The Wichita Chamber Chorale is pleased to announce its upcoming 2012-13 season — during which we will celebrate our 35th year as Wichita’s premier choral ensemble.
Sounding Joy: Carols, Stories and Legends
7:30 p.m. Dec. 15 and 4 p.m. Dec. 16, 2012
Plymouth Congregational Church, Wichita
Our 35th anniversary season kicks off with the Chamber Chorale’s popular holiday concert, “Sounding Joy.” The Christmas story has inspired some of the most-loved music for choirs, from simple carols to majestic anthems to heart-warming seasonal ballads. Works by G. F. Handel, Francis Poulenc and arrangements both traditional and jazzy will be paired with classic tales and legends of Christmas, narrated by Music Theatre of Wichita favorite, actor Chuck Parker. Enjoy this eclectic feast of music and word in the intimate beauty of Plymouth Congregational Church.
35th Anniversary Gala Concert: A Celebration of Choral Blockbusters
7:30 p.m. April 13, 2013
First United Methodist Church, Wichita
Celebrating 35 years of performance, the Wichita Chamber Chorale presents iconic blockbusters of the greatest composers of choral music, both past and present. In one of his most festive works, J.S. Bach sets the dramatic text of Mary’s “Magnificat,” and pulls out the proverbial stops with his largest orchestra, five-part chorus, and soloists. Benjamin Britten’s tour de force for choir and organ gives voice to Christopher Smart’s enigmatic and delightful poem, “Rejoice in the Lamb.” Experience one of the high points of the British choir and organ tradition, featuring the largest pipe organ in Kansas at Wichita’s First United Methodist Church. The Chamber Chorale presents the midwest premiere of “The Ecstasies Above,” by the Algerian-Irish composer Tarik O’Regan. One of the leading composers of his generation, O’Regan fuses North African and Celtic influences, responding to the word ‘ecstasies’ with electrifying music of great spiritual power. Rounding out the concert, founding Chamber Chorale conductor Michael Pohlenz returns to Wichita to conduct a mass choir of alumni singers in several Chamber Chorale favorites.
