Music

To honor the conclusion of our 20th Anniversary season, Seraphic Fire celebrates with a program containing both the oldest and newest pieces in our repertoire. William Billing’s Invocation was the first work performed by Seraphic Fire, and the first line of this American hymn—“Majestic God, our Muse inspire, and fill us with Seraphic fire”—is the source for the ensemble’s name. Seraphic Fire will be joined by Ensemble Ibis for Shawn Crouch’s The Road From Hiroshima, the first piece of music commissioned and premiered by Seraphic Fire. Representing Seraphic Fire’s newest projects are three world premiere performances of works by Alvaro Bermudez, Sydney Guillaume, and Tawnie Olson. The ensemble’s first performance of Thomas Tallis’ massive 40-voice motet Spem in alium is the icing on the birthday cake of this celebration 20 years of glorious music.

María Guinand, internationally lauded director of the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela, joins Seraphic Fire to weave a program that contrasts the heavenly love of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Jesu, meine Freude with secular, Spanish-language Renaissance and contemporary works on earthly themes of humor, desire, and the sea. Disparity and contradiction are on display in this thought-provoking program.

María Guinand, internationally lauded director of the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela, joins Seraphic Fire to weave a program that contrasts the heavenly love of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Jesu, meine Freude with secular, Spanish-language Renaissance and contemporary works on earthly themes of humor, desire, and the sea. Disparity and contradiction are on display in this thought-provoking program.

Joyous arrivals and awe-inspiring departures feature in the closing concert of Seraphic Fire’s third annual Enlightenment Festival. The first two cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio portray an expectant mother preparing for a child’s arrival and the Magi searching for that child. The Ascension Oratorio is particularly thrilling with spectacular opening and closing trumpets, its coloratura passages, and equally challenging chorale. Chamber orchestra and students from the UCLA Ensemble Artist Program join Seraphic Fire singers to perform two of Bach’s great works in a burst of sonic glory in this arresting program.

During an age of high mortality, Johann Sebastian Bach experienced the stark and tenuous nature of life and death firsthand. As a result, Bach’s music of human existence and death is, unsurprisingly, probing and profound. Seraphic Fire sings two of Bach’s haunting cantatas on death, and Reginald Mobley is featured in the solo alto cantata Vergnügte Ruh in this musical evening of inspiration and reflection.

During an age of high mortality, Johann Sebastian Bach experienced the stark and tenuous nature of life and death firsthand. As a result, Bach’s music of human existence and death is, unsurprisingly, probing and profound. Seraphic Fire sings two of Bach’s haunting cantatas on death, and Reginald Mobley is featured in the solo alto cantata Vergnügte Ruh in this musical evening of inspiration and reflection.

Guest conductor Jason Max Ferdinand leads a program that sees contemporary composers breathing new life into traditional melodies and texts. Aaron Copland’s Old American Songs blur the line between historic and contemporary. Originally written for baritone William Warfield and tenor Peter Pears, the Old American Songs dress traditional tunes in 20th-century clothing. Masterpieces by modernist Betty Jackson King and Renaissance man Thomas Tomkins meld with arresting contemporary gems by Ken Burton and Stacy Gibbs, sparkling against a backdrop of bedrock works by William Dawson, Moses Hogan, and Hal Johnson.

Guest conductor Jason Max Ferdinand leads a program that sees contemporary composers breathing new life into traditional melodies and texts. Aaron Copland’s Old American Songs blur the line between historic and contemporary. Originally written for baritone William Warfield and tenor Peter Pears, the Old American Songs dress traditional tunes in 20th-century clothing. Masterpieces by modernist Betty Jackson King and Renaissance man Thomas Tomkins meld with arresting contemporary gems by Ken Burton and Stacy Gibbs, sparkling against a backdrop of bedrock works by William Dawson, Moses Hogan, and Hal Johnson.

Within a serene candle-lit setting, the hustle and bustle of the holiday season will quiet and the a capella voices of Seraphic Fire will fill the room with musical peace and joy. Enjoy familiar favorites such as the hauntingly simple, yet lush Jesus Christ the Apple Tree and the enchanting Silent Night, and come away cherishing a newly discovered gem. Associate Conductor James K. Bass and the ensemble are pleased to present seasonal carols and heart-warming music in the 20th season of A Seraphic Fire Christmas.