May 2024
Malhaar: A Requiem for Water
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Reena Esmail, Composer-in-Residence
- Saturday, May 11, 2024, 7:30 PM
Bastyr University Chapel@14500 Juanita Dr NE, Kenmore, WA 98028 - Sunday, May 12, 2024, 3 PM
Bellevue High School PAC, 10416 Wolverine Way, Bellevue, WA 98004
Highlights include:
- Northwest premiere of Malhaar: A Requiem for Water
- Workshops/concerts with Reena Esmail, CANW’s 2024 Composer-in-Residence and rising star in the choral community
- Saili Oak, Hindustani vocalist
- Ravi Albright, tabla
- Andrew Angell, percussion
- Special Guests: Columbia Choirs Cantabile, Katrina Turman, director; Bothell High School Chamber Choir, Mikaela Rink, director; Bellevue High School Concert Choir, Andrew Jacobson, director; Newport High School Concert Choir, Nancy Fisher, director
Join Choral Arts Northwest on May 11 & 12 to experience Reena Esmail’s Malhaar, a magical combination of Western choral elements, Indian classical music, solo vocals by Hindustani vocalist Saili Oak, accompanied by Western percussionist Andrew Angell and tabla soloist Ravi Albright. Written during the Los Angeles area’s drought of 2022, Malhaar contemplates the blessings of water as well as the challenges of water scarcity. Malhaar refers to a family of raags associated with the invocation of powerful rain. In the trajectory of the work’s seven movements, various versions of the Malhaar raags appear and serve as a metaphorical access point to the ‘heavens in the next world’ as well as to the life-giving waters of rainfall.
For this celebration of Esmail’s music, we are joined in the first half by choirs from Bellevue, Bothell, and Newport High Schools, and Cantabile from the Columbia Choirs, each presenting works by Esmail as well as other choral gems by Katerina Gimon, Darius Lim, William Linthicum-Blackhorse, Marques L.A. Garrett, and Kyle Pederson.
From the Composer (about Malhaar):
“In Hindustani music, Malhaar refers to a family of raags that beckon rain. As the legend goes, the greatest musicians could cause a downpour from even the most severely parched skies by the power of their song.
This is the inspiration for Malhaar: A Requiem for Water. As the drought worsened in Southern California, I yearned for a way to process the rising panic. The work intertwines texts from the traditional Latin Requiem mass alongside the work of Wendell Berry and William O’Daly, along with interspersed Hindi. It traces a trajectory of beauty and awe of water, the fear and devastation around its loss, an answered plea of atonement, and eventually a promise of a new cycle of life, as the water returns to the skies.
This is a hopeful requiem. While the collective loss has been so tremendous, we can still hold out hope that if we change our relationship to the earth, we might beckon the rain back.”
– Reena Esmail
March 2024
The Lost Birds: An Extinction Elegy
Christopher Tin, composer
- Saturday, March 16, 2024, 7:30 PM
Trinity Lutheran, 6215 196th St SW, Lynnwood, WA 98036 - Sunday, March 17, 2024, 3 PM – LIVESTREAMED: Register HERE
St. Mark’s Cathedral, 1245 10th Ave E, Seattle, WA 98102
Concert highlights:
- Collaboration with Birds Connect Seattle to raise awareness regarding protecting birds by expanding our tree canopy, eliminating bird-window and building collisions, and reducing the use of toxic pesticides in our region
- CANW Chamber Orchestra
- Northwest premiere of the choral version of The Lost Birds, recorded by Voces8
- Northwest Boychoir Apprentices (March 17th concert only)
Benjamin Kromholtz, Associate Music Director & Taylor Hyde, Apprentices Director
Choral Arts Northwest presents the Pacific Northwest premiere of the Grammy-nominated composition by Christopher Tin, The Lost Birds. In the composer’s words: “The Lost Birds is a musical memorial to bird species driven to extinction by humankind. Sweeping and elegiac, it’s a haunting tribute to those soaring flocks that once filled our skies, but whose songs have since been silenced. It’s a celebration of their feathered beauty: their symbolism as messengers of hope, peace, and renewal. But it’s also a warning about our own tenuous existence on the planet: that the fate that befell these once soaring flocks foreshadows our own extinction.”
This concert opens with music that depicts birds’ multifaceted inspiration of humans by composers Abbie Betinis, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Sarah Quartel, and Caroline Shaw, and includes, on March 17th, our special guests the Northwest Boychoir Apprentices.
Dec 2023
Northwest Solstice: Mid-Winter Songs
Shine warm a little longer!
