GRINNELL SINGERS
Duke Ellington's Sacred Concerts
John Rommereim, director
The Grinnell Singers' 2012 spring season proudly features the premiere of "Anything Can Happen," by Mohammed Fairouz. In pursuing this project, the ensemble has formed a consortium with three of the country's most distinguished choirs: the Back Bay Chorale and the Marsh Chapel Choir of Boston, Scott Jarrett, Conductor, and Cantori New York, Mark Shapiro, Conductor. Straddling Eastern and Western idioms, Mohammed Fairouz, one of the most frequently performed composers of his generation, has emerged as a force on the musical scene. Praised by the New York Times as "warmly sympathetic" and "brilliantly handled", his music has been received at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Boston's Symphony Hall, the Kennedy Center and internationally throughout the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Australia. His music has been championed by some of the foremost performers such as the Borromeo and Lydian String Quartets, the Imani Winds, The Knights Chamber Orchestra, members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the violinists Rachel Barton Pine and James Buswell, the clarinettist David Krakauer as well as the conductors Gunther Schuller, Fawzi Haimor and Yoon Jae Lee. Mr Fairouz was recently featured on NPR's "All Things Considered." The interview is available on the NPR website. The Grinnell Singers will be premiering this work on March 19 at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, and Mr. Fairouz will be in attendance at the performance. Christine Rutledge, Professor of Viola at the University of Iowa, will be accompanying the choir, and Andrew Whitfield, of Luther College, will perform the baritone solos at the premiere.
The Grinnell Singers began this season by collaborating with the professional period-instrument orchestra from Chicago, the Baroque Band, in performances of Handel's Messiah in Grinnell and Des Moines, with guest conductor Garry Clarke. In March, The Grinnell Singers will be completing a concert tour with performances in Chicago, St. Louis, Jackson, New Orleans, and Houston. In addition to the Mohammed Fairouz premiere, the concert also includes music by Josquin des Prez, Monteverdi, a rousing work from Cuba, "El Almuercero," a playful work with percussion by the Latvian composer Vaclovas Augustinas, a gospel-styled setting of a Whitman text, "My Spirit is Uncaged," richly expressive works by Rachmaninov and Rheinberger, and a work by Grinnell senior Michael Maiorana.
In past years, the Grinnell Singers' have taken on some of the most challenging and monumental works in the repertoire such as Tallis's Gaude Gloriosa, and his 40-part motet, Spem in alium, Martin's Mass for double Chorus, Barber's Agnus Dei, Handel's Dixit Dominus, Britten's War Requiem, and both Rachmaninov's Divine Liturgy and his All-Night Vigil. Curt Snook, host of the The Choral Tradition show on WOI radio has praised the "consummate mastery" of the Grinnell Singers' 2003 recording of Rachmaninov's All-Night Vigil. In 2006, the ensemble commissioned an extended unaccompanied work from the 2005 Pulitzer Award winner, Steven Stucky (The Pulitzer was awarded a few weeks after the commission). The Grinnell Singers received a grant from the Meet the Composers foundation for this commission, in a consortium of professional choirs that included the Kansas City Chorale, the Phoenix Bach Choir, and the Seattle Pro Musica. The ensemble regularly performs works by its members, and a number of students in the ensemble have gone on to careers as composers. We were very proud to see that a work by Grinnell Singers alum Jisoo Ben Kim '08, for example, was recently performed by the Los Angeles Master Chorale. The Grinnell Singers premiered this work while Ben was a student at Grinnell; the Grinnell Singers recording helped to facilitate the publication of this piece with Earthsongs. In 1994 and 2002, the Grinnell Singers were honored with invitations to regional ACDA conventions. In 2000, the choir traveled to Helsinki, Turku, Talinn, St. Petersburg, Prague, and Brno in a tour that included a full cappella program, as well as another separate concert of Beethoven's Mass in C and the premiere of John Rommereim's Utopia with the Prague Radio Orchestra. In 2006, they completed a concert tour of Romania, Bulgaria, again with an a cappella program as well as a separate choral/orchestral program of Mozart's Grand Mass in C Minor. In April of 2011, the Grinnell Singers worked with the renowned conductor Simon Carrington during a week-long residency, culminating in a conducting master class and concert. In May, 2011, they completed a recording titled "Sacred Love," which will be released later this year.
Grinnell Singers Concert Season 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2:00 pm. Sebring-Lewis Hall
Concert includes preview of a portion of Mohammed Fairouz's "Anything Can Happen" and the winning work of the 2012 student composition contest.
Sunday, March 18 4:00 pm
Church of St. Paul & The Redeemer ·
4945 S. Dorchester Ave. ·
Chicago, IL 60615 ·
Monday, March 19 7:30 pm
Fourth Presbyterian Church
126 E. Chestnut Street
Chicago, IL 60611.2014
World premiere of "Anything Can Happen" by Mohammed Fairouz,
with text by Seamus Heaney
(Commission made possible by the Curd Fund)
Tuesday, March 20, 7:30 pm
St. Timothy's Episcopal Church
808 North Mason Road,
Creve Coeur, MO 63141
Thursday, March 22: 7:00 p.m.
Joint Concert w/ Young, Gifted and Black Gospel Choir
Aldersgate United Methodist Church
655 Beasley Road
Jackson, MS 39206
Friday, March 23 7:00 pm,
Trinity Church, 1329 Jackson Ave.
New Orleans, LA 70130
Opening concert of the "Bach Around the Clock" Music Festival
Saturday, March 24 5:00 pm
Joint Concert w/ Young, Gifted and Black Gospel Choir
Brentwood Baptist Church
13033 Landmark Dr.
Houston, TX 77045
Saturday, April 14, 7:30 pm, Sebring-Lewis Hall
Home Concert, featuring commissioned work by Mohammed Fairouz
Friday, April 20, 7:30 pm Sebring-Lewis Hall
Duke Ellington's Sacred Concerts, with the Grinnell Jazz Ensemble
Sunday, April 22, 4:00 pm Duke Ellington's Sacred Concerts, with the Grinnell Jazz Ensemble
St. John's Lutheran Church,
600 6th Avenue, Des Moines
Saturday, May 19, 7:00 pm, Sebring-Lewis Hall
Commencement Choral Concert
