DCINY Presents Morten Lauridsen Celebration: 'Shining Light' 3/30-4/01

Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) presents "Shining Light," an extraordinary weekend of illuminating events. Encompassing a premiere film screening alongside major concerts at Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, DCINY celebrates the life and music of National Medal of Arts recipient Morten Lauridsen, America's most frequently performed choral composer. DCINY will host the New York premiere of the documentary film Shining Night (March 30) and present major works by Lauridsen, who will be in residence throughout the weekend, in concerts at Avery Fisher Hall, conducted by Artistic Director Jonathan Griffith (March 31), and at Carnegie Hall, also featuring music by composer and conductor Eric Whitacre (April 1). This will be a truly a “shining” weekend in tribute to a treasured composer called an "American Choral Master" by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Shining Night: A Portrait of Composer Morten Lauridsen (documentary film)

Exploring the relationship of art, nature, and spirituality, Shining Night, a new film by Michael Stillwater, conveys the richness and breadth of composer Morten Lauridsen's life, with a soundtrack featuring his masterworks. The film received its world premiere in February at the American Documentary Film Festival in Palm Springs in advance of this DCINY New York premiere. Wall Street Journal critic Terry Teachout praises Lauridsen’s “radiantly beautiful music,” calling the film “a heartening rarity, a thoroughly intelligent classical-music program that strikes an appropriate balance between words and music.”

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the composer, filmmaker Michael Stillwater and Eric Whitacre.

Friday, March 30, 5:30pm

New York Society for Ethical Culture (2 West 64th Street)

Tickets: $25/$15 via www.DCINY.org/shininglight

Eternal Light...Shining Bright

DCINY Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Jonathan Griffith conducts one of Morten Lauridsen’s seminal works, Lux Aeterna, 15 years after the much-performed work was created. Composed after Lauridsen received news that his mother was dying, Lux Aeterna is a meditation about illumination, searching for peace and reconciliation in the face of death. Says conductor Paul Salamunovich of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, who premiered the work: “This music is going to live for centuries.”

Also on the program, Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt, Professor of Choral Studies and Director of Choral Activities at the Ohio State University, will conduct music for Women's Chorus.

Saturday, March 31, 2:00pm

Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center

Tickets $20 - $100 at www.lincolncenter.org or CenterCharge 212.721.6500

This Shining Night: The Music of Lauridsen and Whitacre

A splendid evening of music, conducted by frequent DCINY collaborator and recent Grammy winner Eric Whitacre, one of the most popular and performed composers of our time, and featuring the Distinguished Concert Singers International. Whitacre will conduct works by Morten Lauridsen, with Mr. Lauridsen himself on the piano, including “Dirait-on”, from Les Chansons des Roses, and Sure on This Shining Night. Eric Whitacre will also conduct a series of his own works including Animal Crackers, A Boy and a Girl, The City and the Sea, Cloudburst, Five Hebrew Love Songs, Go, Lovely Rose, Lux Aurumque, Seal Lullaby, Sleep, and With a Lily.

Sunday, April 1, 8:30pm

Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall

Tickets $20 - $100 at www.carnegiehall.org or 212-247-7800 or in person at the Carnegie Hall Box Office.