Vance George Conducts Symphony Silicon Valley Chorale In Fauré’s Requiem
Who: Symphony Silicon Valley Chorale, with Cantabile Youth Singers, West Valley College Choirs. Vance George, guest conductor.Jonas Nordwall, organist. When/Where:Sunday, March 15th, at 7:30 pm, California Theatre, San Jose. Tickets: 408 286 2600
Vance George, emeritus director of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, will guest conduct the Symphony Silicon Valley Chorale’s performance of Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem in its original version. Members of the Symphony Silicon Valley and Cantabile Youth Singers will join the SSV Chorale in this exceptional performance. Also on the program are compositions for double chorus by Brahms and Mendelssohn and a choral medley from Bernstein’s West Side Story. West Valley College Choirs, Lou de la Rosa, director, join the Chorale for the second part of the program.
The lesser known first version of Fauré’s Requiem -also named ’Madeleine‘ for the famous Parisian church- was conceived as music for the church, not the concert hall, while Fauré held the post of choirmaster and organist at the prestigious church. Unlike Romantic (German or Italian) choral requiems, Fauré’s invokes a serene, peaceful welcome to the afterlife without dread or fright. Some of its melodies inspired in Gregorian chant even suggest a monastic life. This work truly marks a departure from others in this genre, and is treasured by choristers and audiences around the world.
Cantabile Youth Singers will sing the angelic ‘Pie Jesu’, and Jonas Nordwall of PBS’s “Pipe Dreams” fame will be playing the organ -a part that Fauré, as organist, scored prominently.
Grammy Award-winner Vance George has secured his reputation among great choral maestros while directing the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. He is highly regarded as a master teacher and has presented clinics and workshops on choral literature and conducting around the world.
About Symphony Silicon Valley Chorale
Led by Music Director Elena Sharkova, SSV Chorale (formerly the San Jose State University Chorale) is composed of skilled singers dedicated to quality performances of major choral works with the symphony and other professional arts organizations. It has performed such masterpieces as Verdi’s Requiem and Orff’s Carmina Burana, and more recently Rachmaninoff's magnificent All-Night Vigil. Chorale has performed Navidad Nuestra, Misa Criolla and Caribbean Mass with local musicians playing original instruments, and has toured in northern Europe in 2000 and in Switzerland and Italy in 2007.
