2025–2026
Beal: The Beatitudes
Fourth Wall Ensemble
Christopher Allen, conductor
Jeff Beal, composer
Julia Wolfe: Anthracite Fields
Long Play Festival
Bang on a Can
Trinity Choir
For her work Anthracite Fields – a Pulitzer Prize-winning oratorio for chorus and the Bang on a Can All-Stars – composer Julia Wolfe, a 2016 MacArthur Fellow, drew on oral histories, interviews, speeches, geographic descriptions, children’s rhymes, and coal advertisements to create a work that gives an intimate look at a particular slice of American life.
Cited by the Pulitzer committee as “a powerful oratorio for chorus and sextet evoking Pennsylvania coal-mining life around the turn of the 20th Century,” the work premiered at the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia in April 2014 followed by a performance at the NY PHIL BIENNIAL in May 2014. It was met with rave reviews. The New York Times wrote, “In Ms. Wolfe’s polished and stylistically assured cantata, the overall coherence of the musical material helped her expressions of outrage to burn cleanly and brightly.” The Philadelphia Inquirer praised the piece for creating “an alternate universe.”
“My aim with Anthracite Fields is to honor the people who persevered and endured in the Pennsylvania Anthracite coal region during a time when the industry fueled the nation, and to reveal a bit about who we are as American workers.”
Named after the technical term for the purest form of coal, anthracite, Anthracite Fields was written after Wolfe did extensive research about the coal mining industry in an area very near where she grew up in Pennsylvania. She writes, “In some ways the piece is a return to my small town Pennsylvania roots. In looking north – the left turn onto route 309, the road-rarely-taken – I delved into a local history.”
Handel: Hercules
Harry Bicket, artistic director and conductor
William Guanbo Su, Hercules
Ann Hallenberg, Dejanira
Hilary Cronin, Iole
Alexander Chance, Lichas
David Portillo, Hyllus
featuring
The Clarion Choir
Steven Fox, director
Fresh from battle, Hercules returns home victorious, but Dejanira is consumed by a jealousy that sets off a tragic chain of events. With Handel’s soaring arias, inventive chromaticism, and powerful choruses, this opera reminds us that mistrust can bring even the mightiest to their knees. Thomas Broughton’s libretto draws from Ovid and Sophocles, with the chorus commenting on events as they unfold like a Greek tragedy. Harry Bicket and The English Concert tour the US, in collaboration once again with the scintillating Clarion Choir directed by Steven Fox.
Handel: Hercules
Harry Bicket, artistic director and conductor
William Guanbo Su, Hercules
Ann Hallenberg, Dejanira
Hilary Cronin, Iole
Alexander Chance, Lichas
David Portillo, Hyllus
featuring
The Clarion Choir
Steven Fox, director
Fresh from battle, Hercules returns home victorious, but Dejanira is consumed by a jealousy that sets off a tragic chain of events. With Handel’s soaring arias, inventive chromaticism, and powerful choruses, this opera reminds us that mistrust can bring even the mightiest to their knees. Thomas Broughton’s libretto draws from Ovid and Sophocles, with the chorus commenting on events as they unfold like a Greek tragedy. Harry Bicket and The English Concert tour the US, in collaboration once again with the scintillating Clarion Choir directed by Steven Fox.
Handel: Hercules
Harry Bicket, artistic director and conductor
William Guanbo Su, Hercules
Ann Hallenberg, Dejanira
Hilary Cronin, Iole
Alexander Chance, Lichas
David Portillo, Hyllus
featuring
The Clarion Choir
Steven Fox, director
Fresh from battle, Hercules returns home victorious, but Dejanira is consumed by a jealousy that sets off a tragic chain of events. With Handel’s soaring arias, inventive chromaticism, and powerful choruses, this opera reminds us that mistrust can bring even the mightiest to their knees. Thomas Broughton’s libretto draws from Ovid and Sophocles, with the chorus commenting on events as they unfold like a Greek tragedy. Harry Bicket and The English Concert tour the US, in collaboration once again with the scintillating Clarion Choir directed by Steven Fox.
Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem
Trinity Choir
Downtown Voices
Stephen Sands, conductor
On March 11, Downtown Voices and NOVUS will perform Johannes Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem – a setting of biblical texts that is considered one of the most profound choral masterworks ever composed and a timeless meditation on grief, hope, and transcendence.
Handel: Hercules
Harry Bicket, artistic director and conductor
William Guanbo Su, Hercules
Ann Hallenberg, Dejanira
Hilary Cronin, Iole
Alexander Chance, Lichas
David Portillo, Hyllus
featuring
The Clarion Choir
Steven Fox, director
Fresh from battle, Hercules returns home victorious, but Dejanira is consumed by a jealousy that sets off a tragic chain of events. With Handel’s soaring arias, inventive chromaticism, and powerful choruses, this opera reminds us that mistrust can bring even the mightiest to their knees. Thomas Broughton’s libretto draws from Ovid and Sophocles, with the chorus commenting on events as they unfold like a Greek tragedy. Harry Bicket and The English Concert tour the US, in collaboration once again with the scintillating Clarion Choir directed by Steven Fox.
