Release

Contact: Annie Matlow 509-326-3136

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPOKANE SYMPHONY CELEBRATES THE CHORALE WITH ROMANTIC MASTERPIECES


Spokane: The Spokane Symphony will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Spokane Symphony Chorale as part of the Nov. 12 performance of two early Romantic masterpieces.

This marks Music Director Eckart Preu's first conducting of the Symphony Chorale. For this concert, he chose Schubert's well-known and well-loved Unfinished Symphony and Mendelssohn's rarely performed choral-orchestral masterpiece, the Lobgesang Symphony. In an odd historical twist, though the Schubert work was written some 20 years before the Mendelssohn, it was never actually heard by an audience until 1865, years after both composers had gone to their tragically early graves.

Mendelssohn's seldom-performed Song of Praise, stands as the composer's most ambitious symphonic achievement. Like Beethoven's 9th, Mendelssohn's Lobgesang is a wonderful example of the joining of instrumental and vocal celebrations, and of the rich traditions of the German symphony and cantata. Three incredible soloists will join the chorale and orchestra.

Fredrick Urrey is an artist praised for his artistry and the beauty of his lyric tenor voice. Urrey received his training at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna and Louisiana State University. He balances his active performance career with his position as professor of voice on the faculty of the Mason Gross School of the Arts of Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Marjorie Elinor Dix is a recent graduate of the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. She has performed with the Opera Festival of New Jersey and at the Metropolitan Opera. This summer she was invited to Japan to perform at the Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto. Dix holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Duquesne University and was a participant in the Pittsburg Opera Center.

Karen Slack is an established soprano who made her San Francisco Opera debut in the role of Henrietta Moore in Virgil Thomson's The Mother of Us All. She is the winner of Astral Artistic Services' 2001 National Auditions and has played with many different organizations. A Philadelphia native, she received her Bachelor of Music degree and her Master of Music from the Curtis Institute.

Not to hear the Lobgesang is to miss some of Mendelssohn's loveliest and loftiest music, for he was truly one of the giants of 19th century choral music. Drawing from his own choral background, Preu is sure to exquisitely weave this vocal masterpiece. The work is performed in German and presented with supertitles.

The Spokane Symphony Chorale was established in 1955 as a volunteer organization and, since 1978, has been an official entity of the Spokane Symphony. As part of the Spokane Symphony, it has performed a wide range of musical works, such as Handel's Messiah, Britten's War Requiem, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, and numerous operas.

Leo Collins was the founding director of the chorale in 1954. Other directors include Richard Totusek, Sister Marietta Coyle, Charles Zimmerman, Randi Von Ellefson, Ed Schaefer, Carrie Druffel, Paul Klemme, Tamara Schupman, Paul Klemme and the current director, Dr. Lori Wiest.

Led by Dr. Wiest since 1998, they also present a cappella music in the lobby of the Spokane Opera House and area churches, and are often invited to sing the National Anthem at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. The 2004-2005 Spokane Symphony Chorale season includes Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 2, Vivaldi and Poulenc's Glorias and Holiday Pops all performed with the Spokane Symphony.

The Chorale enjoys a dedicated volunteer base of more than 100 singers from the Spokane area; including many who commute from Coeur d'Alene, Davenport, Sandpoint, and Pullman to participate in the over 100 hours of volunteer rehearsal and performance time required for each concert season

In recognition of the hundreds of thousands of hours of this 50 year-commitment, the Symphony is inviting all former members of the Chorale to attend the concert free of charge.

This concert is underwritten by: Ruth H.S. Pearson

CALENDAR LISTING:
Symphony Chorale 50th Anniversary with the Spokane Symphony Orchestra; Friday Nov. 12 at 8 p.m. in the Spokane Opera House. Tickets are $15 to $34 Call the Spokane Symphony Ticket Office at (509) 624-1200 or www.spokanesymphony.org; tickets are also available, with service charges, through TicketsWest at 325-SEAT or 1-800-325-SEAT.