Spring Concert Press Release

The beautiful Requiem by Gabriel Fauré is the featured work at the Pass Chorale’s Spring Concert on May 15. This Requiem features beautiful solos and choruses, lush strings, harp, and brass. Featured soloists are Stacy Fraser, soprano, and Ulises Espinoza, baritone. Stacy Fraser is head of the Opera Department at California State University, San Bernardino. Ulises Espinoza is a voice student at Cal State.

Also on the program are two choral pieces by Los Angeles composer, Morten Lauridsen, recipient of a National Medal of Arts in 2007. One piece is from Songs of Roses, a choral setting of 5 French poems. The other is a setting of a poem by James Agee, Sure on this Shining Night.

An anthem by English composer, John Rutter, and a setting of the Battle Hymn by Peter Wilhousky are also be featured. Rutter composed a new anthem for the recent Royal Wedding.

The Pass Chorale is a community chorus serving the Pass area. It was founded in the 1950s and we are proud to be carrying on its tradition of performing major classical works. The Chorale and orchestra are directed by Ernest Siva, who grew up on Morongo reservation, earned degrees in musical education and choral music at USC. Singers are from communities and around the Pass area. Orchestra members are from all over southern California.

Date and Time: May 15, 2011, 2:30 pm

Location: Our Savior’s Lutheran Church

1320 W. Williams St.

Banning, CA

Tickets: Available at the door

Adults: $15

Seniors and Students: $10

Further information: 951-849-4676

passchorale.blogspot.com

Countdown to Concert!

Rehearsals are getting serious. We're singing through the entire program now. We began work on two new choral pieces, For the Beauty of the Earth by John Rutter and Battle Hymn arranged by Peter Wilhousky. The Wilhousky is an arrangement that most of us remember singing for the first time in high school. It still seems to be the singers favorite. We have orchestra parts for the Rutter and the Wilhousky, so they should be wonderful.

The Faure Requiem is going through all of our minds now. Soprano Dolores calls it and "ear worn." It is beautiful, and we are beginning to make real music. The Lauridsen pieces are shaping up too.

We handed out flyers at last rehearsal. We've been working on the program.... Its getting close.

Spring is coming

As we get closer to our spring concert, rehearsals get serious. We are struggling with singing the Morten Lauridsen song, Dirait-on in French! The music is difficult, but the French is giving us more trouble. We will prevail. We are loving the melodic lines in the two Lauridson pieces. The second, Sure on this Shining Night, begins with a glorious melody sung in unison by the men. The piano parts are important in both pieces, and accompanist Joan is doing a great job. The singers will catch up to her soon, we hope!

Rehearsals

The Pass Chorale has had four rehearsals since we resumed in January. At the last one we made it all the way through the Faure Requiem. That's just the first taste of the music, now we go back and really learn it. Nonetheless, it is a milestone.

We have also started rehearsing two songs by Morten Lauridsen, Sure on this Shining Night and Dirait-on. The first is a setting of a poem by John Agee. The second is from a suite of four songs in french, about roses. Both have wonderful melodic lines in each part. The piano accompaniment is also really beautiful.

We still need singers, so anyone with singing experience can still join us. We meet on Tuesday evenings at Our Savior's Lutheran Church. Call or email for further information!

Pass Chorale Resumes Rehearsals Jan. 18

Calling all singers. The Pass Chorale will begin rehearsals for the May 15 Spring Concert on Tuesday, January 18, 2011.

We will begin work on the Fauré Requiem. This work will be easier for singers than the Haydn masses we’ve been preparing. The Requiem is a famous piece, and the Pass Chorale has not performed it yet. It has beautiful choruses and solos.

We will also have some anthems for spring as well.

The Pass Chorale invites all with singing experience and a love for music to join us. Rehearsals are held on Tuesday evenings, 7 – 8:30 pm at Our Saviors Lutheran Church, 1320 W. Williams St., Banning, CA. For further information, call director Ernest Siva, 951-849-4676 or siva@dishmail.net.

Wonderful Concert, Thank you Singers!

Director Ernest Siva rehearses the chorus before the concert.

The Pass Chorale Christmas Concert got us all into the Christmas spirit. The orchestra played brilliantly. Our concertmaster, Jeninne Hell, marked the scores of the string players so that their bowing would match the words the choristers were singing! It was a great experience to sing the Haydn Missa Cellensis, a marvelous work that was new to the singers and the instrumentalists. It took many rehearsals for the singers to master this difficult work. The soloists all had beautiful and difficult arias and ensembles.


Bass player waits while chorus rehearses before concert.

Our soloists for the mass were all from California State University, San Bernardino.
Stacy Fraser, soprano, heads the opera program at CSUSB. Tenor, Andrew Crane is head of choral music there. Alto, Danielle Perrault, and bass, Ulises Espinoza, are students in these programs. We are proud to partner with the fine musicians at Cal State, San Bernardino!

Christmas anthems were the second part of the program. These ranged from a 16th Century text, Remember, O Thou Man to a contemporary Brazilian carol complete with bongos, maracas, and claves. An Ave Maria by Franz Beibl was originally written for a firemen’s chorus in England. Those firemen must have been very accomplished singers! Andrew Crane and chorale member Monte Joham sang the solo parts.


Jill Trick prepares goodies. Her mother, Laura, helps in kitchen.

The concert was followed by a reception set up by Jill Trick and her mother, Laura Trick. They always provide beautiful decorations and arrangements. Volunteer Pat Murkland is always there to take tickets and hand out programs. We thank them!

We also thank our choristers who are all volunteers. They put in countless hours of rehearsals and home study to learn their parts. We get so deeply into this music that we come to love it and go through days of “withdrawal” when the concert is over. We are still hearing the music in our heads.


Joan Frost at the keyboard

We especially thank our accompanist, Joan Frost, who puts in as many hours as we do helping us to learn this music and playing in our concerts.
She is a true gem, and we couldn’t do what we do without her!

We thank all who attended the concert, supporting us with their presence. Thanks to donors who contributed as well.

Countdown to Concert

The Pass Chorale has extra rehearsals and longer rehearsals as we prepare for our Christmas Concert on December 12. We are all singing the music in our heads all day. This is one of the wonderful things that happens when we get deeply into great music. There is so much there, the more you sing it, the more you learn.

The rehearsal with the orchestra is Saturday afternoon, always an exciting time to hear the voices and full orchestra together for the first time.

Invite friends are relatives to enjoy our concert with us. It will get everyone in the Christmas spirit!

2:30pm
Our Savior's Lutheran Church
1321 W. Williams St.
Banning, CA