Sunday, Mar 22, 2015
March 27 concert features music that reminds us of resilience in the face of collective tragedy
Westminster Schola Cantorum, conducted by James Jordan, will present a concert titled “I Will Lift Mine Eyes” on Friday, March 27 at 8 p.m. in Bristol Chapel on the campus of Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, N.J.
The program commemorates the anniversaries of World War I and World War II with music that was written to remind us of war, loss and spiritual resilience in face of collective tragedy. It centers on Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, surrounded by works of strength, faith and hope, including Pärt’s Da Pacem Domine, Mäntyjärvi’s Ave Maria, Mealor’s Ubi Caritas and Love’s As Warm As Tears, Lauridsen Sure On This Shining Night, Runestad’s I Will Lift Mine Eyes and Hogan’s Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel.
Westminster Schola Cantorum is one of three curricular choirs at Westminster Choir College. Composed of all students in their second year of study at the college, the ensemble forms a vital link between the technique and artistry gained by students in their first-year experience at the college in the Westminster Chapel Choir and Westminster Symphonic Choir, which performs with many of the world’s finest orchestras and is a cornerstone of the Westminster experience. The second year of ensemble performance study focuses on refinement of ensemble skills combined with choral literature appropriate to both the musical growth and artistic understanding of the singers in the ensemble.
One of the country’s leading choral artists, James Jordan is professor of conducting and senior conductor at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, where he conducts the critically acclaimed Westminster Williamson Voices in addition to Westminster Schola Cantorum, and teaches undergraduate and graduate choral conducting. Critics on both sides of the Atlantic have praised his recorded performances. Gramophone described his conducting as “intimate and forceful choral artistry,” with tone that is “controlled and silken in sustained phrases as they are vibrantly sonorous in extroverted material.” Choir and Organ wrote about his GRAMMY-nominated recording of Annelies, “Jordan’s instinctive understanding of the score makes this a profound and emotionally charged experience.”
Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students and seniors. Tickets can be purchased through the Box Office at (609) 921-2663 or online at www.rider.edu/arts. Westminster Choir College is located at 101 Walnut Lane in Princeton, N.J. For more information, visit www.rider.edu/arts.
