Catalyst Performs In Pasadena in June

Grammy-award winner James K. Bass brings his professional choral group, The Catalyst Chamber Ensemble, to Pasadena for the first time to perform selections from the greatest composers of the Spanish High Renaissance. This special encore a Capella performance will take place at St. Andrew Catholic Church on Friday, June 23, 2023 at 7:30pm.  The Catalyst Ensemble is aligned with the Long Beach Camerata Singers, who recently concluded their 57th season with a lighthearted “Evening of Song.”  
 
Based on the enthusiastic response from the audience upon the concert's first performance, the Catalyst Ensemble was asked to appear in Pasadena, giving the community another opportunity to hear this celestial music.

• “I was overwhelmed with the expertise of this group, and the transcendence of the music. This is in my top 1% of concerts ever. “ –LN
• “Normally I don't waste my time with these interminable surveys, but this performance was so impressive I wanted to comment on the quality of the singers and the conductor. It was incredibly difficult music, it was beautiful, it was historically instructive, it was ethereal. It was all I could have hoped for. I could easily listened to another hours' worth . . . “ --AM 
• “The music was like saying a prayer” --BH 

“This concert celebrates the golden age of Spanish polyphony in the 17th century, some of the most beautiful liturgical music every written, and traces its path and transformation when brought to the New World.  Native folk music, indigenous languages and the melding of two cultures resulted in unexpected musical forms and developments that are still relevant today,” said conductor James K Bass when asked to describe the concert.  A few select audio clips from the debut performance in Long Beach are available at www.LBCamerata.org.    
 
The composers and repertoire for the concert include the following:
 
SPAIN
Tomas Luis de Victoria – 1548 – 1611:  Born in Avila, Castille, Victoria began to study the organ at a very early age and served as a choirboy starting at age 9.  It is thought that he studied with Palestrina in his early 20's, and was ordained a priest in 1574.  He is regarded as the most significant composer of the counter-reformation in Spain and one of the best-regarded composers of sacred music in the late Renaissance.  The concert will include his “Pange Lingua,” “Regina Coeli,” and “Salve Regina.”
 
Francisco Guerrero – 1529 – 1599:  Also an ordained priest, Guerrero was born and died in Seville.  Unlike other Spanish composers of his era, he spent most of his life in Spain, rarely travelling except for an ill-advised journey to the Holy Land, during which he was besieged by pirates, and held for ransom.  As a composer, he wrote both secular and liturgical music, with great emotional power.  The concert will include his “Ave Virgo Sanctissima.”
 
Alonso Lobo – 1555 – 1617:  Lobo served as a choirboy in Seville and, after receiving a degree, became assistant to Francisco Guerrero at the Seville Cathedral.  Lobo's compositions combine the contrapunctal technique of Palestrina with the intensity of Tomas Luis de Victoria.  The concert will include his work, “Ave Regina Coelorum.”
 
NEW WORLD
Juan Padilla – 1590 – 1664:  Padilla was born in Malaga, Spain, but moved to Mexico in 1620. He worked in the Puebla de Los Angeles, Mexico, and served as the maestro de capilla of the Puebla Cathedral from 1628 to 1664.  Catalyst will perform “Circumdederunt me dolores mortis” and “Stabat Mater”  from Padilla's oeuvres.
 
Gaspar Fernandes – 1566 – 1629: Born in Portugal, Fernandes was hired as an organist for the Cathedral of Santiago de Guatemala in 1599, where he worked until 1606, departing to Puebla, where he served as chapel master until his death.  Fernandes compile and bound various choir books documenting manuscripts in use in Guatemala during his lifetime, adding his own compositions to the collection.  In Puebla he turned his attention to villancios, written in Spanish, Portuguese, pseudo-african dialects and the Amerindian languages.  His piece, “Xiccochi,” will be performed, which is written in the Nahuatl language.  Note:  “Xiccochi,” was covered by Linda Ronstadt on her Christmas Album recorded in 2000.
 
Individual tickets are available at $45 each.  The LBCS Box Office is available to process orders or offer assistance at 562-900-2863.  Group tickets are available at $25 with a minimum purchase of 10 tickets, and can be purchased by calling our Box Office.  Tickets can also be purchased on the Long Beach Camerata Singers' website, www.LBCamerata.org.