Jazz Passion to premiere in Chicago

A Jazz Passion - Click here for the full-size poster image.

In addition to being a talented musician and just a delightful person to know, composer Andy Tecson is a former member of the board of SDG, and recently he’s joined with several colleagues in composing a jazz setting of the Passion of Christ. I’m told that this production, which premieres in Chicago on March 20, just might be the first ever jazz setting of the Passion. Fans of sacred jazz will find this of great interest. Three cheers for Andy and his colleagues for their creative work!

The world premiere of the Jazz Passion will take place at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 20, 2010 at the Saint Luke Lutheran Church, 1500 W. Belmont, Chicago. The libretto was written by Pastor David Abrahamson, Senior Pastor of Saint Luke Lutheran Church, 1500 W. Belmont, Chicago (www.stlukechicago.org). Bobby Lewis (www.bobbylewis.com), Bobby Schiff (www.bobbyschiffmusic.com) and Andy Tecson (a member of Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Naperville) (www.churchjazz.com) composed and arranged the music. Admission is free and free parking is available.

This may be the first setting of the Passion of Christ to jazz music. This new work tells the story of the last days of Christ’s life, starting with the temptation of Christ in the wilderness and ending with His resurrection. It will be approximately 60 to 75 minutes in length. Pastor Abrahamson’s text reveals Christ’s final journey in a new and fresh light. While being completely faithful to the scriptures, his interpretation is creative and insightful. For example, in the temptation of Christ, Jesus sings: “Push me Spirit, give me shove. In the dusty wilderness, there is God’s love. For you, for me, for all, the beginning of the end of the fall.” Andy Tecson has set that text to a Latin rhythm. At the last supper, the text is built around the theme of “recall, retain, repeat, review, remember.” Bobby Schiff has set this text to a slow gospel waltz. In the triumphant finale, the text has a refrain of “It’s the grace connection, through Christ’s resurrection, for you, for me and for all.” Bobby Lewis embellishes the text with an uplifting choral and instrumental work which continually builds momentum and excitement.

Bob Bowker (www.lakesidesingers.com) will sing the role of Jesus. Bob’s work as a singer, composer, arrange, producer and conductor touches every genre of music, including his work as a singer with the Robert Shaw Chorale at Carnegie Hall, and founding and conducting the Lakeside Singers, a superb professional choral ensemble. In addition to being a composer, arranger and producer, Bobby Lewis is one of the leading trumpet players in Chicago, whose experience includes serving as Peggy Lee’s music director, and performing with artists such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett. Bobby Schiff is a pianist, composer, arranger and producer who has performed with artists such as Mel Torme, Peggy Lee and Marvin Hamlisch. Each of these musicians has participated in thousands of recording sessions.

Justin Sisul, director of music at St. Cletus Church in LaGrange, will be the conductor. The band also includes Ken Jandes, Jerry Coleman, Stewart Miller, Tim Coffman, Geraldo DeOliveira, Mark Olen, John Blane, Pat Ferreri and Jerry DeMuzio, all of whom are extraordinary jazz musicians. Vocal solo and vocal quartet roles will be sung by Daniel Riley, Dawn Holt Lauber, Gayle Bisesi and David Molnar. The choir will include Beverly Coleman and Lakeside Singers members Angel Barrette, Lisa Bowker, Melissa Smithson, Dan MacDonald, Andrew Distel and Jon Negus.

Pastor David Abrahamson, Laura Abrahamson and Janice Pohl have designed the staging and lighting for the work. Mark Jandes has designed the sound. St. Luke Church provides a stunning space to experience this new work. If you have any questions, you can contact Pastor David Abrahamson at 773-472-3383.

March 3, 2010 | Filed Under Sacred Jazz, Concerts | Leave a Comment 

The Second Coming

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‘Astounding’—that’s the word I’d chose to sum up last night’s Sandström Messiah premiere. What a gift the composer has for speaking to his audience in an inventive and immediately understandable way. It was a privilege and delight to hear the work rendered by the OBF Chorus and Orchestra under the direction Helmuth Rilling. The chorus was one of the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing live.

As much as I’d like to relay the substance of this experience, recalling the details of Sandström’s two-hour Messiah is a job I’m not inclined to attempt. I will say, though, that the piece is stunningly beautiful, original and communicative–qualities not always found hand in hand when it comes to new music. Especially striking to me is the choral writing. Though obviously very challenging, it’s absolutely masterful. Every one of the oratorio’s 18 choruses has the polish if not the weight of a concert centerpiece.

Sandström was obviously not swayed by the ghost of Handel in creating this new work. Not only does the piece speak with a completely new musical vocabulary, it’s marked by fresh structure and emphasis. Where Handel’s Messiah features a solo aria, Sandström’s may feature a trio, a tenor/baritone duet or even a chorus. And more germane to the message of the piece, the emphasis of the text is fresh as well, and aptly so. After all, isn’t there more than one way to think about a passage like, “The people that walk in darkness have seen a great light”? Are we to be struck especially by the darkness or the light? With this and other passages in the libretto, Sandström’s points of emphasis differ from Handel’s, but in ways that make sense, that even make new sense, I would say. For example, the opening chorus in Handel’s Messiah, “Comfort ye my people”, is a calming tenor aria set in a bright major key, whereas in Sandström’s it’s a dark, poignant, pleading chorus set in minor.

