Come to the opening of the 2015-2016 Season as the Santa Cruz Chorale presents their traditional December concert, “Christmas with the Chorale.”
Clear voices echoing back and forth; lively sounds of the orchestra: these will be your gifts from the Santa Cruz Chorale, with Christian Grube, Conductor and Artistic Director, the Monterey Bay Sinfonietta Chamber Orchestra, and other beloved musicians as they present the Chorale’s Christmas concert with jubilant Baroque works as well as selections from contemporary composers.
Opening with the exuberant “Exultate Deo” of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, the concert follows with Claudio Monteverdi’s piece of unique simplicity, “Christe Redemptor Omnium.” Continuing with Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Telemann, and the haunting Salomone Rossi’s “Elohim Hashivenu,” the audience re-enters present times with remarkable 20th century pieces by Gjeilo, Tavener, Kverno, Owolabi and Poston. The concert then resumes the traditional with Claudio Monteverdi’s “Beatus Vir” with its motifs of joy and conviction, closing with some familiar carol friends.
The Santa Cruz Chorale, a community based non-profit organization founded in 1983, performs a wide-ranging repertoire including works from the 14th century through music of the 21st century.
Although several members of the Chorale are professional musicians and some direct musical groups of their own, all volunteer their time, and most are amateurs in the original sense of that word: people who seriously pursue an art for the love of it.
Founded over 30 years ago as a volunteer adult chorus by Mary Lynn Place Badarak, Lecturer for the Department of Music at UC Santa Cruz, the Santa Cruz Chorale continues in this tradition today. Following Badarak’s leadership, Murray Walker directed, followed by the late Gene Lewis, Paul Vorwerk and Eduardo Mendelievich. Under the leadership of Paul Vorwerk, the Chorale went on two exciting international tours: the first to Northern Italy and Croatia, and the second to Spain.
Since 2006, the Chorale has been directed by Christian Grube, performing three concert sets per year, showing off the beautiful acoustics of HolyCrossChurch in Santa Cruz. The Chorale has been able to attract three of Santa Cruz’s most well- known accompanists, Vlada Moran, Yalenda Listmann, and Maria Ezerova.
Christian Grube is emeritus professor of choral conducting at the Berlin University of Arts. His choirs are known for their exquisite sound, impeccable intonation, broad range of dynamic expression and ability to interpret the most diverse styles. You can find out more about Director Christian Grube at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Grube.
Saturday, December 19, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, December 20, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. at Holy Cross Church, 123 High Street, Santa Cruz.
Tickets: General $25, seniors $20, Students $5
http://santacruzchorale.org/ or 427-8023
