The Sangre de Cristo Chorale. Courtesy photoSANGRE DE CRISTO CHORALE News:
The Sangre de Cristo Chorale completes its 36th season with spring concert Baroque Fireworks! at 7 p.m. Friday, May 9 at Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church, 2390 North Road in Los Alamos.
Dr. Maxine Thévenot will direct the chorale’s performance of Bach’s Cantata # 78, and Part Three of Handel’s Messiah, together with movements from Handel’s Four Coronation Anthems. Featured soloists are soprano Kate Winchester, alto Drea Pressley, tenor Jason Vest and baritone Edmund Connolly. Instrumentalists under the direction of Debra Terry will accompany the performers.
Pojoaque Valley High School Choir and its director Isabel Becker-Hudson will sing with the Chorale for part of the concert. They will also perform two pieces from their repertoire, The Lake Isle of Innisfree, based on a poem by W.B. Yeats, and Come in from the Firefly Darkness.
The chorale’s northern New Mexico high school outreach program is now 21 years old. As part of this program, the chorale began working with Pojoaque Valley in 2010 and in 2014 held its high school workshop program at the school.
Other parts of the outreach program include high school apprentices, three of whom are singing in this spring’s concert. In addition, the two winners of the Chorale’s Hastings Smith Memorial Vocal Scholarship – for dedication to vocal achievement –will be announced at the concert.
Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students with a valid ID (discounts are available and ages 18 and under can attend at no charge when accompanied by an adult). Tickets can be purchased in advance at sdcchorale.orgor at the door. The program also will be presented at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, May 10 at First Presbyterian Church, 208 Grant Avenue in Santa Fe.
The Sangre de Cristo Chorale was formed in 1978 as a group of committed volunteer singers who support each other in the joy of shared musical excellence. The chorale performs a wide variety of quality choral music in Los Alamos, Santa Fe and surrounding areas.
The group strives to touch the hearts of listeners, educate and inspire young people, and connect with the community. With a goal of encouraging New Mexico’s young singers, in 1993 the chorale expanded its program to include youth outreach.
