September 23, 2019
Contact: Jeffrey Carlson, Executive Director
(336) 333-2220
jcarlson@belcantocompany.com
Joyful Noise: Saturday, October 12 at 8pm and
Monday, October 14 at 7:30pm
GREENBORO, NC – On Saturday, October 12 at 8:00pm, Bel Canto Company will sing the world premiere performance of the breath of life by critically acclaimed composer Dan Forrest during Joyful Noise, the opening concert of their 37th Season. The 48-member ensemble of professional singers will be joined by chamber orchestra to perform the four-movement work commissioned in memory of Suzanne Goddard, one of Bel Canto’s most ardent supporters. Mr. Forrest will be in attendance, and audience members will have the chance to hear him discuss the new music before each performance. The concert will be repeated on Monday, October 14 at 7:30 pm. The performances will be held at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Greensboro.
the breath of life was commissioned in 2017 in memory of Suzanne Goddard after her unexpected death in December of 2015. Suzanne had long been one of Bel Canto’s biggest fans, and served on the board for six years, including two years as president. One of the last Bel Canto concerts she attended featured Dan Forrest’s Requiem for the Living. After the performance, she enthused about the piece every chance she got to anyone who would listen. The board determined that if music were to be commissioned in her honor, there was no composer who would please her more or better capture the passion with which she lived her life than Dan Forrest. Inspired by Suzanne’s writings and poems, prayers and books that were important to her, the piece was originally conceived for chorus and small chamber ensemble in three movements. As Mr. Forrest began work, the music has taken on a life of its own and grown to four movements accompanied by chamber orchestra that includes strings, piano and percussion.
The second half of the concert features another Dan Forrest work for chorus and orchestra, Jubilate Deo, a rousing setting of Psalm 100. It is the first line of this work that lends the concert its title: “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth.” Jubilate Deo was first performed in April 2016 and has since become a fixture in the choral/orchestral repertoire around the world. The seven movements are set in seven different languages including Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Zulu, Spanish and English, bringing to life the global aspect of the text. Bel Canto’s performance will feature over 200 singers and more than 20 instrumentalists. In addition to Bel Canto, the Greensboro Youth Chorus and choirs from Western Guilford, Southwest Guilford and RJ Reynolds High Schools will join forces to present this monumental work.
Beginning approximately 35 minutes before each concert, Mr. Forrest and Bel Canto Artistic Director Welborn Young will take the stage for a conversation about the breath of life. They will discuss how the commission came to be, the process of writing and rehearsing a new piece of music and take questions from the audience. All ticket holders are welcome.
During Mr. Forrest’s time in Greensboro, he will also coach the three high school choirs on compositions of his that they will sing individually to open the performances. When asked about taking part in the concerts, Catherine Butler, choral director at Southwest Guilford High School, said, “As a traditional high school choral program, we rarely have the chance to work so closely with someone of [Dan Forrest’s] caliber. Singing with Bel Canto and Dan Forrest will give my students…a rare once in a lifetime experience.”
Mr. Forrest will also offer a Masterclass and Conversation with Dan Forrest on Saturday, October 12 at 10:00 am at the Van Dyke Performance Space in downtown Greensboro. The workshop is free and open to the public to attend. Participating composers will have a chance to learn about their craft from a prolific, and gifted contemporary composer, and all in attendance will get a rare glimpse into the process of writing music, as well as some of the nuts and bolts of being a working composer.
Tickets to performances are available at www.belcantocompany.com. Tickets to attend the masterclass are free and will be available at the door on a first-come-first served basis. To be considered to participate in the workshop, please contact Jeffrey Carlson at 336.333.2220.
Media outlets interested in scheduling interviews with Dan Forrest or Bel Canto Artistic Director Welborn Young should contact Jeffrey Carlson, Executive Director at (336) 333-2220.
Bel Canto is especially grateful to all the individuals, businesses and organizations who have helped make this concert possible. Major financial support for Joyful Noise provided by ArtsGreensboro. Additional sponsorship for our 37th Season generously provided by Crumley Roberts, LLP and Well·Spring. Accommodations and other considerations graciously provided by our hospitality sponsors, Print Works Bistro and Proximity Hotel.
What: Joyful Noise: A Celebration of Life Featuring the Music of Dan Forrest
When: Saturday, Oct. 12 at 8:00 pm and
Monday, Oct. 14 at 7:30 pm
Pre-concert Discussion featuring Dan Forrest and Artistic Director Welborn
Young approximately 35 minutes before each performance
Where: First Presbyterian Church, 617 N Elm St, Greensboro
Admission: $30, $25 Seniors (65+), $10 College Students, $5 High School Students and Younger
What: Masterclass and Conversation with Dan Forrest
When: Saturday, Oct. 12 at 10:00 am
Where: Van Dyke Performance Space, 200 N Davie Street, Greensboro
Admission: Free and Open to the Public
About Dan
Forrest
Dan
Forrest (b. 1978) has been described as having “an undoubted gift for writing
beautiful music….that is truly magical” (NY Concert Review), with works
hailed as “magnificent, very cleverly constructed sound sculpture” (Classical Voice), and “superb
writing…full of spine-tingling moments” (Salt Lake Tribune). His music
has sold millions of copies, and has become well established in the repertoire
of choirs in the U.S. and abroad.
Dan’s choral works have received numerous awards and distinctions, have been premiered in major venues around the world, and have been featured on national radio and TV broadcasts. His major works Requiem for the Living (2013) and Jubilate Deo (2016) have quickly become standard choral/orchestral repertoire of ensembles around the world, and his newest major work, LUX: The Dawn From On High (2018), is now receiving similar critical acclaim.
Dan publishes choral music with Hinshaw Music, Beckenhorst Press, and, recently, through his own company, The Music of Dan Forrest (distributed by Beckenhorst Press). He holds a doctorate in composition and a master’s degree in piano performance. His academic background includes several years as a professor and department head (music theory and composition) in higher education. More information about Dan and his work can be found at www.danforrest.com.
About Bel
Canto Company
Bel Canto
is an Italian phrase that literally means “beautiful singing,” but we are more
than that. We are an ensemble of outstanding musicians led by Artistic Director
and Conductor Welborn Young who believe in the power of live choral
performances to entertain, inspire, and express that which words alone cannot,
and that singing has the power to bring us together no matter our color, creed
or background. In 37
years as the Triad’s premier choral ensemble, the Bel Canto Company has engaged
more than 200 of the region’s most talented singers, presented hundreds of
concerts locally and throughout the Southeast, and performed thousands of
pieces of music spanning the globe and the centuries. From our beginning in the
1982-1983 season until now, Bel Canto has been praised for our uniquely
beautiful interpretation and sensitive tonal quality.
Over the years Bel Canto Company has released 12 CDs, most recently Bel Canto Live! Radiance (2016) and Dan Forrest’s Requiem for the Living (2014) recorded and released by Hinshaw Music, Inc. The ensemble has performed for many prestigious music festivals and conferences throughout the Southeast including Washington Cathedral’s Summer Music Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, and the American Choral Directors Association, Southern and NC Division Conferences, The American Guild of Organists Southeast Regional Convention and the National Endowment for the Arts “American Masterpieces: Choral Music” programs. Bel Canto has performed with the American Boychoir, the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, the North Carolina Symphony, and the Carolina Chamber Symphony, and has been featured on National Public Radio on Chorus America’s “The First Art” and American Public Media’s “Performance Today”.
###