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Celebrate the holiday season with music by attending one of two concerts to be offered by the St. John Singers!
The concerts will be held on Friday, December 16 at 8:00 p.m. at Emmaus Church in Coral Bay and on Monday, December 19 at 7:30 p.m. at Nazareth Lutheran Church in Cruz Bay.
The program will feature works by Baroque masters Bach, Handel and Buxtehude. Two main works will be the familiar Hallelujah Chorus from George Frederick Handel’s “Messiah”, which needs no introduction; and the choral sections of Part IV of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio”. The Oratorio is a series of six cantatas, each of which was originally performed on a separate day during the Christmas season from Christmas Day to Epiphany. Part IV was for New Year’s Day. An interesting note is that much of the musical material in the oratorio is recycled from other cantatas that Bach had previously composed. Reusing musical material was a common practice in Bach’s day.
Mr. Cahill chose several shorter pieces on the program for their prominent violin parts to be played by Gabriela Haley Stastny, including chorales “Jesus, Priceless Treasure” by Dietrich Buxtehude and “Wachet Auf” by Bach.
The program will also include a variety of short holiday pieces including cheerful folk tunes and carols from countries such as France and Russia, and traditional favorites such as “White Christmas,” a jazzy version of “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas,” and some Christmas medleys.
Director John Cahill, who has led the St. John Singers since its founding 24 years ago, holds a degree from The Juilliard School of Music in New York. He teaches piano and Advanced Placement music and is also an accomplished French Horn player.
The gifted pianist and organist Albert Lynch will again accompany the choir. Mr. Lynch, a St. Thomas native, studied music at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. He is the founder, director and teacher at the St. Thomas School of Music.
Violinist Gabriela Haley Stastny from St. Thomas will again be a guest artist for the concert. Ms. Haley Stastny, who has a degree in violin from the University of Indiana, teaches violin and frequently performs at weddings. She is a lawyer in the Attorney General’s office in St. Thomas.
As is the custom at St. John Singers holiday concerts, the audience will also be invited to join in a sing-along of familiar Christmas carols.
Tickets are $12 for adults, $5 for children 5 years and under, and may be purchased at the door.
St. John Singers is a non-profit organization partially funded by VICA and the National Endowment for the Arts.
UVI Christmas Concert Scheduled Dec. 3 at Reichhold Center
The Annual UVI Christmas Concert, staged by the Music Program of UVI's Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2005 at the Reichhold Center for the Arts.
The program will feature the UVI Concert Band, under the direction of Prof. Austin A. Venzen, the UVI Concert Choir, under the direction of Kirsten Kienberger, and the UVI Jazz Ensemble, directed by Prof. Martin J. Lamkin. Shenelle Warner will direct the Steel Pan Ensemble. Special guests will include UVI alum Malvern Gumbs, who now teaches in the public school system, and the Anacrusis Brass Quintet, headed by Prof. Martin Lamkin. Joining Prof. Lamkin in the quintet are Juan Harrigan, Clayton Emmanuel, Dr. Leroy Trotman and Warren Hendrickson. UVI Prof. Dr. Lorna Young-Wright will accompany the choir on piano.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students. They may be purchased at the Dockside Bookstore in the Havensight Mall, the UVI Bookstore and the UVI Humanities Division office.
Arthur Woodley comes home to kick off Arts Alive’s 2005-2006 Concerts in the Garden season
8 p.m. Wednesday, December 7, 2005
Tillett Gardens
ST. THOMAS – Native-Virgin Islander Arthur Woodley returns to Tillett Gardens for the first Arts Alive Concerts in the Garden presentation of the 2005-2006 season at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 7. A gourmet meal will be served at Jack’s Restaurant starting at 6.
The program is fitting of Woodley’s stunningly versatile bass voice in a concert of mixed classical, Broadway, gospel and folk music. Accompanied by pianist Joseph Smith, Woodley will sing Henry Purcell, Richard Strauss, Stefano Donaudy, F. Paolo Tosti, Gaetano Donizetti and Wolfgang Mozart. After intermission, the performance will include works arranged by Benjamin Britton, Hall Johnson and Henry Burleigh. Woodley also will sing “Brown-Skin Baby of Mine” by Will Marion Cook and Alex Rogers’ “I Must Be Crazy, But I Ain’t No Fool.”
An internationally renowned, versatile bass Woodley is respected worldwide for his thrilling performances in opera and in concert. He is perhaps best known for his distinguished, longtime history as Porgy in the musical Porgy and Bess. He has performed the role with many distinguished companies, among them the Opera Company of Philadelphia; the Indianapolis Opera; Opera Colorado; the Bregenz Festival in Austria; the Savolinna International Festival in Finland; and the Catfish Row Opera Company of Charleston, S.C., at a gala celebration of the 50th anniversary of the opera’s debut.
Mr. Woodley’s versatility is evident in operatic roles in L'Italiana in Algeri, Il Trovatore, Capuletti e i Montecchi, Die Zauberflöte, La Traviata, La fanciulla del West, Manon Lescaut and Les Contes d'Hoffman. His credits also include Billy Budd, The Rake’s Progress, A Salute to Gershwin, A Langston Hughes Celebration, and an Aaron Copeland program. In addition, he performed in the world premiere of God, Mississippi, and Medgar Evers with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.
Traveling the world, Mr. Woodley has performed from Carnegie Hall to Seattle, San Francisco, Dallas, Eugene, Ore., and many points in between, as well as gracing stages in Mexico, England and Italy. Yet he is always thrilled to come back to the Virgin Islands, where he spent his formative years.
The next Concerts in the Garden will feature flute and piano duo Vanessa Holroyd and Joy Cline Phinney on Jan. 18; classical and jazz violinist Diane Monroe on Feb. 15; blues, gospel, county and folk artist Ruthie Foster on March 1; and rounding out the 2005-2006 Concerts in the Garden series will be classical pianist Donna Weng Friedman.
Tickets for the concert only are $30. Dinner is $36, including gratuity; reservations are recommended.
Tickets are available at Tillett Gardens in the Tillett Gallery.
For more information and to make reservations, call 775-1929
This engagement of Arthur Woodley is a Virgin Islands Performing
Arts Presenters Initiative project, a partnership between the Virgin Islands Council on the Arts and Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, funded by the Foundation in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program.
