MEFISTOFELE, BATTLE HYMNS and More Set for The Collegiate Chorale's 2013-14 Season

The Collegiate Chorale announces its 2013-14 season of three important works: Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele at Carnegie Hall, followed by with Max Bruch's Moses at Carnegie Hall, and David Lang's battle hymns at Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. For more information and tickets, visit http://collegiatechorale.org/season-ticket/.

Mefistofele

November 6, 2013 at 8pm at Carnegie Hall; tickets $15-$145

Open Rehearsal: October 7, 2013 at 6:30pm at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity; Free Event

Immediately prior to the concert will be The Collegiate Chorale's Annual Fall Gala; contact Mariane Lemieux, mlemieux@collegiatechorale.org, for more information.

Best known as the librettist for Verdi's Otello and Falstaff, Boito was also a gifted composer who completed one monumental opera, Mefistofele, based on the legend of Faust. He titled it after the character that truly drives the action: Mefistopheles, the devil himself. Featuring bass-baritone Eric Owens in the title role, Arturo Chacón-Cruz as Faust, and soprano Julianna di Giacomo as Margarita and Helen of Troy, and with The Combined forces of The Collegiate Chorale and Manhattan Girls Chorus depicting sorcerers, witches, will-o-the-wisps, ancient Greek nymphs, penitents, and cherubim, this performance will provide both heavenly music and devilish good fun. Mefistofele has not been heard in New York since 2000. James Bagwell will conduct.

Moses

March 27, 2014 at 8pm at Carnegie Hall; tickets $25-$50

American Symphony Orchestra will feature the full strength of The Collegiate Chorale in their presentation of Max Bruch's choral masterpiece and biblical oratorio Moses this March. Max Bruch, best known for his Kol Nidre and famous violin concerto, was also a master of the oratorio. The ASO revived his setting of Homer's Odyssey in 1995, and now turns to his other choral masterpiece, a biblical oratorio that puts into music the dramatic story of the most enduring figure of the Old Testament. Picking up where Handel's Israel in Egypt leaves off,Moses takes us from the events at Mount Sinai, to Moses' conflict with the Israelites, to his death on the eve of his people's arrival in the promised land of Canaan. Leon Botstein will conduct.

battle hymns

May 15, 2014 at 7:30pm at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum; tickets $45-$125

Attached to this concert will be The Collegiate Chorale's Spring Benefit with live auction; contact Mariane Lemieux, mlemieux@collegiatechorale.org, for more information.

Commissioned in 2009 by the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia and Leah Stein Dance Company for performance in an old Armory, battle hymns is a sweeping meditation on war based on Civil War texts after Sullivan Ballou, Stephen Foster and Abraham Lincoln, and scored for a cappella chorus and solo snare drum. Written by brilliant contemporary composer and Pulitzer Prize winner David Lang, this profoundly moving performance piece will draw you in with its poetry and visual effect. Hangar 3 on the Intrepid, a former WWII aircraft carrier, will make for a fresh, contemplative setting for the New York premiere of this provocative piece. James Bagwell will conduct.

The mission of The Collegiate Chorale is to enrich audiences through innovative programming and exceptional performances of a broad range of music that features choral singing. 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 Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda, NY premieres of works by Philip Glass and Osvaldo Golijov, and a performance of Dallapiccola's Il Prigioniero with the NY Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert. In addition to The Chorale's presentations, the chorus performed in three programs during the American Symphony Orchestra's 2012-13 season, and returned for a sixth time to sing at the Verbier (Switzerland) Festival in the summer of 2013.

For more information about these concerts and The Collegiate Chorale, visit www.collegiatechorale.org. For information on the Fall Gala, visit http://collegiatechorale.org/support/special-events.