The premiere of the Cantorei!

Walking my older kiddo to school last week for his first day of second grade, I got a whiff of fallen apples and and dead leaves — finally, fall.  It’s not that I spend all the warm, sunny days of summer* just wishing for a sweater, but among other things, I love the energy of the school year starting.  (Also my birthday. 😉)  And at this point, after a summer of making plans and auditioning, I’m ready to get this party started.

* If you don’t already live in Seattle, forget all that about “warm, sunny summer days” — it rains all the time and the earthquake is coming, and we’re sticking to our story.

Abendlied

First up is Abendlied, this Friday, Sept. 8, at 7:30 PM (which is to say, uh, tomorrow) — the first concert of Blessed Sacrament’s newly-expanded octet, the “Cantorei.”  (The church has had 4 staff singers for a while; just in the last few months, they doubled that number -- including hiring yours truly -- in addition to purchasing two new organs, a fancy new concert grand, and a harpsichord. Lots of big music plans!)

Here’s the gist:

• Premiere of the Cantorei! This is a newly-assembled group, and we’ve only just started singing together.

• The concert will be at the church, 5050 8th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105 [map].

• There are 8 singers total — SSAATTBB. Some pieces are one-to-a-part; others double up on some or all voices. There are also a good handful of duet/solo numbers, including on the piano by our illustrious Assistant Music Director, Sheila Bristow. (Full program can be found here.)

• Pieces are almost entirely from the 19th and 20th centuries — if I’ve done my math right, the median composition year is 1892, with the most recent being 2013.

 It should be a good time! Come check it out. 😀