2022-2023
RAVISHING BAROQUE: MONTEVERDI VESPERS OF 1610 | September 25, 2022 | 4:00 PM
SOLARIA SINGERS & PLAYERS
Park Lake Presbyterian Church
The Solaria Singers joined by the Solaria Players, the NEW Orlando Sings chamber orchestra, perform the 1610 Vespers by Claudio Monteverdi, the most important and pioneering composer of his day. Monteverdi was a master of the Renaissance and then helped usher in the Baroque Period through his ravishing and captivating compositional style. Titled the Vespro della Beata Vergine, the Vespers represent the best of the old and new styles of the time. A monumental masterpiece of the early Baroque — it is both personal and magnificent, spiritual and theatrical, sublime and sensual. Monteverdi serves up a plethora of textures, a sparkling orchestra, grand choruses, and captivating solo arias and duets.
SPIRIT OF SOUTH AMERICA | Ramírez, Villa-Lobos, Grau | November 4, 2022 | 8:00 PM
ORLANDO SINGS SYMPHONIC CHORUS & HARMONIA
First United Methodist Church of Orlando
This is the debut performance for Harmonia, Orlando’s NEW auditioned Soprano-Alto Chorus! They will sing a delightful, beautiful, and rhythmic set to open the program. Then, featuring an ensemble of South American folk instruments, the Orlando Sings Symphonic Chorus performs the iconic Misa Criolla by Argentinian composer Ariel Ramírez. Rounding out the evening will be the oldest polyphonic work written in South America (the Peruvian Hanacpachap Cussicuinin), folk song settings from Brazil and Venezuela, and the inspiring music of Alberto Grau, among the most important Catalan-Venezuelan conductors and composers of the last half-century.
A SOLARIA SOLSTICE: STIRRING SONGS OF THE SEASON | December 21, 2022 | 6:30 & 8:15 PM
SOLARIA SINGERS
Timucua Arts Foundation
Back in the acoustically marvelous Timucua Arts Foundation, the popular Solaria Solstice concerts return for another year of amazing sounds of the season. Music and poetry take us on a sonic journey through darkness into light. This program includes music of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa, as well as brand new works sure to inspire. The Solaria Solstice is a new annual tradition not to be missed!
MARDI GRAS GALA | February 4, 2022 | 7:00 PM
Winter Park Farmer’s Market
You are cordially invited to the Orlando Sings’ 2nd Annual Mardi Gras Gala! Join us for an evening of live entertainment, dancing, and Cajun-inspired cuisine, all while supporting the newest and fastest growing performing arts organization in Central Florida.
All proceeds will benefit Orlando Sings and the nonprofit organization’s community engagement and education programs.
Cocktails | Hors d’Oeuvres | Live Music | Silent Auction | Dancing | Black Tie & Masks Optional
Click on MORE INFO below to learn about becoming a Gala Event Sponsor or to donate to the Silent Auction. Thank you for your support.
Laissez les bons temps rouler!
QUEEN OF INSTRUMENTS | Briggs, Britten, Howells, Parry, and more! | February 17, 2023 | 8:00 PM
HARMONIA
ORLANDO SINGS SYMPHONIC CHORUS
First United Methodist Church of Orlando
Featuring the magnificent organ (86 ranks, 6 divisions, 4 manuals) of First United Methodist Church of Orlando, the Orlando Sings Symphonic Chorus and Harmonia sing awe-inspiring Anglican works for choir and pipe organ. The program includes mid-century masters as well as works by contemporary rising-star composers from across the pond.
HANDEL’S MESSIAH | March 30, 2023 | 7:30 PM
ORLANDO SINGS SYMPHONIC CHORUS
ORLANDO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Steinmetz Hall, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
The Orlando Sings Symphonic Chorus returns to the exquisite Steinmetz Hall for what is called “the greatest single work in the English language” and the most popular choral-orchestral work of all time. Messiah received its first performance in Dublin, Ireland on April 13, 1742, and has been performed around the world nearly every year since. Orlando Sings is excited to present this legendary work famous for the “Hallelujah Chorus!”
ORLANDO SINGS CHORAL FESTIVAL 2023
I BELIEVE
MARGARET BONDS CREDO | ANDRÉ J. THOMAS MASS | May 18, 2023 | 7:30 PM
HARMONIA
ORLANDO SINGS SYMPHONIC CHORUS
First United Methodist Church of Orlando
Join us for the first concert of the Orlando Sings Choral Festival 2023 featuring composers Margaret Bonds and André Thomas. The stunning Harmonia ensemble will open the program with three stirring works for soprano-alto chorus. Next on the program will be Margaret Bonds’ Credo, a setting of W. E. B. Du Bois’ prose poem in which he declares his philosophy of racial equality. This will be conducted by Chevalier Lovett in his Orlando Sings debut. Subtitled “A Celebration of Love and Joy,” the gospel-style mass of André J. Thomas with piano, drums, and bass guitar will uplift and inspire.
STAR LIGHT
HELIOS by TIMOTHY C. TAKACH | May 20, 2023 | 5:00 PM
SOLARIA SINGERS
First United Methodist Church of Orlando 2nd Floor
Timothy Takach’s Helios is a concert-length work that explores the mythology surrounding our galaxy. Hear the horse-led chariots in Neptune, and the siren call of the sopranos and altos as they sing of Jupiter. Takach is one of choral music’s leading composers, and his gifts for melody and drama are evident throughout this unique contemporary work. This will be the Southeastern US premiere of Helios featuring visual projections created by artist Deborah Johnson.
