Photos by Bruce Lehman

REVIEW: Mozart’s intriguing ‘Requiem’ never fails to impress in Gloria Musicae performance
By Richard Storm, Herald-Tribune

The Gloria Musicae Singers, a professional chorus based in Sarasota, has always brought unusual and challenging programs to its audiences.

Monday night’s concert at the Sarasota Opera House was no exception, despite the focus on what may well be Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s most famous and mysterious choral work, his setting of the Requiem Mass text.

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http://www.yourobserver.com/news/sarasota/A-and-E/120120109065/Fresh-Pipes

Rachel Assi is exactly where she wants to be right now: at a downtown Sarasota coffee shop, sipping a chai latte out of a giant coffee mug, enjoying a rare slow week and preparing for Gloria Musicae’s upcoming Christmas concert.

The Dec. 6 show at St. Boniface Episcopal Church (Buy Tickets) will be Assi’s first concert as chorus manager.

The 25-year-old mezzo-soprano joined the chamber choir in September 2009. A year later, she was promoted to chorus manager, a position that she not only wanted but was perfectly suited.

“When we put out the word that we were looking for a chorus manager, we didn’t expect to get anyone from within the ensemble,” says Gloria Musicae Director Dr. Joseph Holt. “It’s a rather unique thing for a musician to possess the necessary skills to manage the day-to-day operations of an organization. With Rachel, we couldn’t have found a better match.”

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(benefit tix by invitation) GM & Faith Lutheran Church at Faith Lutheran 03/27/2011 4:30PM $25 for CONCERT ONLY

(benefit tix by invitation) Mozart “Requiem” – - Sarasota Opera House 04/11/2011 7:30PM $25 A Fabulous Fourth – - Historic Asolo 07/04/2011 4:00PM $25

PURCHASE TICKETS
==By Internet==
Click on the BUY TICKETS button next to the event(s) above.
==By Phone==
941.360.7399 (Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.)

For more information, please call 941-925-3183 or email JLebell@gloriamusicae.org

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Monday, December 7th at 7:30 p.m.

Gloria Musicae’s season begins with its annual Christmas Presence concert at Saint Boniface Episcopal Church on Siesta Key.

This concert will feature The Gloria Musicae Singers and Orchestra with spectacular guest soloist, Michelle Giglio, in Bach’s Jauchzet Gott and the perennial favorite, O Holy Night. The concert will include several première performances including a festive Gloria by Randol Alan Bass, and one of the finest concert Christmas carols ever composed – Welcome, All Wonders by Richard Wayne Dirksen.   Dr. Holt is compiling a specially-created Bach cantata, celebrating the nativity and featuring a quiet and profound carol, O Jesulein Süss.  Dr. Holt was the creative force behind the Kennedy Center’s annual Family Christmas Concerts between 2004 and 2008.

Monday, April 5th, 2010, at 7:30 p.m.

Gloria Musicae will bring the work of one of the world’s greatest operatic composers – Gioacchino Rossini — to the Sarasota Opera House for the Première of one of the Italian composer’s most thrilling choral works, the Petite Messe Solennelle, which features some of Rossini’s most sublime and dramatic music. Scored for chamber chorus, four soloists, and an unusual instrumentation of two pianos and harmonium, there is nothing ‘petite’ about this large scale work.  The performance will be noteworthy as the newly revised critical edition of this work is slated to be published in late 2009 and Gloria Musicae will be presenting its première performance. Soloists for this concert include the return of soprano Michelle Giglio, the celebrated mezzo soprano Leah Wool of the Metropolitan Opera, and tenor Pablo Talamante and baritone Robert McDonald – - both of the United States Army Chorus.

Sunday, July 4, 2010, at 4:00 p.m. – -

Gloria Musicae presents
A Spectacular Fourth –
the annual Independence Day celebration – highlighting traditional, patriotic favorites celebrating the birth of our nation.  Performed at the Historic Asolo Theater, an unusual aspect of this year’s concert will be a look at our cultural heritage through the eyes of our many immigrants and native peoples.  Dr. Holt will bring his many years of experience with the annual Fourth of July celebrations in Washington, DC (A Capitol Fourth) to Sarasota audiences.

In addition to his positions with The Choral Arts Society of Washington, D.C., and The United States Army Chorus, Dr. Holt was Director of Choral Activities at American University.  He holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Shenandoah Conservatory and the Catholic University of America, and is a member of the American Choral Directors Association.

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Tickets are  $22 per concert (subscriptions available at a reduced rate) and may be purchased through the Historic Asolo box office: www.ringling.org or call 941-360-7399.  Please note that each concert is presented at a different venue so be sure to check your tickets before you drive off to the wrong theater….
(Yes – - it’s happened before and we DON’T want it to happen to you!!)