There’s also a fresh sense of pacing with the Jennens libretto, partly owed to freedom from baroque forms. We’re used to hearing many parts of Handel’s Messiah twice every time we have the pleasure of their company as repetition is a basic structural element in the arias. The trade-off in moving away from that is that the drama unfolds with a noticeably different sense of momentum in the Sandström piece. The new work is about a half hour shorter than Handel’s. The effectiveness of that pacing is something that only the individual listener can asses. Personally, I think it worked very well.

I learned last night that Sandström’s Messiah will be recorded in Europe this fall and made available on CD at next year’s Oregon Bach Festival. That’s great news. Certainly OBF audiences will welcome it. Their enthusiasm last night could hardly be contained as they all but leaped over seats in rising for ten minutes of sustained applause—very much deserved.

All photos courtesy of Jon Meyers. Used with permission and gratitude.

July 10, 2009 | Filed Under Sandström: Messiah, Concerts, New Music | Leave a Comment 

Sandström’s “Messiah”

Recent adventures with SDG included a meeting with John Evans, President and Executive Director of the Oregon Bach Festival. My contact with Mr. Evans and his counterpart at the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, Christian Lorenz, has fixed my attention on something very special taking place this summer in Oregon. On July 9, the world will welcome a major new work of sacred music by Swedish composer Sven-David Sandström, jointly commissioned by the Oregon Bach Festival and the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the death of George Frideric Handel. But this is not merely a commission in honor of Handel. Imagine being asked to rewrite Handel’s most famous work, Messiah. That’s exactly the challenge put before Mr. Sandström, and, amazingly, he accepted! Not only that, I learned last week that Sandström completed work on the piece three months before it was due! Believe me, early completion on a work of this scale is a rarity in the business of new music—brings to mind the legendary speed with which Handel composed the original Messiah! Sandström’s new piece sets the very same libretto that inspired Handel’s iconic masterpiece. Here’s a bit of promo from the festival:

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I plan to be at the Oregon Bach Festival in July to take in this historical moment. My excitement is sparked in part by hearing a bit of Sandström’s music, specifically his Magnificat, an excerpt of which is featured in the video above. Seldom does a piece of music grip me as quickly and deeply as this little fragment has managed to do already! I searched the web in vain this morning looking for a complete recording of the Magnificat. The closest thing I could find was a 2-minute mp3 file available for download on the Oregon Bach Festival’s website (click here to visit the page).

Congratulations and thanks are owed to Maestro Helmut Rilling and his colleagues for their vision and bravery in fostering this new work. What a pleasure it will be to join in welcoming it into the world!

May 27, 2009 | Filed Under Sandström: Messiah, Concerts, Videos, New Music | Leave a Comment 

Interfaith concert with Rachel Barton Pine

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Working with the prodigiously gifted violinist Rachel Barton Pine has been a repeated privilege for me at Soli Deo Gloria. In addition to all you’d expect from a world class performer (artistry, technique, personality, etc.), Rachel also has a distinctive intellectual curiosity that’s moved her career in some very inventive directions - the latest of which may be of particular interest to SDG fans. At 7 p.m. on April 19, Ms. Pine will be the featured artist at an interfaith concert hosted by Chicago Theological Seminary that will feature speakers from five faith traditions. Here’s a bit from the seminary’s website:

In a world that continues to be riddled with interfaith strife and misunderstanding, the concert, Celebrate The Spirit - An Interfaith Dialogue in Word and Music, is intended as an expression of creative exchange honoring new ways of being in the world. The concert seeks to foster mutual understanding and active participation among faith traditions in a world that requires transformative leadership and a new hope for today and tomorrow.

Sound interesting? It does to me! Here are the details: Sunday, April 19 at 7 p.m., Nichols Hall at the Music Institute of Chicago, 1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston, IL 60201.  Visit www.ctschicago.edu for more information or to buy tickets, or call 773.322.0223.

And now, just for fun, here’s a video of Rachel introducing and playing one of my favorite works for unaccompanied violin:

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There’s lots more where this came from. Check out http://www.youtube.com/rachelbartonpine

April 9, 2009 | Filed Under Concerts, Videos | Leave a Comment 

John Nelson and Australian Youth Orchestra celebrate Beethoven

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Festival Centre – Adelaide, Australia / photo: Mathew Hillier

Conductor John Nelson, SDG’s Artistic Director, was in Australia last week where he lead the Australian Youth Orchestra in performances of works by Beethoven. This wasn’t an SDG undertaking, but the review that appeared this week in The Australian may be of interest to readers of this blog.

July 30, 2008 | Filed Under Concerts | Leave a Comment