December 7 - December 8, 2024
Presented By: North Country Chorus
Saturday, December 7, at 7:30 pm
Sunday, December 8, at 3 pm
Location:
United Community Church
1325 Main St.
St. Johnsbury, VT
Admission by donation
Alan Rowe directs the seventy singers of the community chorus to present a suite of “Carols and Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest” by Conrad Susa and Benjamin Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols.” They will also sing Mendelssohn’s “Behold a Star from Jacob Shining.”
St. Johnsbury Academy’s select choral ensemble, the Hilltones, will round out the program with an eclectic set including a spiritual, an Irish farewell song, a Canadian
folk tune, and a piece by Norwegian artist, Aurora.
Accompanying the North Country Chorus will be Academy teacher Elia Desjardins on harp, recent Academy grad Kaci Cochran on marimba, Peter Mathews on guitar, and Sandra Sprecher on piano.
Conrad Susa’s “Carols and Lullabies” was composed as a companion piece to Britten’s “Ceremony of Carols.” A friend showed him a collection of traditional Spanish carols he had sung as a boy in Arizona. Susa arranged them to form a narrative, noting their connections with Renaissance music along with their homey, artful simplicity. The work adds marimba and guitar to Britten’s harp to give it its distinctive Southwestern flavor.
Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols” was inspired by his discovery of a collection of poems by 15th and 16th century Old English writers, most of whom are anonymous. Composed in 1942, it is an unusual setting for voices and harp, which became an iconic choral landmark of the Christmas season.
Sunday, December 8, at 3 pm
Location:
United Community Church
1325 Main St.
St. Johnsbury, VT
Admission by donation
Alan Rowe directs the seventy singers of the community chorus to present a suite of “Carols and Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest” by Conrad Susa and Benjamin Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols.” They will also sing Mendelssohn’s “Behold a Star from Jacob Shining.”
St. Johnsbury Academy’s select choral ensemble, the Hilltones, will round out the program with an eclectic set including a spiritual, an Irish farewell song, a Canadian
folk tune, and a piece by Norwegian artist, Aurora.
Accompanying the North Country Chorus will be Academy teacher Elia Desjardins on harp, recent Academy grad Kaci Cochran on marimba, Peter Mathews on guitar, and Sandra Sprecher on piano.
Conrad Susa’s “Carols and Lullabies” was composed as a companion piece to Britten’s “Ceremony of Carols.” A friend showed him a collection of traditional Spanish carols he had sung as a boy in Arizona. Susa arranged them to form a narrative, noting their connections with Renaissance music along with their homey, artful simplicity. The work adds marimba and guitar to Britten’s harp to give it its distinctive Southwestern flavor.
Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols” was inspired by his discovery of a collection of poems by 15th and 16th century Old English writers, most of whom are anonymous. Composed in 1942, it is an unusual setting for voices and harp, which became an iconic choral landmark of the Christmas season.