THE VOICES OF CHILDREN
GUEST ARTISTS:
Boston City Singers, Jane Money, Artistic Director
Toronto Children's Chorus, Elise Bradley, Artistic Director
SUNDAY, March 13, 2016 3PM • Sanders Theatre
HOWARD FRAZIN: The Voice of Isaac
World premiere of a new SATB version
David Kravitz, baritone
AARON ROSENTHAL: Voices of Terezin
Psalm settings:
SALAMONE ROSSI, Mizmõr l'tõda (Psalm 100)
PATRICIA VAN NESS, In You Have I Taken Refuge(Psalm 31)
ROSSI, Shir hamma’a lot (Psalm 126)
SRUL IRVING GLICK, Psalm Trilogy for Children's Chorus
Songs of peace:
YAIR ROSENBLUM: Shir Lashalom (arr. Tal Zilber)
CLAUDE DEBUSSY: Noël des enfants qui n’ont plus de maison
WEHI WHANUA, Te Iwi E (Maori Song)
Coro Allegro, Boston’s acclaimed classical chorus for members, friends, and allies of the LGBT community, joins voices with two renowned children’s choruses for the world premiere of a new version of Howard Frazin’s powerful The Voice of Isaac. Frazin’s oratorio, a retelling of the Abraham and Isaac story from Isaac’s perspective, was hailed by The Boston Globe as “…clear in design and Brittenesque in texture…ingeniously scored…[having an] almost unbearable poignancy.” The voices of children, silenced by war and abuse, sing forth in both Frazin’s work and Aaron Rosenthal’s ominous, playful and yearning settings of poems by children in the Terezin concentration camp. Be moved by the resonance of voices, children’s and adult’s, historic and contemporary, coming together in psalm settings and songs of peace by Salamone Rossi, Patricia Van Ness and others.
“Originally my oratorio, which retells the Abraham and Isaac story from Isaac’s perspective, featured only children singing the role of Isaac. In this new version, Isaac's voice is sung by adult women and men as well as children, allowing me to more fully realize the various expressive layers of vulnerability at the heart of Isaac’s story.” — Composer Howard Frazin