Praising Christ in America

Baltimore, Md. (PRWEB) April 18, 2012

Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and newly appointed Music Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Peter Oundijan will lead the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Choral Arts Society in Beethovens monumental Ninth Symphony on Thursday, May 24 at 8 p.m. and Friday, May 25 at 8 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and Saturday, May 26 at 8 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore. Also on the program is Bruckners Te Deum; a setting of an early Christian hymn for orchestra, chorus and vocal soloists. This unique concert, dedicated to great choral masterpieces of the 19th century, will feature the talents of soprano Joyce El-Khoury, mezzo-soprano Mary Phillips, tenor Brandon Jovanovich and bass Morris Robinson. Please see below for complete program details.

The influence of Beethovens No. 9, Choral, is immeasurable. As the first symphony to include full chorus and orchestra, Beethovens Ninth brought the genre to a magnitude that had never been previously conceived, thereby radically changing the future of orchestral repertoire. With its uplifting text and its universal recognition, the finale of Beethovens Ninth Symphony has been used to mark historic events, including the fall of the Berlin Wall, and now serves as the European Unions anthem. The symphony was inspired by the writing of Friedrich Schiller, who in his poem An die Freude or Ode to Joy states that joy is found when all men are made brothers.

Expansive, operatic and passionate, Te Deum by Anton Bruckner is no doubt one of the many compositions inspired by Beethovens Ninth. Written as five interrelated movements, Bruckners Te Deum contains text from Psalms, as well as motets and masses associated with the Catholic Church. Although many settings of Te Deum throughout the ages have been tied to political events, Bruckner wrote out of his steadfast faith in God. According to musicologist Dr. Kern Holoman, Bruckner said that when he should meet his maker, I will show him the score of my Te Deum, and he may judge me accordingly.

Peter Oundjian, conductor

Toronto-born conductor Peter Oundjian, noted for his probing musicality, collaborative spirit and engaging personality, has been an instrumental figure in the rebirth of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra since his appointment as Music Director in 2004. In addition to conducting the orchestra in dynamic performances which have achieved outstanding artistic acclaim, he has been greatly involved in a variety of new initiatives which have strengthened the ensembles presence in the community and attracted a young and diverse audience. In 2004, he established an annual celebration of new music, showcasing new and premiering commissioned works. Now an audience favorite, the New Creations Festival celebrates the best in contemporary orchestral music and attracts celebrated contemporary composers.

In his tenure with the TSO, Mr. Oundjian has also released five recordings on the orchestras self produced record label, tsoLIVE. The award-winning documentary Five Days In September: The Rebirth of An Orchestra, chronicles Peter Oundjians first week as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

In addition to his post in Toronto, Peter Oundjian has been named music director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, starting in the 2012-13 season. Mr. Oundjian was principal guest conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 2006 to 2010 and played a major role at the Caramoor International Music Festival in New York between 1997 and 2007. He has served as a visiting professor at the Yale School of Music since 1981. In May 2009, Mr. Oundjian received an honorary doctorate from the San Francisco Conservatory.

Peter Oundjian was educated in England, where he studied the violin with Manoug Parikian. He then attended the Royal College of Music in London, where he was awarded the Gold Medal for Most Distinguished Student and Stoutzker Prize for excellence in violin playing. He completed his violin training at the Juilliard School in New York, where he studied with Ivan Galamian, Itzhak Perlman and Dorothy DeLay. Peter Oundjian was the first violinist of the renowned Tokyo String Quartet, a position he held for fourteen years.

Baltimore Choral Arts Society

The Baltimore Choral Arts Society, now in its 45th season, is one of Maryland’s premier cultural institutions. The Symphonic Chorus, Full Chorus, Orchestra, and Chamber Chorus perform throughout the mid-Atlantic region, as well as in Washington, D.C., New York, and in Europe.

In the summer of 2007, Tom Hall led the Chorus in a successful, 3-city tour of France including sold-out performances in Paris and Aix-en-Provence, and the Chorus has also appeared at Spains prestigious Festival of the Costa del Sol.

For the past 15 years, WMAR Television, the ABC network affiliate in Maryland, has featured Choral Arts in an hour-long special, ‘Christmas with Choral Arts,” which won an Emmy Award in 2006. Mr. Hall and the chorus were also featured in a PBS documentary called “Jews and Christians: A Journey of Faith,” broadcast nationwide, and on National Public Radio in 2001. On local radio, Mr. Hall is the host of “Choral Arts Classics,” a monthly program on WYPR that features the Choral Arts Chorus and Orchestra, and he is the Culture Editor on WYPRs “Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast.”

Baltimore Choral Arts’ latest CD is “Christmas at America’s First Cathedral,” released on Gothic Records in September 2010. A recording with Dave Brubeck, featuring Brubecks oratorio, “The Gates of Justice,” was released internationally on the NAXOS label in 2004. Choral Arts has two other recordings in current release: “Christmas with Choral Arts” and a live recording of the Rachmaninoff “All-Night Vigil.” Mr. Hall produced “Let Freedom Ring!,” a highly successful recording for Gothic Records featuring the Washington Mens Camerata, as well the soundtracks for “Legends” on the Learning Channel.

Choral Arts has appeared with the National Symphony, and has made regular appearances with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Acclaimed artists collaborating with Choral Arts have included Chanticleer, Dave Brubeck, the Kings Singers, Peter Schickele, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Anonymous 4, and others. Tom Halls innovative programs often feature both choral and orchestral music, stage and theater works.

Tom Hall, director

Tom Hall is one of the most highly regarded performers in choral music today. Appointed Music Director in 1982, Mr. Hall has added more than 100 new works to the BCAS repertoire, and he has premiered works by contemporary composers including Peter Schickele, Libby Larsen, Robert Sirota, James Lee III, Rosephanye Dunn Powell, and many other internationally acclaimed composers.

In addition to his position with BCAS, Mr. Hall is active as a guest conductor in the United States and in Europe including appearances with the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston, the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia, the Berkshire Choral Festival, Musica Sacra in New York, and Britten Sinfonia in Canterbury, England. His 2005 concert with Orchestre de Chambre de Paris was broadcast on French television. Mr. Hall has prepared choruses for Leonard Bernstein, Robert Shaw, Helmuth Rilling, and others, and he served for ten years as the Chorus Master of the Baltimore Opera Company.

Mr. Hall is also a well known teacher, lecturer, and writer. He has served as the President of Chorus America, a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, and he has been an Artist in Residence at Indiana University, the Eastman School of Music, the University of Cincinnati, Temple University, and Syracuse University. He has been the Director of Choral Activities at Goucher College for 25 years, and has also taught at the Peabody Conservatory, the University of Baltimore, Towson University, Morgan S

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