The Red Deer Symphony Orchestra is gearing up for lovely seasonal sounds with ‘Christmas from the British Isles’.
RDSO staff are also excited that Mayor Morris Flewwelling will be featured as a special guest narrator for the concert, which runs Dec. 8 at Gaetz Memorial United Church. Performance time is 8 p.m.
Flewwelling will be narrating the premiere of Maestro Claude Lapalme’s newest composition, A Child’s Christmas in Wales, a 20-minute work for orchestra and narrator based on the timeless classic by Dylan Thomas.
The RDSO will be joined at this concert by the Calgary Boy’s Choir, who are celebrating their 40th anniversary this season with a performance of one of Britten’s most frequently performed works, the Ceremony of Carols.
As Lapalme points out, Britten “created sonorities that were entirely new for the time” by making use of only three treble voice parts and harp.
“Thought he composed relatively little music for use in church services, he did write quite a number of pieces intended for performance in a church building. These works exploit acoustics and architecture in varying degrees for their fullest realization,” writes Lapalme. “It is therefore wonderful to have the opportunity to perform this work in the magical setting of Gaetz Memorial United Church.”
This attractive, fresh-sounding piece also features solo harp performed by Gianetta Baril, already well-known to Red Deer audiences.
The Calgary Boys’ Choir has been recognized around the world for its excellence in music. The choir has performed in New York, France, Spain, Austria and the Czech Republic. Next July, they will travel to the UK to participate in the International Children’s Choral Festival at Canterbury Cathedral and London.
The audience will also enjoy an Irish and a Scottish carol, as well as Gauntlett’s Once in Royal David’s City, Vaughn Williams’ O Little Town of Bethlehem and Holst’s See Amid the Winter’s Snow.
As has become a tradition at the RDSO’s Christmas concert, patrons are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item or cash donation for the Red Deer Food Bank.
Meanwhile, copies of the recently released CD and book Akai and Mamoo will also be available for purchase in the lobby, featuring many Canadian guest artists including the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra.
Single tickets for this concert are available through the Black Knight Ticket Centre.
Charge by phone by calling 403-755-6626, 1-800-661-8793 or purchase them online at www.bkticketcentre.ca.
Next up for the RDSO is CroonerMania! on Jan. 19 on the Arts Centre mainstage. Concert time for the show, which features guest vocalist Michael Hope, is 8 p.m.
-Weber
