Desert Chorale's 2021 Summer Festival: Unlikely Partners

Santa Fe Desert Chorale
Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi
Concert
Location: 
Santa Fe, NM
Event date: 
18 Jul 2021 to 06 Aug 2021
Conductor / Keynote Speaker: 
Joshua Habermann, artistic director

The Santa Fe Desert Chorale is returning to the stage for it's 2021 Summer Festival: Unlikely Partners, running July 18 – August 6. You won’t want to miss their three distinct programs.

The Santa Fe Desert Chorale is returning to the stage for it's 2021 Summer Festival: Unlikely Partners. The season runs July 18 – August 6 and features three programs: The Jew and the Gentile: Salamone Rossi and Claudio Monteverdi, Roaring ‘20s, and East Meets West. Tickets are now available at the Desert Chorale website. All concerts will be held at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi and will be presented in accordance with New Mexico public health orders (click here for Safety Protocols). Performances on August 3, 4, and 5 will be livestreamed. Livestreams are sponsored by Rick Andrew & Diane Buchanan and the Andrew Family Foundation.

The Jew and the Gentile: Salamone Rossi and Claudio Monteverdi is sponsored by Stephen and Jane Hochberg. This program explores the compositions of Jewish composer Salamone Rossi (1570-1630) and his Christian counterpart Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643). Both employed at the Court in Mantua, Monteverdi and Rossi came from different backgrounds, but they shared a common musical language. Excerpts from Rossi’s Hashirim Asher Li-Sh’lomo and Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 demonstrate that our common shared artistic heritage is greater than our cultural divisions. Sixteen of the Desert Chorale’s Early Music specialists will be joined by period instrumentalists Maxine Thévenot, Organ; Stephen Redfield, Violin; Lorenzo Colitto, Violin; and Katie Rietman, Cello. Pre-recorded pre-concert lectures given by Kerry Ginger DMA will be free to the public and available to view at desertchorale.org beginning July 15, 2021. Opening night, July 18, is sponsored by Catherine and Guy Gronquist.

Roaring ‘20s is sponsored by Suzanne M. Timble. With this program, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale looks back 100 years and compares works by classical and popular composers of the 1920s. Representing the classical genre, Lili Boulanger’s Hymne au Soleil, Claude Debussy’s Salut Printemps, excerpts from Francis Poulenc’s Sept Chansons, and movements from Frank Martin’s Mass for Double Choir contrast with American Songbook arrangements by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, and Jerome Kern. Popular Los Alamos native Nathan Salazar will be the collaborative pianist. Pre-recorded pre-concert lectures given by Gregory Grabowski DMA will be free to the public and available to view at desertchorale.org beginning July 15, 2021. The July 23 concert is sponsored by Marian (Mimi) Lloyd. The July 25 concert is sponsored in memory of Sharon Cooper by Allegra & Jim Derryberry, Catherine & Guy Gronquist, and Phyllis Lehmberg.

East Meets West is sponsored by Elaine Wang Meyerhoffer. Contrasting musical styles by composers representing China, Japan, Korea, and the Philippines are featured on this multi-cultural program. The Santa Fe Desert Chorale will premiere a commissioned work titled “The Tipping Point” for mixed chorus and tabla by its first female composer-in-residence in over a decade, Indian-American musician Reena Esmail. Pre-recorded pre-concert lectures given by Robert Kyr PhD will be free to the public and available to view at desertchorale.org beginning July 15, 2021. Dr. Kyr’s lectures are sponsored by Janusz and Brahna Lauger Wilczynski.