A Special Holiday Event
Friday, Dec. 14, 2012 at 8pm at
F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre
Rockville Civic Center Park
603 Edmonston Drive, Rockville, MD 20851
Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012 at 8pm at
Thomas Jefferson Theater
125 South Old Glebe Road, Arlington, VA, 22204
Maestro Sorge and the VLOC orchestra will join with the Metropolitan Chorus of Arlington, Virginia, and their artistic director, Maestro Barry Hemphill, in a holiday concert. The program will include choral and instrumental music of the season, plus The Many Moods of Christmas, a series of four suites of Christmas carols for chorus and orchestra, arranged by the renowned conductor of the Atlanta Symphony, Robert Shaw.
About The Victorian Lyric Opera Company Orchestra
The Victorian Lyric Opera Company orchestra is an all-volunteer group of amateur musicians who normally play for three company productions a year...a semi-staged, concert format show, for one weekend in September; and two fully staged and costumed productions in February and June, each running two weekends. Although considered an amateur group, several of the musicians are retired from military bands, and several others teach their respective instruments. The orchestra usually numbers about 25 members for stage productions, but for this special “Many Moods of Christmas” joint concert with the Metropolitan Chorus, of Arlington, Virginia, the group has been enlarged to 40 players in order to accommodate the symphonic orchestration of the score.
Many of the orchestra members have performed with the company for many years especially since the appointment in 2003 of Maestro Joseph Sorge as artistic director and conductor. In the last ten years, in addition to the usual Gilbert & Sullivan fare, Maestro Sorge has introduced operettas by Offenbach, Donizetti, Lehar, Strauss, Victor Herbert, and even John Philip Sousa, to critical acclaim and success.
Many of the orchestra members have performed with the company for many years especially since the appointment in 2003 of Maestro Joseph Sorge as artistic director and conductor. In the last ten years, in addition to the usual Gilbert & Sullivan fare, Maestro Sorge has introduced operettas by Offenbach, Donizetti, Lehar, Strauss, Victor Herbert, and even John Philip Sousa, to critical acclaim and success.
Maestro Joseph Sorge
Joseph Sorge (Artistic Director, The Victorian Lyric Opera Company) first joined VLOC in February 1996, when he went on stage as Count Raoul de St. Brioche in The Merry Widow. He has performed on stage or been the music director for every VLOC production since then—except H.M.S. Pinafore in 1999. He is responsible for starting the September concert series, bringing rarely performed works to the Fitzgerald stage, such as Mlle. Modiste, The Desert Song, Naughty Marietta, The Grand Duke, and John Philip Sousa’s first operetta, Desirée. He has also broadened the repertoire of VLOC in its fully staged productions outside the standard Gilbert & Sullivan canon by introducing works by Offenbach (La Belle Helene, La Vie Parisienne), Strauss (The Gypsy Baron), and Donizetti (The Elixir of Love). Prior to joining VLOC, Joe performed leading roles for over 25 years in many of the community theaters in and around the Washington, DC, area. He retired in 2003 from the National Education Association’s Data Processing Division after a 35-year career. He is currently the Director of the traditional choir at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in College Park, MD. Maestro Sorge was recently selected to participate in the Rusty Musicians Master Class for Conductors sponsored by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and led by their music director, Marin Alsop. In 2011, Maestro Sorge was awarded “Best Conductor” for The Mikado at The Gettysburg International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival.
About The Metropolitan Chorus
Established in 1966 and recognized in the U.S. Congressional Record, The Metropolitan Chorus makes its home in Arlington, Virginia. The Chorus provides Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia residents an opportunity to hear great choral works...and perform! Today, the 100-voice Chorus presents concerts featuring music of all ages, from the renaissance to the 21st century, with a strong emphasis on American composers.
The Metropolitan Chorus regularly performs in venues throughout the D.C. area, including the Kennedy Center, Constitution Hall and the National Building Museum. They also join forces with other musical organizations for unique performances and presents several free concerts each year as a special service to the community.
The Metropolitan Chorus regularly performs in venues throughout the D.C. area, including the Kennedy Center, Constitution Hall and the National Building Museum. They also join forces with other musical organizations for unique performances and presents several free concerts each year as a special service to the community.
Maestro Barry S. Hemphill
Barry S. Hemphill has been the Artistic Director of The Metropolitan Chorus since 1977. A native New Yorker, Mr. Hemphill graduated from Manhattan School of Music in New York City where his specialties were conducting, theory, and voice. He is the son of Shelton "Scad" Hemphill who played first trumpet for Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong and Duke Ellington, among others, and he claims Billie Holliday as one of his babysitters.
Mr. Hemphill has a wide variety of musical experience to his credit including conducting singing, composing and arranging for voice and instrumentation. He retired from the United States Army (U.S. Army Band & Chorus) in 1991, ending his career as Sergeant Major of the Chorus after nearly 23 years of service as baritone soloist and conductor. Upon retirement he was presented with the Legion of Merit -- awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements.
