The Providence Singers announces 2009-10 season

chorus to blend classic and innovative programming, during season of creative collaborations

The Providence Singers announces its 2009-10 concert series, featuring choral favorites, regional premieres, new commissions, and collaborations with acclaimed artists and organizations. The season opens on November 15 with New World Rhythm: Masterworks for Chorus and Percussion, presented with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project at the FirstWorks Festival. On December 19, the chorus celebrates the holidays in its third annual performance of Handel's Messiah with the Rhode Island Philharmonic, at VMA Arts and Cultural Center. On March 6, the Providence Singers returns to the VMA stage, presenting the Mozart Requiem and other great choral-orchestral works.

"This is a season of exceptional range, from classics to new world sounds," said Andrew Clark, the Singers artistic director. "Our audiences will hear two of the best-loved choral landmarks, celebrated works of American and British composers, and a world premiere for chorus and percussion commissioned by the Providence Singers – in all, a full banquet of choral music."

November 15 | New World Rhythm: Masterworks for Chorus and Percussion

with Boston Modern Orchestra Project; featured at the FirstWorksProv Festival

Sunday November 15 2009, 3 PM at Beneficent Church, Providence
New World Rhythm, the Providence Singers’ season opener, offers an appealing range of masterworks expressly written for chorus and percussion. Works include the New England premiere of Lou Harrison's epic La Koro Sutro (Heart Wisdom), scored for a custom-built, multi-player "American gamelan" and Esperanto-singing chorus; the world premiere of the Singers' latest commission by Grammy-nominated composer Tarik O'Regan; a double-chorus work by Rhode-Island-raised Nico Muhly, whose music is frequently featured in The New Yorker magazine; and works by Philip Glass and Steve Reich.

New World Rhythm is presented with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) at the FirstWorks Festival, and is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Founded in 1996 by artistic director Gil Rose, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) is one of a handful of professional orchestras in the United States dedicated exclusively to performing and recording music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. FirstWorks is a Providence-based arts presenting organization, acclaimed for its world-class festivals of diverse and distinguished performing arts, and for its year-round youth arts programs.


Koro Sutro recording project


After the concert in Providence, the Providence Singers joins BMOP at Worcester’s Mechanics Hall to produce a studio recording of La Koro Sutro, re-introducing it to choral music fans and Lou Harrison's ardent followers throughout the US. This new recording will become the only studio-recording of Harrison's landmark cantata available to the public, as well as the Providence Singers' third appearance on the BMOP/sound recording label. (The Singers' first CD, of Lukas Foss’ The Prairie, was released last fall to critical acclaim; Dominick Argento's Jonah and the Whale is scheduled for release this fall.)


December 19 | Handel’s Messiah, with the RI Philharmonic

Saturday December 19 2009, 8 PM at VMA Arts and Cultural Center

Andrew Clark leads the Providence Singers and the Rhode Island Philharmonic in Handel’s majestic favorite, in its third annual December performance at VMA Arts and Cultural Center. New and returning audiences will enjoy Clark's fresh, thoughtful interpretation of this holiday tradition, culminating as ever in a grand “Hallelujah” to highlight the season.

March 6 | Mozart Requiem

Saturday March 6 2010, 8 PM at VMA Arts and Cultural Center

The Providence Singers presents Mozart's final masterpiece - the sublime and dramatic Requiem - and several other inspiring choral-orchestral works, including Benjamin Britten's Cantata Misericordium (Mercy Cantata), commissioned for the 100th anniversary of the International Red Cross; Arvo Pärt's Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten; and Dan Locklair's Stirring the Silence.

Season Tickets

Season tickets are on sale now, offering best seating options and substantial savings. For season tickets and details, contact the Providence Singers at 401-751-5700, or visit www.ProvidenceSingers.org. Tickets to individual concerts are available after September 1.


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