Connecticut Master Chorale To Perform In US Premiere At Lincoln Center

The Connecticut Master Chorale, under the direction of Tina Johns Heidrich, has been invited to take their place among a collection of outstanding musicians, conductors, and composers when they appear at New York’s Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, in Karl Jenkins’ new Stabat Mater at 8 pm on January 19. The Chorale will be joined by choruses from Hawaii and England.

This is only one of the many highlights of Distinguished Concerts International-New York’s thrilling 2009 season. In just two short years, DCINY has joined the ranks of major classical music production companies in America, nearly doubling its roster of participating ensembles and attracting talent from all over the globe.

DCINY will open its 2009 season with an evening of three compositions by Karl Jenkins. Mr Jenkins was voted most popular living composer for the past five years by listeners on BBC Classical Radio One, and entered Classic FM’s Hall of Fame at number 8, the highest position ever for a living composer.

On January 19, DCINY will host Mr Jenkins conducting the world premiere performance of his stirring violin concerto, Sarikiz.  The soloist for this truly historical event will be the world-renowned Kazakh violinist for whom the piece was written, Marat Bisengaliev. Mr Bisengaliev, whose exquisite delicacy and warmth was praised by The New York Times, has performed in over 35 countries and is well known to New York audiences for his recent appearance at Carnegie Hall.

The program also features two new Jenkins works for chorus, Stabat Mater and Te Deum, in their United States premieres, under the baton of DCINY Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Jonathan Griffith. (CMC will incorporate Stabat Mater into its program when it performs at St Rose of Lima Church in Newtown in March.)

Jenkins’s bold and distinctive Stabat Mater is an intense work of dramatic beauty. This deeply moving piece features the Middle Eastern-based vocal stylings of Belinda Sykes juxtaposed with those of mezzo-soprano Charlotte Daw Paulsen. Ms Sykes will also demonstrate her virtuosity on the Mey, a traditional Middle Eastern reed instrument.

Karl Jenkins originally gained attention as a composer of advertising music, twice winning the industry prize for best music, among other awards. Perhaps his most-heard piece of music is the theme used by De Beers diamond merchants for their famous television advertising campaign. He later included it as the title track in a compilation of various works called Diamond Music.

His compositions have also been used by Levi’s, British Airways, Renault, Volvo, C&G, Pepsi and others. Today Mr Jenkins is probably best known for his classical works, including the Adiemus project. Although composed as a separate piece unrelated to Jenkins’ advertising music, ironically, Adiemus was introduced to the American public as the background music to a Delta Airlines commercial.

For tickets and details about the DCINY performance, visit DCINY.org or call 212-707-8566.

The Connecticut Master Chorale performed his Requiem, as well as Diamond Music and Adiemus, at St Rose Church as part of its March 2007 concert.

Newtown residents in the Master Chorale are Jucy Bolduc, Ginnie Carey, Lisa Cedergren, David Jurman, Karen Orzechowski, Nancy Raymond, Pastor Gregory Wismar, and Dan Yee.