Mr. Hemphill has conducted the massively popular and annual Messiah sing at the Kennedy Center since 1994. This yearly Washington event attracts more than 3,000 amateur and professional singers worldwide. He also serves as an adjudicator and clinician throughout the United States. Since 1983 the First Presbyterian Church of Arlington has benefited from his direction where a strong music program contributes to a growing congregation with significant community involvement.
Mr. Hemphill has a wide variety of musical experience to his credit including conducting singing, composing and arranging for voice and instrumentation. He retired from the United States Army (U.S. Army Band & Chorus) in 1991, ending his career as Sergeant Major of the Chorus after nearly 23 years of service as baritone soloist and conductor. Upon retirement he was presented with the Legion of Merit -- awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements.
Mr. Hemphill has conducted the massively popular and annual Messiah sing at the Kennedy Center since 1994. This yearly Washington event attracts more than 3,000 amateur and professional singers worldwide. He also serves as an adjudicator and clinician throughout the United States. Since 1983 the First Presbyterian Church of Arlington has benefited from his direction where a strong music program contributes to a growing congregation with significant community involvement.
T.L. de Victoria (1548 - 1611)
Victoria began his musical life as a choirboy at Avila Cathedral, then moved to Rome to study at the Jesuit Collegio Germanico; he may have received tuition from Palestrina. He was made director of music at the Collegio in 1573, and was ordained priest in 1575. In 1576 he joined St. Philip Neri’s community, later taking chaplaincies at two Roman churches. Despite growing European fame from his compositions (all of them sacred) he wanted to return to a quieter life in Spain, and in 1587 he accepted Philip II’s offer to become chaplain to his sister, the Dowager Empress Maria, who lived in retirement at the convent of Descalzas Reales in Madrid. Victoria remained at the convent, first as choirmaster and later as organist until his death. O magnum mysterium, which was included in Victoria’s first published collection of 1572, is one of the best-loved of all Christmas motets, a succinct expression of both the mystery and the joy of the Nativity.
Program
O magnum mysterium
T.L. de Victoria (translation below) Many Moods of Christmas arr. Shaw/Bennett
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O magnum mysterium William Byrd Many Moods of Christmas arr. Shaw/Bennett
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Translation: O marvel and mystery, and wondrous sacrament O most holy, that in a humble crib the ox and ass should
see our Lord and our Savior among
them in a stable laid.
Most blessed virgin, who in purity bore by God’s will our Savior Jesus Christ our Lord. Hail Virgin Mary, full
of grace art thou: God is with
thee.
Chorus
Soprano
Elizabeth Ballentine Cynthia Fagnoni Susan Gorsky Kathleen Hardt Amy Josephson Betsy Keenan Teresa Kloster Cheryl Lovinsky Liz Martin Janis McCollim** Mary Lou McIntyre Michelle McLaughlin Linda Phillips Jackie Quigley Sasha Puldeski Josephine Schuda* Mary Ann Setton Andrea Shoham Terry Stackley Doris P. Summey Katharyn Wheeler Elizabeth Winn Laurie Young |
Alto Gwen Blakeman Diane Carrier* Debbie Clapp Julia Coombs Abigail Dosch Karen Dosch Carole Dotterweich Martha Duggan Diane Ekonomou Joanne Erickson Karen Erickson Betsey Fountain Sue Kelly Sue Nogas Ella Merritt Sandy Mori Lynn Robinson Nancy Ruel Deb Sager Marge Stevens Elizabeth Yaffe *Section Leader **Chorus President |
Tenor David Boomsma* Jeff Copp Gae Fasold Philip Hart Jim Howell John Meredith Ray Meyer Fred Thielke Bass John Becker Charles E. Day, Sr. Don Dosch Carl Elefante Doug Gage Vic Glasberg Rick Johns Webb Nass Dick Pellerin David Permut Cody Pfau Jim Reed George Stevens Randy Sukow Chris Tscharner* |
Orchestra
Violin 1 - Steve Natrella (CM), Bonnie Barrows, Carolyn Larson, Audrey Chang
Violin 2 - Peter Mignerey, Laura Yackley, Erin Grace, Edwin Schneider Viola - Amanda Laudwein, Andrew Nixon Cello - Michael Stein Bass - Alice Mignerey, Fred Talcott Flute - Jackie Miller, Louise Hill, Juliana Baioni Oboe - Gwen Earle, Linda Eagleson English Horn - Ava Oaxaca Bassoon - Steve Weschler Clarinet - Laura Langbein, Laura Bornhoeft, James Bensinger Horn - Lora Katz, Joe Cross, Brittany Iler, Kathy Bartolomeo Trumpet - Curt Anstine, Rick Pasciuto, Tom Gleason Trombone - Steve Ward, Frank Eliot, Al Potter Tuba - Steve Williams Percussion - George Huttlin Joe Espineira Janet Thompson Harp - Meghan Gwyer Keyboard - Jennifer Bland |
