Charlottetown – Commemorate Good Friday with choral music at Trinity United Church. PEI Presents the Confederation Singers and guest soloists, accompanied by Symphony Nova Scotia’s Strings, present an afternoon of sacred music featuring the famous Stabat Mater by Anton Dvorak.
The Stabat Mater derives from a medieval Latin poem describing Mary’s grief over her son’s crucifixion. The text was especially appropriate given Dvorak’s own circumstances at the time. He began the work after the death of his two-day-old daughter in 1875. After laying the work aside in mid-1876, he resumed work on it in late 1877 following the death of two more children. Then childless, he finished it on November 13, 1877.
“It is not surprising that this is a profoundly moving work. The piece is filled with rich, expressive harmony and soaring melody,” says Donald Fraser, Director of Music at the Confederation Centre of the Arts.
The Stabat Mater was first performed in Prague on December 23, 1880 and was an instant success. It was last performed in Charlottetown in 1987.
The April 10 performance at Trinity United Church conducted by Donald Fraser will also feature a Dvorak String Quartet played by the Symphony Nova Scotia strings. Soloists for the performance are Shannon Lawson, Soprano; Candace Ritchey, Alto; Michael Vandergaag, Tenor; Alex Clark, Bass-Baritone.
The Confederation Centre’s Choral Music Programme is sponsored by Maritime Electric.
Choral Music on a Holy Day is Friday, April 10, at 3:00 p.m. at the Trinity United Church in Charlottetown. Tickets are $20 and are available at the door or at the Confederation Centre box office, by calling (902) 566-1267 or toll free 1-800-565-0278, and online at www.peipresents.com.
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Media contact: Dan Wall, publicist, Confederation Centre of the Arts, phone (902) 628-6135
Email: confederationcentre.com, web www.confederationcentre.com