Cathedral Arts Calendar 2011-2012
(Schedule subject to modification)
Thursday, October 13, 8 pm Voxfire with Kan ZamanCo-sponsorship with the World Festival of Sacred Music The inaugural event of our season! Ornament of the World: The Legacy of Tolerance in the Music of Medieval SpainOrnament of the World celebrates the spiritual flowering of song tradition throughout Medieval Spain. Soprano trio Voxfire and Arabic ensemble Kan Zaman join together to evoke the sensuous poetry of Arabic ring-songs and Christian troubadours; the religious fervor of Spanish cantigas; and the wistful and plaintive longing of Jewish Sephardic romances. With luminous vocals, a tender oud, Turkish clarinets, and traditional percussion, the serpentine melodies and rhythmic energy of the songs’ Arabic roots serve as a reminder of the lively exchange that occurred among the Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities of this culturally rich period.
Celebrated West-Coast trio Voxfire is highly regarded for their interpretations of early and contemporary vocal music. Sopranos Samela Aird Beasom, Christen Herman and Susan Judy breathe new life into the ancient, translating age-old wisdom into modern sensibility. They are joined by Kan Zaman, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and performance of traditional Arabic music. Members of Kan Zaman include Co-Founder and Artistic Director Wael Kakish on oud and frame drum; James Sullivan on clarinets; and T.J.Troy on percussion.
The program draws inspiration from María Rosa Menocal’s book The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain.
Cost: $10 general admission; $8 students. More information available on the World Festival of Sacred Music website.
“Voxfire burns down the house……beaming into the night like spiritual lasers”
(Laurence Vittes, The Los Angeles Reader)
Advent and Christmas 2011
Sunday, November 27, 11 AM Advent Sunday / Early Music Sunday
(during the morning service)
Iudicii signum – The service will begin with these words from a 10th-century Spanish chant, sung from the Gallery. Familiar hymns for all, and other prophetic texts as set by Medieval and Renaissance composers sung by the Cathedral Choir.
Sunday, December 4, 11 AM Advent Festival of Lessons and Carols
(during the morning service)
I look from afar - St. John’s has, for years, observed Advent with a service of Advent Lessons and Carols. You will hear and sing familiar favorites, and the Cathedral Choir will offer works by Vaughan Williams, Martin Shaw, Mendelssohn, and Mundy.
Sunday, December 11, 11 AM Selections from Handel’s Messiah
(during the morning service)
Comfort ye, my people – For many, no Advent/Christmas season would be complete without selections from Handel’s immortal Messiah, the most-performed oratorio in the history of Western Music. And the glory of the Lord, But who may abide the day of his coming, O thou that tellest … These works still move us after 269 years.
Sunday, December 18, 11 AM Songs of Mary
(during the morning service)
The Gospel read that morning is the story the Angel Gabriel announcing to Mary that should would carry Our Savior, and Mary’s acceptance in the traditional words of the Magnificat. The Cathedral Choir will sing works of Duruflé, Rachmaninov, Howells, Verdi, and “anonymous,” and all sing familiar hymns, all on texts devoted to Mary.
Saturday, December 24, 10:30 PM Syng, Hevin Imperiall by Dobrinka Tabakova,
sung during the 10:30 Mass, The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ
The first West Coast performance of Dobrinka Tabakova, co-sponsored by The Elizabeth & Michel Sorel Charitable Organization
January – June 2012
Monday, January 23, 8 PM Jonathan Dimmock, concert organist
Co-production with the Los Angeles chapter, The American Guild of Organists
Program TBA
“Power and flaming brio,” -Eskilstuna-Kuriren (Sweden)
“Musicianship, taste, and unostentatious virtuosity,” - Natal Mercury (South Africa)
“The organ has rarely sounded more clear and multi-hued than in his very expert and virtuoso hands and feet.” -Adelaide Advertiser (Australia)
Concert organist Jonathan Dimmock has distinguished himself through his dazzling and highly sensitive performances in churches, major concert halls, music festivals and cathedrals throughout the world. Lauded for his diverse repertoire and his engagement with audiences, his performing is marked by both musical depth and a distinctive personality, causing audiences immediately to warm to him. Jonathan is considered by many to be one of the leading musicians in his field.