- Saturday, December 16, 2023, 7:30 PM
Plymouth Church Seattle, 1217 6th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 - Sunday, December 17, 2023, 3 PM
St. Thomas Medina, 8398 NE 12th St, Medina, WA 98039
Highlights include:
- Morten Lauridsen’s Mid-Winter Songs
- Serena Chin, accompanist
- Seasonal settings by Jessica French, Abbie Betinis, Joel Thompson, Alexander Lloyd Blake, Saunder Choi, Linda Kachelmeier, and Toby Young
Morten Lauridsen’s enchanting Mid-Winter Songs form the center of this program, evoking hope and possibility for renewal in the blue nights of winter with a cyclic setting of Robert Graves’s poetry. Additional repertoire includes a variety of solstice and winter-themed settings by Northwest (and beyond!) composers, all selections to warm the long nights of winter with joy, celebration, and community.
Join us for a weekend of stirring music to embrace and sustain our spirits.
Nov 2023
Canto a la Vida | I Sing to Life
Music of Remembrance from the Spanish Renaissance & El Día de los Muertos
- Saturday, November 4, 2023, 7:30 PM
St. Thomas Medina, 8398 NE 12th St, Medina, WA 98039 - Sunday, November 5, 2023, 3 PM
Sea Mar Museum of Chicano/a/Latino/a Culture, 9635 Des Moines Memorial Drive South, Seattle, WA 98118
Highlights include:
- Tomás Luis de Victoria: Officium Defunctorum (1605 Requiem)
- Music celebrating El Día de los Muertos from Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, United States, and Venezuela
- Classical & folkloric guitarist Elizabeth Brown
Sept 2023
Anniversary Celebration Concert & Gala Fundraiser Reception
- Sunday, September 24, 2023, 3 PM
St. Mark’s Cathedral, 1245 10th Ave. East, Seattle, WA 98102
Highlights include:
- Past and present Artistic Directors Richard Sparks, Robert Bode, and Timothy Westerhaus
- Serena Chin, accompanist
- Namarea Randolph-Yosea, tenor
- Lee Thompson, piano
Choral Arts Northwest celebrates its 30th season with a retrospective of music performed by a reunion of current and alumni Choral Arts NW singers. Founding artistic director Richard Sparks leads music by Rheinberger, jazz settings of Shakespeare by George Shearing, and Rutter’s Hymn to the Creator of Light.
Emeritus artistic director Robert Bode leads music by Williametta Spencer, Eric William Barnum, and William Averitt, and arrangements of Deep River and Shenandoah.
Tim Westerhaus leads Adolphus Hailstork’s cantata I Will Lift up Mine Eyes, featuring
tenor soloist Namarea Randolph-Yosea, and closes with A Unified Prayer by B.E. Boykin.
A festive Gala Reception follows this anniversary concert. We’ll toast our 30-year history of transformational choral music and welcome attendees to be part of our future as we share plans beyond the 2023-2024 season. All audience members are encouraged to reserve a Concert+Gala ticket, which includes admission to the concert & reception.
May 2023
Ari Project – Spring 봄 :
Choral Music from Korea
- Saturday, May 13, 2023, 7:30 PM
Plymouth Church, 1217 6th Ave, Seattle WA 98101 - Sunday, May 14, 2023, 3 PM
National Nordic Museum, 2655 NW Market St, Ballard, WA 98107
Special guests:
- Morning Star Cultural Center, Sinae Cheh, director
- Hyo-Won Woo, Composer in Residence and Dr. Mee-Ae Nam, Founder and Director of ARI PROJECT
- Serena Chin, piano
Choral Arts Northwest & Morning Star Korean Cultural Center Present:
Ari Project – Spring 봄
World Premiere by Hyo-Won Woo
Created by Korean composer Hyo-won Woo (Seoul, South Korea) and her artistic partner, Dr. Mee-Ae Nam (Eastern Michigan University), Ari Project – Spring 봄offers a world-premiere choral drama celebrating the sights, sounds, and colors of spring. Through music and dance expressing abundance and renewal, Woo’s drama takes us on a journey of historical and contemporary reminiscences, invoking the symbols and spirits of Spring 봄 in South Korea. The dancers and musicians of Morning Star Korean Cultural Center join CANW onstage, creating a kaleidoscope of traditional costumes, songs, folk dance, and storytelling, in Korean and English, accompanied by piano, strings, and traditional Korean instruments.
Join us for Ari Project – Spring 봄, an unforgettable tapestry of sound, color, and movement.
This concert is endorsed by the Korean Consulate in Seattle.
March 2023
Considering Matthew Shepard
- Saturday, March 18, 2023, 7:30 p.m.
- Pre-concert discussion with Timothy Westerhaus (CANW) and Kaelee Bolme (STANCE) begins at 7 PM – ARRIVE EARLY
Inglemoor High School, 15500 Simonds Rd NE, Kenmore, WA 98028 - Sunday, March 19, 2023, 4:00 p.m.