VISIONARY LIGHT
THE NOTEBOOKS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI by JOCELYN HAGEN | INTO THE LIGHT by JAKE RUNESTAD | May 20, 2023 | 8:00 PM
ORLANDO SINGS SYMPHONIC CHORUS
ORLANDO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
First United Methodist Church of Orlando
The final program of the Orlando Sings Choral Festival includes three works inspired by historically significant figures of the Renaissance. Ottorino Respighi’s colorful Botticelli Triptychwas inspired by three Botticelli paintings: La Primavera (Spring), L’Adorazione dei Magi (The Adoration of the Magi), and La nascita di Venere (The Birth of Venus).
INTO THE LIGHT
Into the Light is inspired by the The Reformation led by Martin Luther, a contemporary of Botticelli and da Vinci. It was a pivotal event in the history of Western culture and created waves of change across Europe that spread to the rest of the world — the impact of which is still being felt (and studied) today.
Rather than create a museum piece for the Reformation, Runestad asked himself what reforming means in our world today: What are the major issues plaguing our world and what is their cause? Who has addressed these issues through their work and their words (in the vein of Martin Luther)? How can we address these issues through a musical work for chorus and orchestra in a meaningful way?
Into the Light allows us to be immersed in the wisdom of some of the most important and influential reformers in history, and challenges us to consider how we can move beyond fear and onto a path of love, compassion, and kindness.
THE NOTEBOOKS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI
Utilizing the latest in video syncing technology, Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks are brought to life through his words and drawings in an unforgettable multimedia concert experience created for choir, orchestra, and video projections. As the composer who is the creative force behind both the music and visual component, Jocelyn Hagen designed the work so that the music serves as the foundation for the film instead of it functioning as purely a supporting musical soundtrack.
Hagen includes Da Vinci’s intricate handwriting and stunningly beautiful sketches as a visual component to this piece. As a writer, da Vinci wrote from right to left, backwards, as if in a mirror. These beautifully scribed words scroll above the musicians and add a wonderful texture to the performance. Many sketches in the notebooks are of the human form, corresponding perfectly to his observations on the proportions of the body. Filmmaker Isaac Gale took these images and breathed life into them with a living Vitruvian Man in the fifth movement.
Ion Concert Media created MUSÈIK (pronounced mew-ZAY-ik), the world’s most advanced digital sync software, just a few years ago. The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci is the first large concert work to be created that utilizes it to its fullest potential.
2021-2022
JOYFUL BEGINNINGS | November 18, 2021
ORLANDO SINGS SYMPHONIC CHORUS
First United Methodist Church of Orlando
An historic moment for the performing arts in downtown Orlando, the Orlando Sings Symphonic Chorus presented its inaugural concert “Joyful Beginnings” featuring brass and percussion from the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and organist Michael Ging. The program included the dazzling “Gloria” by John Rutter, landmark works of Randall Thompson and Ralph Vaughan Williams, and the southeastern premiere of “Seven Joys” by Caroline Shaw, the youngest ever recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for music. Joyful Beginnings celebrated the birth of Orlando’s newest performing arts organization.
A SOLARIA SOLSTICE | December 21, 2021
A Solaria Solstice was a beautiful program of seasonal music from different faith traditions interspersed with spoken word in the intimate setting of the Timucua Arts Foundation. This was the inaugural concert of the Solaria Singers, Orlando’s new premier professional vocal ensemble… an historic moment!
THE CREATION by JOSEPH HAYDN | March 8, 2022
ORLANDO SINGS SYMPHONIC CHORUS
First United Methodist Church of Orlando
Conducted by founding associate conductor J. Christine Le and performed in English, the Orlando Sings Symphonic Chorus was joined by a 21-piece orchestra from the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and featured soloists from Opera Orlando.
MARDI GRAS GALA | March 26, 2022
Orlando Sings held its 1st Annual Fundraising Gala & Silent Auction with live entertainment, dancing, and Cajun-inspired cuisine! Laissez les bons temps rouler!
A CENTURY OF CHORAL MUSIC BY BLACK COMPOSERS | May 26, 2022
Steinmetz Hall at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
The Solaria Singers, Orlando’s own professional vocal ensemble, presented a thrilling and compelling program of choral music by black composers. Composers included R. Nathaniel Dett, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Marques L. A. Garrett, Adolphus Hailstork, Moses Hogan, Undine Smith Moore, Zanaida Robles, André Thomas, and more!
This performance was the opening concert in the First Annual Orlando Sings Choral Festival, and was also the first performance by any Orlando Sings ensemble to be held at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
DURUFLÉ REQUIEM | CLEARFIELD TSE GO LA | June 9, 2022
ORLANDO SINGS SYMPHONIC CHORUS
First United Methodist Church of Orlando
In addition to musicians from the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, the Duruflé featured the beautiful organ at First United Methodist Church of Orlando.
Tse Go La (At the threshold of this life), composed in 2012 and scored for double chorus, chamber orchestra and electronics was inspired by the composer Andrea Clearfield’s fieldwork in the restricted, remote Himalayan region of Lo Monthang in Upper Mustang, Nepal where she recorded and documented indigenous folk music.
This performance was the second concert of the First Annual Orlando Sings Choral Festival.
THE SACRED VEIL by ERIC WHITACRE | June 11, 2022
ORLANDO SINGS SYMPHONIC CHORUS & HARMONIA
Steinmetz Hall at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
Premiered in 2019, The Sacred Veil is a 12-movement work and the most recent collaboration between Eric Whitacre and poet/lyricist Charles Anthony Silvestri telling a story of life, love and loss.
This concert concluded with Sean Kirchner’s uplifting song cycle, Heavenly Home: Three American Songs led by dynamo conductor J. Christine Le.
This performance was the final concert of the First Annual Orlando Sings Choral Festival and concluded the Inaugural Season of Orlando Sings. A historic moment, this was the Orlando Sings Symphonic Chorus debut in the acoustically exquisite Steinmetz Hall at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.