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Rhododendron Festival Concert

What:

29th Rhododendron Festival Concert Features Choral Music

The 29th annual Rhododendron Festival Concert will be held on Saturday, April 28th, 7:30 pm at Christ Episcopal Church (15th and H Streets).  This popular community concert has been a part of the annual Rhododendron Festival since 1984.  It is sponsored by the Christ Church Concert Series, and continues the tradition of featuring great musical works performed by local musicians which was established by the founder of the festival concerts, Douglas Moorehead, Organist at Christ Church.  

 

Leading off the concert will be a performance by Kantorei, a women’s chorus under the direction of Betty Burton.  Works will include The Beatitudes (Glarum), Rise Up, My Love (Daley), Benedicamus (Printz), and Beethoven’s musical setting of “Ode to Joy,” arranged for women’s voices.  Sixteen women singers comprise Kantorei, which performs primarily a cappella (unaccompanied).

 

This year’s concert features Luigi Cherubini’s Requiemin C minor (1816), one of the most highly regarded sacred works of its time.  The work was greatly admired by Cherubini’s contemporaries Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms.  Following his education and early career in Italy and London, Italian-born Cherubini (1760-1842) moved to Paris in 1786, eventually became a French citizen and was a dominant figure in Parisian musical life for half a century, most noted for his operas and sacred music.  Balancing self-expression with duties imposed by state employment, Cherubini most probably survived the political upheavals of his time because of his versatility. 

 

In his operatic works, Cherubini’s inventive use of instrumental coloring helped achieve a tighter link between drama and music.  This compositional technique carries over to his sacred compositions, including the Requiemin C minor, where the use of the tam-tam (a gong-like instrument) at the beginning of the 2nd movement is said to have provoked an unhappy reaction from the archbishop at the work’s premiere in 1817.  The Requiem in C minor is unique in that it is an entirely choral work, without any solo parts.  The work was written for a commemoration service on the anniversary of the execution of Louis XVI.  Somber in tone from the beginning and hauntingly beautiful at the end, the work impresses the audience with its extraordinary emotional depth and power. 

 

The Requiem will be performed by the Rhododendron Festival Choir, under the direction of Betty Burton, with Douglas Moorehead on the organ. 

 

The Rhododendron Festival Choir is comprised of singers from the community as well as members of the Christ Church Choir.  Ms. Burton is the Choral Director and Christ Episcopal Church, has sung as a soloist with many orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and has toured with the Roger Wagner Chorale.  She teaches voice in Eureka.  Douglas Moorehead, Organist at Christ Episcopal Church, has taught organ both privately and as a former member of the music faculty of the University of La Verne.  He has performed throughout California. 

 

Come out and enjoy the Rhododendron Parade and top off your day with the Rhododendron Festival Concert at Christ Church!  The doors will open at 7 pm and there is a suggested donation of $10.00 per person or $20 for a family.  Contact 707-442-1797 for more information.

When/where:

Dates
Time	7:30 p.m.
Phone	707-443-0700
Venue	Christ Episcopal Church
Cost	$15.00