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The blooming jasmine perfumes the air at the Jarvis Conservatory, and music inspired by the joys and tribulations of love will fill the theater at IT'S A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING on Saturday, May 4. The 2024 season of extraordinary concerts presented by music director and host, Frank Johnson, will grow even grander as a full chorus, two soloists, two pianists and four percussionists offer the rich and sentimental music of Johannes Brahms and the sparkling, rhythmic music of Carl Orff.
Coming from Berkeley to the Jarvis Conservatory for the first time, the University of California Alumni Chorus, under the masterful direction of Paul Flight, will perform Brahms' Liebeslieder Walzer, op. 52, with Paul Caccamo and Frank Johnson accompanying four-handed on the piano. Although, by the late 1860's, Brahms was internationally respected and honored in the concert hall, this charming set of pieces was his first big popular success, spreading his fame to homes and salons around the world. (He and his publisher were so pleased that Brahms composed a second set, performed on the November 2023 IAGNFS concert.)
Carl Orff was one of the leading German composers between the World Wars and after. The materials and methods he developed for music education continue in use and influence. In 1937, his dramatic cantata, Carmina Burana, brought him tremendous acclaim and is now universally recognizable, high on the lists of most popular classical works. This concert will showcase the next part of a trilogy, Catulli Carmina. For this work, he turned once again to ancient texts, in this case those of the flamboyantly confessional First Century BCE Latin poet, Catullus. (May not be suitable for young children who are fluent in Latin!)
Joining as soloists in both works will be Angela Jarosz, soprano, and Jack Wilkins, tenor. The performance of the Orff work will give Messrs. Caccamo and Johnson each their own piano, and add four percussionists on tympani, drums, bells, cymbals, xylophone, castanets and more. The theater at the Jarvis Conservatory will surely ring and resonate with the most thrilling sounds.
Our audience will enjoy Sheri Mignano Crawford's accordion stylings before the concert and at intermission, and relish the complimentary intermission refreshments. Plan now to attend this exciting event, and be sure to bring your friends.
IT'S A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING continues the first Saturday of every month at 7pm at the Jarvis Conservatory located at 1711 Main Street in historic downtown Napa. Tickets are $20 and available at the box office beginning at 6pm, with doors opening for General Seating at 6:30pm.
For more about this ongoing series, please visit the It's a Grand Night for Singing webpageon the Jarvis Conservatory website.
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