Ragazzi Boys Chorus Presents To Italia – And Beyond!

Ragazzi Boys Chorus will take audiences on a globetrotting adventure with its spring concert To Italia - and Beyond! Featuring singers from Ragazzi's Young Men's Ensemble, Concert Group, Choral Scholars, and Avanti ensembles, this afternoon of glorious song features repertoire from Ragazzi's upcoming international performance tour. This summer, Ragazzi will travel to Italy and Austria for a highly anticipated tour that includes collaboration with the acclaimed Vienna Boys Chorus, in addition to concerts and masterclasses in Venice, Padua, Lake Como, Salzburg, and Vienna. Led by Artistic and Executive Director Kent Jue, To Italia - and Beyond! will perform at 4pm PST Sunday, June 5, 2022 at Hillsdale High School in San Mateo. For tickets ($20-$40) and more information the public may visit Ragazzi.org or call (650) 362-4425.

Audience members of To Italia - and Beyond! will be required to wear a mask. At the door, they must show proof of full COVID-19 vaccination (either the physical card or a digital copy their phone) with photo ID or must provide digital or physical proof of a medically-administered COVID-19 test with a negative result taken within 48 hours of entry. They must be prepared to show proof of ticket purchase to our volunteer door checkers. Audience members who are not able to provide these at the door will not be permitted to enter the performance space. For more information the public may visit Ragazzi.org

To Italia - and Beyond! will begin with songs performed by Avanti, including Judith Herrington's celebratory Awake, My Soul, and Sing, Christi Jones' artful arrangement of the traditional spiritual Poor Wayfaring Stranger, and Rollo Dilworth's gospel-inspired One Mile. Concert Group (CG) will perform Richard Oswin's fervent Sanctus, Camille Saint-Saëns's stunning Ave Maria, and Alessandro Grandi's rich, resonant Hodie, nobis de caelo, edited by Tortolano. CG will join with Choral Scholars (CS) to sing Richard Ewer's exquisite Beati Omnes, Paul John Rudoi's rhythmic piece with Sanskrit text Gamaya, Pepper Choplin's magnificent a cappella You Will Reap What You Sow, and J. David Moore's soulful a cappella arrangement of the traditional Appalachian song Will the Circle Be Unbroken.

During this performance, Young Men's Ensemble (YME) will perform Franz Biebl's breathtaking Ave Maria; Tomas Luis De Victoria's flowing a cappella motet Verbum Caro, arranged by Jeb Mueller; Ludwig van Beethoven's picturesque Wir Haben Ihn Gesehen from "Christ on the Mount of Olives," arranged by Alexa Doebele; Robert Schumann's sprightly Die Minnesänger from "Sechs Lieder Für Vierstimmigen Männerchor," edited by Matthew D. Oltman; and Romanian-Hungarian composer György Orbán's dramatic Daemon Irrepit Callidus. CG will join YME to sing Kevin Memley's resplendent Ave Maria and Carly Simon's vibrant hit Let the River Run, arranged by Craig Hella Johnson. The concert will close with all four ensembles joining together to perform Leon Dubinsky's We Rise Again. Originally written about a 1980s economic crisis in Nova Scotia, this anthem of hope and resilience remains relevant in times of uncertainty.

Peninsula-based Ragazzi Boys Chorus is one of the San Francisco Bay Area's premiere music and performance organizations for boys. Ragazzi has returned to in-person rehearsals and performances. The award-winning chorus kept busy during the past two years with virtual and in-person streaming rehearsals and performances, utilizing groundbreaking remote music-making technology from JackTrip Labs. During the 2019-2020 school year, more than 250 boys from over 100 schools in 30+ Bay Area communities participated in the program. Ragazzi means "boys" in Italian and is the term used in opera to refer to children's voices. Ragazzi has performed with the San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Symphony, Opera San Jose, West Bay Opera, Symphony Silicon Valley, Masterworks Chorale, and the Stanford University Symphonic Chorus among others. The group has toured throughout the United States and internationally. Ragazzi was honored for its contribution to the San Francisco Symphony's triple Grammy Award-winning recording of Stravinsky's Perséphone, and has five CDs available: A Holiday Collection, Canciones de Alabanza, Magnificat: My Spirit Rejoices, Splendors of the Italian Baroque, and I Dream A World.

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