- Pre-concert discussion with Timothy Westerhaus (CANW) and Miriam Anderson (CANW & Puget SoundWorks) begins at 3:30 PM – ARRIVE EARLY
Edmonds Center for the Arts, 410 4th Ave N, Edmonds, WA 98020
Choral Arts Northwest presents a staged performance of Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard in collaboration with Seattle area high schools and LGBTQ+ choirs. Composed in 2016 by Craig Hella Johnson, this dramatic oratorio depicts the story of Matt, a 21-year-old gay student at the University of Wyoming who was murdered in a 1998 hate crime. The music takes us on a journey of Matt’s story with music ranging from Bach to musical theatre, from country to soul, inviting us to come together as a community and to expand our care and empathy for one another, no matter our differences.
Guest choirs on March 18th::
- Sammamish High School Chamber Choir, Ryan Hyde, Director
- STANCE – Seattle Trans and Nonbinary Choral Ensemble, Kaelee Bolme, Director
- Woodinville High School Concert Voices, Joseph Mikkelson, Director
Guest choirs on March 19th::
- Ballard High School Concert Choir, Courtney Rowley, Director
- Puget Soundworks, Miriam Anderson, Artistic Director
Choral Arts NW has moved to a Pay as Able pricing structure in order to allow ANYONE from any economic status to attend our concerts. Please choose a ticket price based on your ability to pay and your desire to help CANW bring its music to anyone and everyone. Thank you!
Masks and vaccinations are encouraged but not required of audience members.
Choral Arts NW will not be masked unless CDC and King County guidelines change before March 18th. CANW members will test daily and only be permitted to sing if negative and illness free. 100% of choir members are vaccinated through the most recent booster.
December 2022
Northwest Solstice:
A Choral Arts Wintertide Concert
- Saturday, December 17, 2022, 7:30 p.m.
Plymouth Church, 1217 6th Ave, Seattle WA - Sunday, December 18, 2022, 3:00 p.m.
St. Thomas Church, 8398 NE 12th St, Medina WA
Serena Chin, Piano; Jamie Sanidad, Oboe/English Horn
During the blue nights of winter, Choral Arts Northwest presents music that captures the magic of this season, warming our spirits with music that invokes imagery of night and light, feelings of joy and peace. Music includes a rich variety of cultural traditions, marking solstice, the beginning of the Festival of Lights, and Las Posadas, with music from Mexico, Argentina, and Venezuela. This concert features Reena Esmail’s new work, The Winter Breviary, which traces a journey through the solstice and combines new texts by Rebecca Gayle Howell with Hindustani raags for the night and morning light hours. Music by Northwest composers Emily Lau, Andrew Jacobson, and Katerina Gimon capture a spirit of wonder, and interludes for piano and oboe seamlessly weave together this concert experience.
Printed program – CANW Northwest Solstice program_FINAL
Sunday LIVESTREAM – https://youtu.be/sG69uoil0xc
Masks and vaccinations are encouraged but not required of audience members.
The choir will not be masked unless CDC and King County guidelines change before December 17/18th. Choir members will test daily and only be permitted to sing if negative and illness free. 100% of choir members are vaccinated through the most recent booster.
November 2022
Songs of Freedom: Music from Ukraine
Benefit Concert for Ukrainian Refugee Services at Rescue.org
Featuring Valentyn Lysenko, Ukrainian Bandura
- Saturday, November 5, 2022, 7:30 p.m.
Plymouth Church, 1217 6th Ave, Seattle WA
Choral Arts Northwest presents Songs of Freedom featuring music by Ukrainian composers, spanning over 300 years from the Ukrainian Renaissance to folk music of today. Ukrainians have long used song as a means of survival and empowerment, and this program of transcendent and folkloric music connects us with the beauty of Ukrainian land, spirit, and people. The first half of the program (“Songs of Spirit, Songs of Life”) includes sublime motets by Renaissance composer Mykola Dyletsky, a joyful choral concerto by Classical era Dmitry Bortniansky, and living composer Lesia Dychko’s thrilling Slava. In the second half of the program (“Land of Freedom, Land of Beauty”) choral songs meet Ukrainian folk traditions, with music played by Valentyn Lysenko, a Seattle-based performer of the bandura, the quintessential Ukrainian folk instrument. From the iconic Oi u luzi chervona kalyna—Ukraine’s patriotic song made famous from remixes of rock musician Andriy Khlyvnyuk’s Instagram post—to a tongue-twister folk song, the beauty of Ukraine’s land and people come alive through music both transcendent and earthy.
50% of all concert proceeds will be donated to the Washington State chapter of Rescue.org, an international association providing broad support for refugee relief in Washington State and beyond. Once concert costs are met, 100% of any additional funds raised will go toward Rescue.org.
Masks and vaccinations are highly encouraged of audience members.
- CANW continues to monitor and follow CDC and King County guidelines regarding our protocols and will adjust as necessary and as recommendations change
- Daily testing is required of all choir members for rehearsals and performances
- Proof of vaccination is required of all choir members
- Masks are optional for the choir – we anticipate that most will not mask in performance.
Pay as able – suggested donation $30 door, $25 pre-concert