Saturday, April 24, 2010 - 2:00 pm
Benaroya Hall (in the S. Mark Taper Auditorium), 3rd Avenue & Union Street, Seattle

Reserved ticket prices from $20 to $45.

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In April 2010, the Seattle Choral Company presents perhaps the greatest choral work of the 19th century, Johannes Brahms’ “Ein deutsches Requiem” (A German Requiem) . A musical and spiritual marvel, this masterwork will leave no heart unmoved by its powerful message of hope and consolation. On the same program, the SCC will also perform Antonin Dvorak’s “Te Deum.”

The concert will be presented on Saturday, April 24 at 2:00pm at Benaroya Hall (S. Mark Taper Auditorium) in downtown Seattle.

Brahms’ “A German Requiem” is not a traditional Requiem Mass, but rather an extended message of comfort, acceptance, peace, and serenity for all living humanity. When asked about the work’s title, Brahms confessed that he could have called his creation, “A Human Requiem”—so intent was he to offer a universal message to all people. The message seems particularly fitting for the world we live in today. This is what makes “A German Requiem” such an exceptional work, one that is ranked among the loftiest music ever given to the world.

Joining Brahms’ masterpiece will be the exuberant and stirring “Te Deum” of Antonin Dvorak, written to commemorate the composer’s arrival in America in 1892 as director of the National Conservatory in New York. Though smaller in scale than his more well-known “Stabat Mater” and “Requiem,” the “Te Deum” displays some of Dvorak’s finest music.

The chorus and full orchestra will be joined by soloists Jennifer Ceresa, soprano, and Victor Benedetti, baritone.

Join us for a pre-concert lecture!

Please join noted choral conductor, Philip Tschopp, for a special FREE public lecture before our performance of Brahms’s “Ein deutsches Requiem.” The lecture will take place at Benaroya Hall inside Taper Auditorium from 1:00 to 1:30pm. Seating will be available immediately in front of the stage.

Philip Tschopp, conductor and vocalist, is completing his Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at the University of Washington. He was awarded the Morrison Fellowship, and served as teaching assistant to Maestro Peter Erös and the U of W Symphony, and as assistant conductor and conductor of the U of W Opera. For three years, he conducted the U of W Summer Orchestra. Regionally, Tschopp served as conductor and music director of Bellevue’s Cascadian Chorale (1994 – 2007) where he commissioned and premiered new works by Bern Herbolsheimer, Troy Peters, David White, and William Hawley. Reviews of the Cascadian Singers CD, Premiere, which was released in 2002, have commended the choir and Mr. Tschopp's work as “phenomenal….a ravishing collection…angelically haunting.” (The Stranger, Feb. 1st, 2006)

The Cascadian Chorale, under Tschopp’s leadership, collaborated with the Seattle Choral Company in 2001 for the large-scale “Te Deum,” by Hector Berlioz, and William Hawley’s “Seattle” to commemorate the Sesquicentennial of the City of Seattle. Both of these memorable performances took place at Benaroya Hall.

With humor and historical insight, Mr. Tschopp will discuss the stories behind Brahms’ “A German Requiem” and Dvorak’s “Te Deum.”