Concerts

It's Shakespeare, not the Seven Dwarfs. Join us as we ring in the holidays with songs of joy and mirth and wonder. With a focus on poetry of the season, we hear texts from William Shakespeare, Christina Rossetti, Sara Teasdale, William Blake, and some ancient sources as well. The women of the Chorus are featured in a new ten-part Magnificat by Christine Donkin. Also enjoy favorites by John Tavener, Benjamin Britten, Charles Ives, Herbert Howells, and George Shearing as we heed Shakespeare's call to "Sing Heigh Ho unto the Green Holly!"

In March we present two beloved major works for choir, organ, and guest soloists: Requiem by Gabriel Fauré and Benjamin Britten's lustrous and enigmatic Rejoice in the Lamb, with soloists Douglas Cleveland, organist; Jo Nardolillo, violin & viola; Aaron Starkweather, treble; Kathryn Weld, mezzo-soprano; Stephen Rumph, tenor; and Glenn Guhr, baritone. Also on the program: There Is an Old Belief, by Charles Parry and Toccata from Pièces de Fantaisie, Suite II for organ by Louis Vierne. The concerts are presented at Plymouth Congregational and Phinney Ridge Lutheran Churches, homes of two of the finest pipe organs in the Puget Sound area.

Time is intangible. We can't see it or taste it or hold it in our hand, yet we know keenly that it exists when loved ones die, when small children get big, as we get old. We think we know all we need to know about time. We own it. Still, poets and musicians have more to say about it. Our aptly titled June concert features a broad collection of pieces inspired by the passing of time, whether time of day, or the seasons, or times of our lives, or eternity. Featured composers of past eras will include Brahms, Rheinberger, Kodaly, and Arthur Sullivan. More contemporary composers will also chime in, including Giselle Wyers, Eric William Barnum, Carol Barnett, Steven Sametz, and Leonard Bernstein.