A graduate of Oberlin Conservatory, Yale School of Music and Yale Divinity School, he became the first American ever to hold the prestigious position of Organ Scholar of Westminster Abbey. He then went on to serve two American cathedrals,St. John the Divine in New York City, and St. Mark’s in Minneapolis. He is currently organist of St. Ignatius Church (San Francisco), Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church, Congregation Shearith Israel (San Francisco), and the San Francisco Symphony.
Inspired, as a young boy, by two significant historical figures, Thomas Edison and J. S. Bach, Jonathan, himself, is noteworthy as both an entrepreneur (like Edison) and a multi-faceted artist (like Bach). Of the many organizations, ensembles, and non-profits he has founded, the award-winning American Bach Soloists stands out among the biggest musical ensembles, followed by AVE (Artists’ Vocal Ensemble), the acclaimed professional vocal ensemble, which he directs, specializing in Renaissance polyphony.
He plays keyboards with many ensembles, including the San Francisco Symphony, where he has had the privilege of working with some of the world’s greatest conductors. His solo performing career, as well as his work as an accompanist, takes him on foreign and domestic tours regularly.
His teachers and mentors have included Dame Gillian Weir, Peter Hallock, Paul Halley, Simon Preston, Jean Langlais, Harald Vogel, William Porter, and Haskell Thomson. His interest in French improvisational styles led him to pursue study with Frédéric Blanc, Naji Hakim, and Gerre Hancock. He is a published composer and writer, and his more-than-thirty CDs appear on labels including Gothic, Loft, Raven, BCI Records, Time-Warner Recordings, and Koch International. He has been interviewed and featured on National Public Radio, Radio France, BBC3, ABC (Australia), MTV2 (Budapest), and SABC (South Africa).
His appreciation of the healing power of music and the arts led him to found the non-profit organization, Art to the Nations, using music in international conflict resolution.
Organ: Ernest M. Skinner & Co., Opus 446, 56 ranks, 4 manuals and pedal (1923); Rosales Organ Builders (2010)
Saturday, February 18, 4 PM: The Episcopal Chorale Society in concert
Dr. Chas Cheatham, Music Director
Program TBA
A non-profit association, The Episcopal Chorale Society is an ardent supporter of the arts in Los Angeles, awarding scholarships to artistically gifted high school students in an effort to promote the highest standards of achievement in music, dance and drama.
To date, the Chorale has awarded more than 103 scholarships.
Since its inception in 1983, The Los Angeles Episcopal Chorale Society, under the musical direction of Canon Dr. Charles H. Cheatham, has emerged as one of the finest ecumenical choirs of its time. The group was founded when seven pre-dominantly African-American Episcopal churches in the Los Angeles Diocese joined voices to celebrate a mass in honor of Absalom Jones, the first African-American Episcopal priest. That event served as the catalyst for the development of an on-going inter-church musical society that today includes representatives of not only the Episcopal faith, but several other religious denominations, as well.
The “Chorale,” as it is affectionately called, is world renowned for its unparalleled sound, which includes everything from the rendering of Handel’s Messiah to its contemporary interpretation of prominently-held Negro Spirituals. The group has performed throughout the Los Angeles area, including being asked to sing the National Anthem for the Los Angeles Clippers three consecutive years. The Chorale also was invited to perform at the Beverly Hills Tito Mansion. Its international tours have included concerts in such countries as Austria, Australia,Cuba, Argentina, Spain and Italy, where it has been honored to receive a special audience with the Pope.
Canon Dr. Charles “Chas” Cheatham
is the Founder and Director of the world-renowned Los Angeles Episcopal Chorale Society, Inc. The son of Dr. & Mrs. J. W. Cheatham, he is a proud native ofLos Angeles,California. Dr. Cheatham received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of California at Los Angeles and is a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Zeta Rho Chapter. He also holds a Masters Degree & Doctorate in Music from Emory University. Chas received an honorary Doctorate of Music from City University of the Netherlands. In December 1999, at the General Diocese Convention, Dr. Cheatham was granted Honorary Canon, a title bestowed upon him by the Bishop of the Los Angeles Episcopal Diocese in recognition of his faithful work in support of the church. For more than 35 years, Dr. Cheatham has served dutifully as director and workshop clinician for children, youth, and adult choirs. He currently serves on Commissions of Liturgy and Church Music and Black Ministries for the Diocese of Los Angeles.
Dr. Cheatham and the Los Angeles Episcopal Chorale Society will tour Beijing,China in 2011.
This webpage is under construction – please visit again soon for details of the rest of our season!