St. Martin’s Chamber Choir & Musica Sacra Chamber Orchestra perform September 27, 2008

Augustana Arts presents

“Love Bade Me Welcome: Music of Ralph Vaughan Williams”

Featuring St. Martin’s Chamber Choir and Musica Sacra Chamber Orchestra

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the death of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Augustana Arts presents a unique collaboration between St. Martin’s Chamber Choir and Musica Sacra Chamber Orchestra in two concerts of choral and orchestral works by Vaughan Williams. Performances will be held on Saturday, September 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Augustana Lutheran Church, 5000 E. Alameda Ave., Denver and on Sunday, September 28, at 3 p.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral, 1350 Washington St., Denver. Tickets are $25 for limited premier seating, $20 Adult, $18 Senior and $5 Student and available buy calling 866-464-2626 or online at www.TicketsWest.com

The program includes “Fantasia on Greensleeves”, “Flos Campi”, “Five Mystical Songs” and “Three Shakespeare Songs” plus the world premiere of “The Waking,” a work by Colorado composer Terry Schlenker commissioned by SMCC and MSCO for the occasion.

It has been said that Ralph Vaughan Williams was an Englishman first and a musician afterward. He has combined these twin passions of his life in a manner wholly satisfactory to himself and to his admirers. His is the speech of a natural man, blunt, rugged, honest. Addressing himself to his people, he invested his music with the rhythms and tempo of life at a time when a good deal of contemporary music was headed in the opposite direction. The national community furnished the framework of his art, but, as in the F-minor Symphony, he reaches beyond his island. The British regard him as their foremost musician.

St. Martin’s Chamber Choir is an independent professional choral ensemble based in Denver. The 24-voice group, founded in 1994 by Artistic Director Timothy J. Krueger, is known for its imaginative, scholarly programming and superb choral blend. St. Martin’s broad repertoire ranges from Gregorian plainchant and Renaissance motets to 18th century Baroque and Classical works, and from Romantic-era part songs to 20th and 21st century masterpieces. More information at www.StMartinsChamberChoir.org.

Timothy J. Krueger studied musicology at the University of Colorado-Boulder, the University of Hamburg, Germany and the University of London's Royal Holloway College. He has worked professionally with the Santa Fe Opera, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Chicago a cappella, Vox early music ensemble (Ann Arbor), the St. John's Cathedral Choir in Denver and the Ars Nova Singers of Boulder, Colorado. He is choirmaster of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Denver, chorus master for the Colorado Music Festival and the Boulder Bach Festival and a part-time faculty member at Metropolitan State College of Denver.

The Musica Sacra Chamber Orchestra, a new tradition in chamber music, is composed of players who share their vision of attaining the highest possible standard of excellence in musicianship. Musica Sacra is particularly well known for its engaging repertoire, encompassing chamber orchestra music from the Baroque to the avant-garde. The orchestra proudly presents many regional premieres of the works of living composers.

Catherine Sailer is conductor of the Musica Sacra Chamber Orchestra and Director of Choral Studies at the University of Denver. In 2005, she was named the winner of Chorus America’s prestigious Robert Shaw Conducting Fellowship. She has conducted the Dale Warland Singers, Kansas City Chorale, Chicago Symphony Chorus, and the Carnegie Hall Choral Workshop Chorus. Other recent conducting credits include the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, National Opera of China, and the Larimer Chorale and Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra.

PSA/Listing Information

Augustana Arts presents

“Love Bade Me Welcome: Music of Ralph Vaughan Williams"

Featuring St. Martin’s Chamber Choir & Musica Sacra Chamber Orchestra

Sat. Sept. 27, 7:30 p.m.

Augustana Lutheran Church, 5000 East Alameda Ave., Denver
Sun. Sept 28, 3 p.m.

St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral, 1350 Washington Street, Denver

$25 limited premier seating / $20 Adult / $18 Senior / $5 Student

866-464-2626, www.TicketsWest.com