Handel: Hercules
Harry Bicket, artistic director and conductor
William Guanbo Su, Hercules
Ann Hallenberg, Dejanira
Hilary Cronin, Iole
Alexander Chance, Lichas
David Portillo, Hyllus
featuring
The Clarion Choir
Steven Fox, director
Fresh from battle, Hercules returns home victorious, but Dejanira is consumed by a jealousy that sets off a tragic chain of events. With Handel’s soaring arias, inventive chromaticism, and powerful choruses, this opera reminds us that mistrust can bring even the mightiest to their knees. Thomas Broughton’s libretto draws from Ovid and Sophocles, with the chorus commenting on events as they unfold like a Greek tragedy. Harry Bicket and The English Concert tour the US, in collaboration once again with the scintillating Clarion Choir directed by Steven Fox.
French Motets for Mary
Music written for the Virgin Mary holds a special place in the Liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. In this concert, La Grande Bande explores music written in honor of the Virgin from 16th- and 17th-century France. Featured prominently on this program are the beautiful voices of Alyssa Anderson, Kristina Boerger, Catherine Sandstedt, and Jenny Ubl, members of La Grande Bande’s core group of vocalists. La Grande Bande is also delighted to welcome Atlanta-based, historical harpist Paula Fagerberg in her debut performances with our ensemble. Join La Grande Bande, and its fabulous artists, as we perform instrumental, vocal, and chanted music that honors the Virgin Mary.
French Motets for Mary
Music written for the Virgin Mary holds a special place in the Liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. In this concert, La Grande Bande explores music written in honor of the Virgin from 16th- and 17th-century France. Featured prominently on this program are the beautiful voices of Alyssa Anderson, Kristina Boerger, Catherine Sandstedt, and Jenny Ubl, members of La Grande Bande’s core group of vocalists. La Grande Bande is also delighted to welcome Atlanta-based, historical harpist Paula Fagerberg in her debut performances with our ensemble. Join La Grande Bande, and its fabulous artists, as we perform instrumental, vocal, and chanted music that honors the Virgin Mary.
PIPES: Messe solennelle
Trinity Choir
Avi Stein, organ
Melissa Attebury, conductor
Hear Trinity Church’s epic new organ with the Trinity Choir in a performance that celebrates the rich legacy of French music through the works of Louis Vierne and his preeminent pupils: Nadia and Lili Boulanger and Marcel Dupré. At one point conceived for full orchestra and choir, Vierne’s stunning and grandiose Messe solennelle captures the incredible versatility of the organ and features Trinity organists Avi Stein and Alex Leonardi. From the harmonic sophistication of Nadia Boulanger to the ethereal lyricism of Lili Boulanger and the virtuosic writing of Dupré, this performance explores the innovation and enduring power of the French musical tradition.
Britten: Saint Nicolas
Downtown Voices
Trinity Choir
Trinity Youth Chorus
Stephen Sands, conductor
Expect a night of celebration, reflection, and joyful music-making when Downtown Voices brings back its alumni to mark this important anniversary. Joining forces with Trinity Youth Chorus and contemporary music ensemble NOVUS, past and present members will raise their voices in a program that features the first work the chorus ever performed: Benjamin Britten’s Saint Nicolas. This colorful cantata tells the story of the revered 4th century bishop upon whom the legend of Santa Claus is based.
Breaking Ground: Fourth Wall & Portland State
The Portland State Chamber Choir kicks off its 50th anniversary season in signature style, bringing the acclaimed professional vocal ensemble Fourth Wall Ensemble to Portland for an evening of musical brilliance. Hailing from New York City, Fourth Wall Ensemble is a genre-bending group known for their fearless artistry and inventive programming. The program spans the centuries, from Claudio Monteverdi’s shimmering Renaissance harmonies to the genius of Portland’s own Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw. Breaking Ground promises to be a felicitous start to a milestone season for one of America’s finest university choirs.
Breaking Ground: Fourth Wall & Portland State
The Portland State Chamber Choir kicks off its 50th anniversary season in signature style, bringing the acclaimed professional vocal ensemble Fourth Wall Ensemble to Portland for an evening of musical brilliance. Hailing from New York City, Fourth Wall Ensemble is a genre-bending group known for their fearless artistry and inventive programming. The program spans the centuries, from Claudio Monteverdi’s shimmering Renaissance harmonies to the genius of Portland’s own Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw. Breaking Ground promises to be a felicitous start to a milestone season for one of America’s finest university choirs.
