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LOS ANGELES CHILDREN’S CHORUS PRESENTS Sunday, December 2, 2007, 7 pm, and Sunday, December 9, 2007, 7 pm,
(PASADENA, CA) September 25, 2007 – The acclaimed Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC) showcases the exceptional talents of its 260 members with an eclectic range of classical, folk and contemporary works from around the globe, including the Los Angeles premiere of Chen Yi’s critically acclaimed The Cataract of Mount Lu, at its annual Winter Concert on Sunday, December 2, 2007, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, December 9, 2007, at 7 p.m., at the Pasadena Presbyterian Church, which is noted for its exceptional acoustics. Yi’s piece, which portrays the sounds of China’s famous waterfall and will be sung in Chinese, is being presented in honor of LACC’s tour to China in July 2008, prior to the Beijing Olympics. It was premiered by the San Francisco Girls Chorus in 1999. The choristers will sing collectively in numerous languages at the Winter Concert, part of LACC’s 22nd Season, aptly entitled “Portals to the World.” LACC Artistic Director Anne Tomlinson conducts the Concert Choir and Chamber Singers. Mandy Brigham leads the Intermediate Choir, Amy Brehm directs the Preparatory Choir, and they both co-direct the Apprentice Choir. The choirs will perform separately and combined. Among the other works on the program are J.S. Bach’s Bist du bei mir; Claude Debussy’s art song Noel des enfants qui n’ont plus de maisons, which tells of the terrors of war from the eyes of a child; and Paul Gibson’s’Dona Nobis Pacem (Give us Peace). LACC pairs two works set to the text of Ave Maria, one a Gregorian chant and the other by Argentinean composer César Carrillo. Holiday works include Jesus bleibet (Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring), the French carol Noel Nouvelet, the 16th-century Spanish carol Riu, Riu Chiu; and S’vivon, written for Hanukah. Also featured is Wie schon leuchtet der Morgenstern (How Brightly Shines the Morning Star) by Michael Praetorius, set to the famous chorale melody originally composed by Philipp Nicolai in 1599 and used by Bach in Cantatas 1, 37, 49, 61, and 172. Praetorius’ setting was written specifically for children, as was the practice during the Renaissance. Tapping music from a wide range of cultures, the choir performs Canadian composer Eleanor Daley’s The Birds, a beautiful and evocative setting of the famous poem by English writer Hilaire Belloc, Panis Angelicus by César Franck, taken from the text of St. Thomas Aquinas, which features organ and violin, and Czech composer Petr Eben’s Snih (Snow), whichemphasizes the inseparability of snow from the Czech countryside in winter. Its poignant text, comparing small goose feathers to snowflakes and set to flowing, mesmerizing music, evokes the quaint, quiet feeling of a snowy Czech winter. In addition, the choir sings Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr from “Two German Chorales,” written by Nikolas Decius and arranged by Rebecca te Velde, and the beloved Russian Folk song The Little Birch Tree, arranged by Mary Goetze, which was used by Tchaikovsky as the central melody in his Fourth Symphony. Winds of Peace, a Hebrew round, closes the concert. Tickets for the Winter Concert are $24 for general seating and $12 for students. Pasadena Presbyterian Church is located at 585 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. For tickets and information, please call (626) 793-4231 or visit www.lachildrenschorus.org.
Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, founded in 1986 and noted throughout the country for its exceptional artistic quality and technical ability, frequently performs with such leading musical ensembles as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and The Pasadena Symphony. Under the artistic direction of Anne Tomlinson, LACC also assists the Los Angeles Opera by providing and training children for all of its opera productions that require children’s chorus or soloists. It produces two concerts of its own – a Winter Concert to be held in December at Pasadena Presbyterian Church and a Spring Concert to be held in June at the Ambassador Auditorium. Highlights of its 2007-08 season, entitled “Portals to the World,” include the Los Angeles premiere of The Cataract of Mount Lu, Chen Yi’s critically acclaimed 1999 poem for children’s chorus, and the world premiere of Etch, composed by distinguished LACC alumna Caroline Park and commissioned by the choir. The chorus also performs in the LA Opera’s productions of La Boheme in November and December 2007 and Tosca in May and June 2008. In December 2007, LACC appears at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Toyota Symphonies for Youth series and sings in four performances of Benjamin Britten’s War Requeim with the orchestra under the baton of Lorin Maazel. Other performances include Carmina Burana with the Long Beach Symphony conducted by Enrique Arturo Diemecke in April 2008, and a Chamber Singers appearance at the Los Angeles Bach Festival in October 2007. Capping the season, LACC tours to China in summer 2008 prior to the Beijing Olympics. LACC currently has 260 choristers from 60 communities across Los Angeles in five choirs: Concert, Chamber Singers, Intermediate, Apprentice and Preparatory. The intensive training program includes weekly or twice weekly rehearsals, and all children receive individual voice coaching and take comprehensive musicianship classes. LACC has toured Brazil, Great Britain, Italy, Australia, Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland as well as many parts of the United States and Canada. It was featured in the Academy Award-nominated documentary film, “SING!,” which chronicles a year in the life of the choir and is shown periodically on PBS stations nationwide. Open auditions take place each June. Editors, please note: CONCERT CALENDAR LISTING Los Angeles Children’s Chorus – Annual Winter ConcertAnne Tomlinson, Conductor/Concert Choir/Chamber Singers SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2007, 7 PM
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