Ragazzi Pairs Up With Alumni For Spring Concert CANTATE DOMINO

This Spring, Ragazzi Boys Chorus will lift their voices in the concert Cantate Domino. Ragazzi Boys Chorus' Concert Group, Choral Scholars, and Young Men's Ensemble are joined by Ragazzi Continuo, a men's chorus comprised of Ragazzi alumni, to perform this program of stunning song. Led by Artistic and Executive Director Kent Jue, Cantate Domino will perform 4pm PST Saturday, March 18, 2023 at Mission Santa Clara, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara. For tickets ($25-$45) and more information the public may visit Ragazzi.org or call (650) 362-4425.

Cantate Domino features a resplendent repertoire. Among the works offered by Ragazzi's Concert Group (CG) and Choral Scholars (CS) is Vytautas Miškinis' contemplative Cantate Domino; Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina's exquisite Kyrie from his mass "Missa Brevi;" and Chant of the Sixth Patriarch, Reed Criddle's stunning setting of a Buddhist poem by Sixth Patriarch. CG and CS will perform Tree by Bay Area composer Eric Tuan, who serves as Artistic Director of Piedmont East Bay Children's Chorus. CG will also perform Mary Goetze's gorgeous When Children Sing with text by James Heup.

Young Men's Ensemble (YME) will perform Z. Randall Stroope's Starry Messenger using text by Galileo exploring the discovery of new planets and moons; Conner Koppin's glorious a cappella Jesu Dulcis Memoria; and Daniel Elder's evocative Ballade to the Moon, which communicates the wonder of a June evening with a clear night sky dominated by the light of the moon and stars. CG, CS, and YME will join to sing Christopher Tin's joyous Swahili setting of the Lord's Prayer Baba Yetu.

Led by director Daniel Crowley, Ragazzi Continuo's repertoire includes moving a cappella Ave, Maris Stella, arranged by Diane Loomer; Ralph Vaughan Williams' lush Linden Lea; Howard Helvey's rich and resonant O Lux Beatissima; Otto Olsson's buoyant arrangement of the traditional Scandinavian piece Domaredansen; and Raif Schmitt and Michael Barrett's stirring arrangement of the traditional South African song Indodana.

Peninsula-based Ragazzi Boys Chorus is one of the San Francisco Bay Area's premier music and performance organizations for boys. Currently, more than 200 boys from over 100 schools in 30+ Bay Area communities participate 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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