First performed on October 29, 1724,
Bach’s intense and dark cantata based on Martin Luther’s chorale Aus tiefer
Not schrei ich zu dir (Out of the deep I cry to you) evokes both the ancient
and the modern, alternating and combining older forms, modes, and instruments
with newer ones. This interpretation of Psalm 130 focuses on the steadfastness
of faith against all odds, represented by the chorale-tune's appearance in some
form in all six movements, adapted to the mood and context of each movement in
an almost Beethovenian manner.
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Our Family Weekend 2015 Lineup
We're excited to showcase seven of our ensembles next Friday:
UMD Chamber Singers: the School of Music's most select choral ensemble, specializing in music from Renaissance, Baroque, and contemporary eras. Recently, the UMD Chamber Singers toured to South Korea for the 10th World Symposium on Choral Music
University Chorale: an auditioned mixed ensemble that sings a wide variety of a cappella and accompanied repertoire under the direction of our exceptional graduate conductors
UMD Concert Choir: the symphonic choir of the School of Music that frequently collaborates with the UMD Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under world-renown conductors
UMD Women's Chorus: one of our most popular ensembles. Its repertoire for treble voices spans all styles from classical to contemporary and its membership includes students from diverse fields of study. Next spring, the UMD Women's Chorus travels to Boston for performances at the Eastern Division Conference of the American Choral Directors Association
UMD Men's Chorus: With an astonishing diversity in repertoire that ranges from chant to barbershop, the UMD Men's Chorus is one of the university's most dynamic ensembles. The ensemble takes a journey through the Midwest this spring in a performance tour concluding at the Intercollegiate Men's Choruses National Seminar
Femmes de Chanson & MännerMusik: Vital to UMD’s choral ecosystem, Femmes de Chanson and MännerMusik, who also perform in the Festival of Lessons and Carols every year, are student-led a cappella chamber groups dedicated to presenting diverse chamber choral literature
On behalf all our ensembles, we welcome you to our season and look forward to seeing you at the performance on Oct 2 at 8pm!
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
A note from the composer:
"Five Fantasies on Bach Chorales has been in the works for some time, having benefited from some work-shopping (in bits and pieces) in 2009 and 2011—well before its completion in 2014. While each of the five movements thus stands on its own in a way, there's a significant amount of overlap between them—mostly textural and textual rather than thematic. In this work, I employ a type of text setting wherein semiotic links are established and maintained well beyond a passing "word painting" acquaintance; the most far-reaching is the nautical metaphor of the third movement ("let loose my ship's rudder") being resurrected at the conclusion of the closing movement, with the choir wordlessly imitating ocean sounds. Other long-range references occur both within and between movements. I love it when particularly perceptive listeners (and performers!) notice these connections and start discussions about them; it's a wonderful way to engage with my fellow musical people.
Since I knew from experience what the UMD Chamber Singers are capable of before I finished two of these movements, there are some fairly virtuosic passages requiring great sensitivity to rhythm, diction, and especially intonation. When the announcement was made that the Five Fantasies were selected as the winners of the Walsum Competition at UMD, the most exciting dimension of it for me was knowing that the music would be rehearsed and performed by a choir that has demonstrated great facility with both the composer I'm borrowing from and the musical language which I myself bring. Having performed with this fine ensemble a great many Bach cantatas and a number of challenging twentieth-century works (foremost among them those by Benjamin Britten and Francis Poulenc), I am thrilled to hear what they bring to a work that seeks to draw equally upon the old and the new."
The UMD Chamber Singers will be premiering Five Fantasies on Bach Chorales on April 17.
Monday, March 23, 2015
Susssssss-tsipe
We did it. Performing with Maestro Suzuki and the BSO was exhilarating!
Our first rehearsal was awesome. Maestro Suzuki let us sing the first phrase, cut us off, and said "Wow. Really. Wow." Our first rehearsal with the orchestra, however, was tricky--we had to lock into the orchestra's rhythm and adjust to the physical distance between Maestro Suzuki and us.
Opening night? Surprise! The BSO resides in two homes: the Meyerhoff and Strathmore. Our rehearsals were all at the Meyerhoff, but opening night was at Strathmore. We had a 20-minute sound check in the hall and off we went!
Engagements with professional orchestras are amazing opportunities and this one was no exception. We look forward to the Brahms Requiem next season.
Before you leave, please enjoy our reviews:
"The University of Maryland Concert Choir (Edward Maclary, director) produced admirable clarity, blend, expressive warmth and, in an exhilarating charge through the finale of the "Gloria," terrific fire." More>>
-The Baltimore Sun
-The Baltimore Sun
"...None of them were the top vocal star of the performance – an accolade that has to go to the University of Maryland Concert Choir, prepared by its director, Edward Maclary. Almost no superlative serves to fully describe the choir’s achievement here." More>>
-DC Metro Theater Arts
And:
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
What's going on this spring?
We have an exciting semester ahead of us!
Thursday, February 19. 1:30 PM
Rachel Carlson, conductor
Grand Pavilion, The Clarice Smith Center
Friday, March 6. 8 PM
9th ANNUAL MEN'S CHORUS INVITATIONAL
UMD MEN'S CHORUS
Greg Graf, conductor
Memorial Chapel, College Park Campus
Saturday, March 7. 8 PM
11th ANNUAL CELEBRATION
OF WOMEN'S VOICES
UMD WOMEN'S CHORUS
Kenneth Elpus, conductor
Ianthe Marini, assistant conductor
Memorial Chapel, College Park Campus
Thursday, March 12. 8 PM
Friday, March 13. 8 PM
Saturday, March 14. 8 PM
UMD CONCERT CHOIR
BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Masaaki Suzuki, conductor
The Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
The Music Center at Strathmore
Friday, March 27. 8 PM
Saturday, March 28. 8 PM
UMD CONCERT CHOIR
NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Steven Reineke, conductor
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Friday, April 17. 8 PM
UMD CHAMBER SINGERS
Edward Maclary, conductor
Cindy Bauchspies and Allan Laino, assistant conductors
UNIVERSITY CHORALE
Rachel Carlson and Steven Seigart, conductors
Dekelboum Concert Hall, The Clarice Smith Center
Saturday, April 18. 7:30 PM
Wednesday, April 22. 7:30 PM
Friday, April 24. 7:30 PM
Sunday April 26. 3 PM
UMD OPERA CHORUS
UMD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Craig Kier, conductor
Steven Seigart, chorus master
Kay Theatre, The Clarice Smith Center
Thursday, April 23. 1:30 PM
Ianthe Marini, conductor
Grand Pavilion, The Clarice Smith Center
Saturday, April 25. 11:15 AM
MARYLAND DAY
UMD MEN'S CHORUS
Greg Graf, conductor
UMD WOMEN'S CHORUS
Kenneth Elpus, conductor
Ianthe Marini, assistant conductor
Dekelboum Concert Hall, The Clarice Smith Center
Friday, May 8. 8 PM
UMD MEN'S CHORUS
Greg Graf, conductor
UMD WOMEN'S CHORUS
Kenneth Elpus, conductor
Ianthe Marini, assistant conductor
Dekelboum Concert Hall, The Clarice Smith Center
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