Music to Live For

Season 2008

Welcome to Adelaide Chamber Singers’ 2008 Season.

Adelaide Chamber Singers is very proud of the reputation it has developed for fine choral musicmaking over the past 22 years: a reputation for beautiful ensemble singing, for innovative programming and for the presentation of new music to Adelaide audiences.

We’re excited by our concert seasons each year and our 2008 offering is certainly no different. We love what we do and our passion for music and for ensemble excellence burns as brightly as ever. Once again we take great pleasure in presenting an invigorating array of exciting music from the 20th and 21st centuries, together with some of the most exquisite music ever composed from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Baroque – and we’re delighted to be able to present an Adelaide première in almost every program this year.

From the contemporary sounds and sensory eloquence of Arvo Pärt and Eric Whitacre, the comforting warmth of Duruflé and Handel, to the old–world wisdom of the Renaissance masters, we believe that our 2008 Season truly is music to live for.

Carl Crossin OAM
Artistic Director and Conductor
ADELAIDE CHAMBER SINGERS

In the Beginning

Subscription Series Program 1

Saturday 26 April 8pm

St. Peter’s Cathedral, North Adelaide

Aaron Copland
In the Beginning
Aric Whitacre
When David Heard
Maurice Duruflé
Requiem

Sally Anne Russell mezzo soprano

Calvin Bowman organ

Transcendent beauty! A requiem, a lament, ancient words from the Old Testament – this is music to live for. Duruflé’s sumptuous chant–inspired Requiem and Copland’s virtuosic In the Beginning for mezzo soprano and unaccompanied voices are amongst the most popular choral works of the 20th century. Whitacre’s sense of full, rich choral sonority is reason enough why he is rapidly becoming one of the most sought after vocal composers in the world today – his When David Heard is one of the most hauntingly beautiful settings of this famous text and we know you’ll love it.

Program Length – 90 minutes including interval

Alone of all her Sex

Subscription Series Program 2 Book Now!

Friday 13 June 8pm

Saturday 14 June 6:30pm

Christ Church, North Adelaide

Gregorian Chant
Salve Regina
Tomás Luis da Victoria
Salve Regina
Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla
Missa ‘Ego flos campi’
Richard Alain
Salve Regina
Arvo Pärt
Magnificat

…and music of love and feminine beauty from the courts of Renaissance Europe

There is something about Mary! The Fifth century poet Sedulius tells us she is ‘without peer…and alone, of all her sex’, the supreme subject of adoration in art, sculpture, poetry and music. More music has been composed in honour of Mary, the mother of Jesus, than almost any other historical figure. In a sense, she is the mother of all that is feminine in Western culture. From the pure simplicity of chant, the vibrant rhythms and textures of the 16th century Mexican composer Padilla, to the distinctly contemporary voices of Alain and Pärt, this is a wonderful program of colour and contrast.

Program Length – 90 minutes including interval. Bring a cushion.

3 concert subscriptions $76/$61 concession
(Booking fees apply)
To subscribe phone BASS subscriptions on (08) 8400 2258 or download the booking form in PDF format.

Single Tickets $30/$24 concession
(Booking fees apply)
Book through BASS 131 246 or online at www.bass.net.au

Body & Soul

Subscription Series Program 3 Book Now!

Friday 26 September 8pm

Saturday 27 September 6:30pm

St. John’s Church, Halifax Street

Gabriel Fauré
Cantique de Jean Racine
Elgar arr. John Cameron
Lux Aeterna
Alexander Grechaninov
The Cherubic Hymn
Richard Dering
The City Cries & The Country Cries
Bob Chilcott
Fragments From His Dish

…and music of life and love from 500 years of Western Heritage

Music nourishes us, body and soul, with love, with humour and with spirit. “If music be the food of love, play on” commands Duke Orsino in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. And so, speaking of nourishment, we warmly invite you this delightfully diverse aural feast – with several sensory courses! Be moved, amused, intrigued and inspired by much–loved music from the imagination of Fauré and Elgar, by Grechaninov’s deep Russian resonance, and by new music from some of the most popular choral composers alive today.

Program Length – 90 minutes including interval. Bring a cushion.

3 concert subscriptions $76/$61 concession
(Booking fees apply)
To subscribe phone BASS subscriptions on (08) 8400 2258 or download the booking form in PDF format.

Single Tickets $30/$24 concession
(Booking fees apply)
Book through BASS 131 246 or online at www.bass.net.au

Messiah

Subscription Series Program 4 Book Now!

Friday 5 December 8pm

St Francis Xavier Cathedral

Saturday 6 December 8pm

St Peter’s Cathedral

George Frederick Handel
Messiah

For generations, Handel’s Messiah has helped define the celebration of Christmas in English speaking countries around the world, and is no less a familiar part of Christmas in Adelaide. Adelaide Chamber Singers has collaborated with the ASO on many occasions in recent years to perform this perennial masterpiece and, in 2006, presented its own ‘chamber’ version of Messiah to sell–out audiences in Adelaide’s two cathedrals. Once again, our performances of Messiah will feature, as soloists, some of the exceptionally talented young singers in ACS. Please join us again this year to share this most popular of oratorios.

Program Length – 120 minutes including interval.

3 concert subscriptions $76/$61 concession
(Booking fees apply)
To subscribe phone BASS subscriptions on (08) 8400 2258 or download the booking form in PDF format.

Single Tickets $35/$28 concession
(Booking fees apply)
Book through BASS 131 246 or online at www.bass.net.au

Adelaide Chamber Singers reserves the right to vary the content of concert programs without notice.

Please note that Adelaide Chamber Singers tickets are GST free.