Collegiate Chorale and Israel Phil Present KOL NIDRE and MECHAYE HAMETIM at Carnegie Hall, 10/25

The Collegiate Chorale announces its encore performance with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra of Arnold Schoenberg's Kol Nidre and Israeli composer Noam Sheriff's Mechaye Hametim (Revival of the Dead), which they performed this summer at the Salzburg Festival. The October 25 performance will be the New York premiere of Mechaye Hametim.

Along with Grammy Award-winning baritone Thomas Hampson, Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient Yuja Wang and The Collegiate Chorale, tenor Carl Hieger joins the roster of participating artists in a unique program with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall on October 25, 2012 at 7pm.

The concert recently saw a program change: after the heartfelt response the IPO received for its performance at the Salzburg Festival in July, and front-page coverage of the concert in The New York Times, the Orchestra quickly restructured the October 25 program for Carnegie Hall. Arnold Schoenberg's Kol Nidre and the New York premiere of Noam Sheriff's Mechaye Hametim (Revival of the Dead)-two works performed in Salzburg-will bookend a concert that also features internationally celebrated pianist Yuja Wang performing Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1.

This benefit concert is being generously underwritten by Adrienne Arsht. Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra will travel across the country with Yuja Wang, performing in New York, Palm Desert, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Benefit tickets may be purchased by contacting American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra online or by phone at 212-697-2949 or at events@afipo.org. Concert tickets may be purchased through Carnegie Hall's box office, website or by phone at 212-247-7800. (Tickets starting from $21.)

The Collegiate Chorale's 2012/2013 season:

Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 and Charles Ives' Symphony No. 4
Friday, October 26, 2012 at 8pm at Carnegie Hall
In a fusion of song and symphony, The Collegiate Chorale, Brooklyn Youth Chorus and American Symphony Orchestra join forces in honor of the orchestra's 50th anniversary for a performance of Mahler's massive Symphony of a Thousand. First performed in America in 1916 under the baton of the ASO's founder Leopold Stokowski, this performance of the Mahler 8 will be accompanied by Charles Ives' Symphony No. 4 and Stokowski's arrangement of John Stafford Smith's The Star-Spangled Banner. Leon Botstein conducts.

Vincenzo Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda (Fall Gala)
Wednesday, December 5, 2012 at 6pm at Carnegie Hall
The Chorale will feature the extraordinary Angela Meade in the title role, along with soloists Jamie Barton, Michael Spyres and Nicholas Pallesen. Set in 15th century Milan and based on an actual historical figure, the opera tells of the tormented but saintly wife of the Duke of Milan, falsely accused of adultery by the scorned lover of one of her admirers and sentenced to death by her husband. Beatrice di Tenda is characterized by ravishing melodies and exciting finales. It premiered in 1833 and was famously revived in 1961 by Joan Sutherland and Marilyn Horne, Music Director James Bagwell conducts The Collegiate Chorale and American Symphony Orchestra in this Fall Gala presentation.

Osvaldo Golijov's Oceana and Philip Glass's Symphony No. 7 "Toltec"
Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at 7pm at Carnegie Hall
In an interesting pairing of contemporary choral compositions by Golijov and Glass, The Chorale turns its attention towards Latin America with the New York premieres of Oceana andSymphony No. 7 "Toltec." Commissioned by the Oregon Bach Festival in 1996, Golijov wrote Oceana in the spirit of a Bach cantata, but also in a Latin American musical style that features a jazz/pop vocalist, percussion, and guitars. Setting the poetry of Pablo Neruda, Oceana, is in Golijov's words, "the transmutation of passion into geometry" and where "water and longing, light and hope, the immensity of South America's nature and pain, are here transmuted into pure musical symbols, which nevertheless should be more liquid than the sea and deeper than the yearning that they represent." Popular Venezuelan vocalist Biella Da Costa joins The Chorale in performance of this compelling musical work.

Composed in 2004, Symphony No. 7 - A Toltec Symphony is Philip Glass's personal homage to the ancient traditions and beliefs of the peoples of Mesoamerica, circa 700 BCE to 1100 BCE. Although often cited for their accomplishments in mathematics, calendar making, building and architecture, Glass is most concerned with Toltec personal spiritual development: "The Toltecs emphasized the relationship with the forces of the natural world (sun, earth, water, fire and wind) in developing their own wisdom traditions." In his symphony, Glass portrays this spirituality with driving rhythms and varying textures in the orchestra and chorus. James Bagwell conducts The Collegiate Chorale and American Symphony Orchestra.

Robert Wright and George Forrest's Song of Norway (Spring Benefit)
Tuesday, April 30, 2013 at 6:30pm at Carnegie Hall
Set in 1860, Wright and Forrest (creators of Kismet) cleverly weave Edvard Grieg's compositions together in this romantic operetta/musical filled with glorious music. Song of Norway tells the story of Grieg as he dreams of fame, but who, after experiencing it under the patronage of a famous prima donna, realizes that his true creativity and love are back at home in his beloved Norway. Ted Sperling conducts and directs Broadway greats in the solo roles, including Jason Danieley and Judy Kaye. The American Symphony Orchestra joins The Chorale for this special concert, followed by The Chorale's Benefit Dinner and Live Auction.

Subscription tickets can be purchased by contacting The Chorale office at (646) 435-9465 or via their website: collegiatechorale.org. Single tickets start at $20. Tickets to individual Carnegie Hall concerts may also be purchased through the Carnegie Hall Box Office 60 days in advance of each concert and on Carnegie Charge at (212) 247-7800 or www.carnegiehall.org. Single tickets for all concerts, and for the Fall Gala and Spring Benefit,can be obtained by calling The Collegiate Chorale at (646) 202-9623.

Luigi Dallapiccola's Il Prigioniero
The Collegiate Chorale will perform Il Prigioniero by Luigi Dallapiccola with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Alan Gilbert in Avery Fisher Hall on June 6, 8 and 11, 2013.

Verbier Festival
The Collegiate Chorale will perform the following concerts at the Verbier Festival in July 2013.
July 19: Beethoven Symphony No. 9, conducted by Charles Dutoit
July 23: Schubert, E-flat Mass, conducted by Christian Zacharias
July 25: Selections from Otello, conducted by Valery Gergiev

The mission of The Collegiate Chorale, led by Music Director James Bagwell, is to enrich its audiences through innovative programming and exceptional performances of a broad range of vocal music featuring a premier choral ensemble. Founded in 1941 by the legendary conductor Robert Shaw, The Chorale has established a preeminent reputation for its interpretations of the traditional choral repertoire, vocal works by American composers, and rarely heard operas-in-concert, as well as for commissions and premieres of new works by today's most exciting creative artists. The many guest artists with whom The Chorale has performed in recent years include: Stephanie Blythe, Victoria Clark, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Angela Meade, Kelli O'Hara, Eric Owens, Rene Papé, Bryn Terfel and Deborah Voigt. Last season's highlights included the critically acclaimed concert presentation of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado at Carnegie Hall. In addition to The Chorale's presentations, the chorus performed in five programs during the American Symphony Orchestra's 2011-12 season, sang with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at the Salzburg Festival and in Israel in July 2012, and will return to Verbier in the summer of 2013.

For more information, visit www.collegiatechorale.org or call 646.202.9623.