PO Boc 601 Village Green Bedford, NY 10506 www.charisvocals.com |
For Immediate Release
October, 2002 |
Contact: Betsy Turner
914-271-0714 wellhost.com/contact.html?to=charispress |
CHARIS PRESENTS BLOCH'S "SACRED SERVICE"
Charis Chamber Voices, the acclaimed vocal ensemble led by Susanne Peck, will perform Ernest Bloch's "Sacred Service" ("Avodath Hakodesh") to commemorate the tragedy of September 11, 2001, at a concert on Saturday, November 9, at the Scarsdale Synagogue-Tremont Temple. The cantor will be baritone Lee Schwartz, who recently retired after 25 years as cantor at Sinai Free Synagogue in Mount Vernon. Cantor Schwartz is also artistic director of the Westchester Light Opera and has taught at the Westchester Conservatory. The evocative "Sacred Service," first performed in 1934, is one of the neo-Romantic masterpieces of 20th-century music. "It is so moving it just throws your heart wide open," Ms. Peck said. "It is one of the deepest and most powerful vehicles of the 20th century for the human voice in expressing the human condition."
Other works on the program include Benjamin Britten's Canticle II (Abraham and Isaac) with the accomplished tenor soloist Jon Humphrey. Mr. Humphrey, praised by the New York Times as "outstanding for his sonorous and stirring delivery," has recorded widely, including with the Robert Shaw Chorale and the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra. Also featured are pieces commissioned for this concert, including a setting of Walt Whitman's "Whispers of Heavenly Death" composed by James Bassi and a trilogy, "The New City," with poems by Whitman, W.S. Merwin, and Julie Dolphin, composed by Ms. Dolphin. A new composition by Susanne Peck, a setting of Theodore Roethke's "The Waking," will feature women's voices and Mr. Humphrey. Founder and director of Charis, Ms. Peck is on the faculty of the Hoff-Barthelson Music School in Scarsdale. Michael Jaffee, director of the Waverly Consort, calls her "an outstanding singer and gifted conductor." A resident of Lake Katonah, she enjoys a career as a professional soloist and maintains a private teaching practice in Westchester.
The concert will be at 8 PM at the synagogue, 20 Ogden Rd., Scarsdale. Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 at the door. For more information or to order tickets, call 914-931-6575. For more information about Charis, visit their website, www.charisvocals.com.