Los Angeles Children’s Chorus and Artistic Director Anne Tomlinson / Photo by Jamie Pham
Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC), one of the world’s foremost children’s choirs, rings in the holidays with special guest, Grammy Award-winning opera singer Susan Graham, and members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a concert featuring the world premiere of Los Angeles-based composer Paul Gibson’s Ring Out, Wild Bells – based on Tennyson’s beloved poem and arranged for chorus, organ, strings and handbells – as well as a range of sublime classical works, joyful holiday carols and poignant readings on Sunday, Dec. 3, at 7 p.m., at Walt Disney Concert Hall, as part of the LA Philharmonic’s prestigious “Sounds About Town” series.
LACC Artistic Director Anne Tomlinson leads the program of musical selections interspersed with readings drawn from such universal themes as creation, hope and change by ee cummings, Kenneth Grahame, Theodore Roethke, Robert Louis Stevenson, St. Francis of Assisi and Fra Giovanni Giocondo.
“This evening of music and poetry was inspired by ‘A Festival of Lessons and Carols,’ a cherished annual Christmas Eve tradition introduced in 1918 by King’s College Choir in Cambridge, England, that touches on universal human experiences through thoughtful verse and moving song and has been broadcast around the globe by the BBC every holiday since 1930,” Tomlinson said in a release.
In addition to Gibson’s work, LACC performs Kim André Arneson’s Even When He is Silent and This Christmastide by British Academy Award-winning composer Donald Fraser, and reprises Dale Trumbore’s Breathe in Hope, which was commissioned for and premiered by the Chorus in May. Graham joins the Chorus for the holiday carols O Holy Night, A Christmas Lullaby and Now Have Good Day by Derek Holman.
Five of LACC’s highly regarded ensembles perform separately and combined. Tomlinson conducts the chorus’s Concert Choir and Chamber Singers; Associate Artistic Director Mandy Brigham leads the Intermediate Choir; Diana Landis leads the Apprentice Choir; and Dr. Steven Kronauer conducts the Young Men’s Ensemble.
PROGRAM:
PAUL GIBSON Ring Out, Wild Bells (World Premiere)
THOMPSON Velvet Shoes
BACH Bereite dich, Zion from Christmas Oratorio
VIVALDI Et exultavit from Magnificat
VIVALDI Esurientes from Magnificat
NICK STRIMPLE Mother and Child
Gregorian Chant Veni Creator Spiritus
ADAM O Holy Night
HOLST Hymn to the Dawn from Rig Veda
THOMPSON Choose Something Like a Star
DEBUSSY Noël des enfants qui n’ont plus de maisons
KIM ANDRÉ ARNESON Even When He is Silent
DALE TRUMBORE Breathe in Hope
DONALD FRAISER This Christmastide
DEREK HOLMAN Now Have Good Day
+ readings from ee cummings, Kenneth Grahame, Theodore Roethke, Robert Louis Stevenson, St. Francis of Assisi and Fra Giovanni Giocondo
WHEN: Sunday, Dec. 3, 2017, 7:00 pm
LOCATION: Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., LA 90012
TICKETS/INFORMATION: Tickets start at $20; half-price for children ages 6-17 (suitable for children age 6 and older).
(626) 793-4231
www.lachildrenschorus.org/sounds-about-town