Cantilena Chamber Choir

The Cantilena Chamber Choir

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The Cantilena Chamber Choir presents
Christmas at Court

music written and performed for European and Russian Royalty by

J.S. Bach, Francisco Guerrero, Luca Marenzio

Dmitri Bortniansky and more

Sunday, December 5, 2010, 3:00pm

AT

Trinity Church

88 Walker Street, Lenox, MA •

Special guests: Children's Choir of Trinity Lenox

Tickets All seats: $20

Reservations suggested: 413-637-2440

The performance at Trinity Church will feature music by Francisco Guerrero and Thomas Tallis as heard by King Philip of Spain and Mary Tudor of England at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on Christmas day, 1554. Also on the program will be music by Jean Mouton, the 15th century court composer to the French King Louis XII, Heinrich Schutz, the 17th century court composer to the German Elector of Saxony, and Johannes Ockeghem, the 15th century court composer to Charles I, Duke of Bourbon.
In keeping with its tradition of presenting monuments of Russian choral music, the Choir will also perform rarely heard music written for the Russian Imperial Court Chapel of the 18th and 19th centuries by Dmitry Bortniansky and Anatoly Liadov. The children will sing favorite Christmas carols, a few of which were harmonized by J.S. Bach to tunes by Georg Schemelli, 18th century court Kantor at Zeitz, Germany.

Now in its seventh season, the Cantilena Chamber Choir is the Berkshire region's leading a cappella group. It is comprised of 24 singers who possess vocal training, good sight-reading skills and considerable choral experience. For the past two seasons it was heard on a special WMHT Christmas Eve radio broadcast of Lessons and Carols recorded at the church. The Choir has collaborated with the New England Baroque Soloists, Aston Magna and The Empire Brass, and appeared a second time this December with The Empire Brass at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington. Past season highlights include a concert of works by Shostakovich, an all-Berkshire composer concert, and special benefits for the Lenox Library and the Berkshire Immigrant Center. It has also performed with Shakespeare and Company’s Annette Miller, Berkshire Theater Festival’s Jonathan Epstein, and presented several programs for children. Most recently the choir was invited to appear at the 50th Anniversary of Hancock Shaker Village gala, August 2010. The Choir is in residence at Trinity Church in Lenox.

Our most recent Berkshire Living review of our concert at the Mount by Lesley Ann Beck, March 15, 2010:

The Cantilena Chamber Choir is a twenty-voice a cappella group made up of accomplished singers and musicians under the direction of Andrea Goodman, and the acoustics in the salon showcased the choir’s superb sound very well; the balance and volume were perfect.The singing was excellent—all the works performed were complex and many-layered, with challenging harmonies, showcasing the musicianship of the group.

Andrea Goodman is the founder and director of the Cantilena Chamber Choir. She has been a visiting professor of conducting at the New England Conservatory of Music where she also directed the women's choir. During the summer she serves as the Director of the annual summer Saratoga Choral Festival. She has prepared choirs for the Philadelphia Orchestra under Charles Dutoit, and has previously served as Director of the Concord Chorus (MA), Director of Choirs at Skidmore College and New York University. Her guest appearances have included the Aspen (Colo.) Music Festival, the Festival de Musique Sacree in Fribourg, Switzerland, and the Festival of White Nights in St. Petersburg, Russia. Dr. Goodman holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting.

Cantilena

Photo by Suzanne Merritt taken at the Mount March 2010