Symphony Silicon Valley Chorale, Michelle Jordan performing Caribbean Mass
SAN JOSE, Calif.–Feb. 11, 2010–Symphony Silicon Valley Chorale, the acclaimed chorus of Symphony Silicon Valley, under the direction of Elena Sharkova, will perform the soulful music of our American roots on Friday, March 19 at 8:00 p.m. at the California Theatre. Invited guest choirs West Valley College Chamber Singers and Masterworks Chorale, Cantabile Youth Singers, and the Leland High School Chamber Singers will join Symphony Silicon Valley Chorale for the second part of the performance.
Festival of Choirs: American Roots will feature Will Todd’s Mass in Blue, an upbeat setting of the Latin mass, composed in the jazz idiom. Written in 2003 for choir, soprano solo and jazz instrumentation, the work is a brilliant blend of driving jazz rhythms, rich tonal colors, and groovy melodies. Dynamic soprano Renee Calvo and local jazz artists will star alongside Symphony Silicon Valley Chorale in the performance of this now internationally popular piece.
“We are very excited to bring Will Todd’s music to the Bay Area,” says Andrew Bales, president of Symphony Silicon Valley. “I think it’s inspiring and refreshing that Elena Sharkova continues to select innovative contemporary compositions to expand the musical experience of both the audience and the singers.”
The second half of the concert will celebrate the great African-American traditions of spiritual and gospel music rooted in slave folk songs and will feature East Bay singer Michelle Jordan as a soloist. Other works will showcase the American Roots theme with selections of 19th and 20th century folk music and musical theatre.
“For our Festival of Choirs, we invite outstanding local ensembles of young singers with a three-pronged goal,” notes Elena Sharkova, artistic director of the Symphony Silicon Valley Chorale and Cantabile Youth Singers. “We want to give them an opportunity to perform with professionals and show that there are opportunities for them to continue making music through life. We also aim to put more young listeners into the seats of classical concert venues,” she explains.
Composer Will Todd, born in 1970, is already a prolific composer. He is well versed in composing for the musical theatre and choral groups. His extensive output includes opera, musicals, oratorio, orchestral works, works for children and amateur performers, concertos for violin, trumpet and saxophone, and works for choir. An accomplished jazz musician, he plays piano, saxophone and clarinet. Todd recorded Mass in Blue with himself on piano. He has toured Europe, the Middle and Far East and America with his jazz trio.
Soprano Renee Calvo, jazz vocalist, accompanist and educator from San Diego, California, has an extensive solo and chorus background with the San Diego Opera, and several prominent classical and regional jazz ensembles. She has performed a wide variety of roles including Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte, Rose in Street Scene, and Cecily in La Davina. She has been featured soloist in the Classics 4 Kids production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute as Papagena, and sang the soprano solo in Mozart’s Coronation Mass with the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus. Renee will be the soloist for the world premiere of Todd’s newly-commissioned arrangement of Mass in Blue for strings and jazz trio, with obligato saxophone and trumpet, performing with the Grossmont College Symphony Orchestra and Master Chorale in San Diego.
Gospel Singer Michelle Jordan returns to perform with Symphony Silicon Valley Chorale by popular demand, having sung with the group in 2008 in Glenn McClure’s St. Francis in the Americas: A Caribbean Mass. “The great tug comes when Michelle Jordan sings with mercurial feeling and texture . . .” states Marianne Messina of MetroActive. Jordan, who is also a stage actress, has performed in theatres around the Bay Area including Theatreworks, A.C.T. and Lorraine Hansberry Theater. For those who have been touched personally by her strength, beauty and depth of spirit, she is known as Queen Michelle.
Friday, March 19, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.
California Theatre, San Jose, CA
Tickets: $25; reserved seating
Symphony Silicon Valley Box Office or 408-286-2600, Ext 23 (M-F 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
http://www.symphonysiliconvalley.org/
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
