wcw APRIL 2024

happening this month
Key Chorale Chamber Singers
and Modern Marimba present:
Light & Gold on April 7 at
St. Boniface Episcopal Church
Join Key Chorale Chamber
Singers and Modern Marimba
for Light & Gold: Luminous
and Lavish settings by
Eric Whitacre & Morten Lauridsen
on Sunday, April 7th at 5 PM.
They will present some of Whitacre
and Lauridsen’s most hauntingly beautiful
works full of lush harmonies. Hear
the Florida premiere of Whitacre’s
Child of Wonder and Lauridsen’s masterpiece
inspired by light, Lux Aeterna.
Featured Guest Artist will be Key
Chorale’s Principal Keyboardist Glenn
Priest on organ and piano. He will also
be showcased in a fiery and festive
Toccata by American composer and
organist John Weaver and as organ soloist
for Lux Aeterna.
Eric Whitacre and Morten Lauridsen
are two of the most popular and performed
choral composers of our time.
Lauridsen’s works have been recorded
on more than 200 CDs, including 5
Gammy nominations, and he has been
named an ‘American Choral Master’ by
the National Endowment for the Arts
and received the National Medal for the
Arts in 2007.
Each of the five connected movements
in this choral cycle Lux Aeterna contains
references to “Light,” assembled
from various sacred Latin texts. He
composed this work as a universal
symbol of illumination at all levels -
spiritual, artistic, and intellectual.
Morten Lauridsen’s premiere of Lux
Aeterna in 1997 sent ripples throughout
the choral world. Its influence on
choral music and musicians has been
felt far and wide, cementing its status
as one of the most performed works of
the late 20th century.
One of Lux Aeterna’s biggest fans went
on to become a choral rock star in his
own right, Eric Whitacre. Whitacre is
a Grammy-winning composer and conductor.
His pioneering of the “Virtual
Choir” idiom has led to the release of
6 virtual choirs with a more than 5 million
combined views worldwide.
“His music connects in very powerful
ways, his use of harmony is always
spine-tingling, always drawing the listener
in,” said Maestro Joseph Caulkins.
“These two composers did more
to change the course of choral music
than anyone in the last 100 years.
Their music speaks to us in ways that
are at times spiritual, emotional and
deeply intimate. And, sometimes, all
three at once.”
The Chamber Singers will be joined by
four musicians from Modern Marimba,
founded in 2019 by Tihda Vongkoth.
She loved playing marimba in high
school and college, but there were
only a few opportunities to hear mallet
percussion music outside of academia
and large institutions. After realizing
a need for curating performances and
educational programs by and for all
types of marginalized people, she organized
a house concert in Sarasota for
her neighbors, friends, and the general
public and now they present numerous
concerts in the region.
“During the pandemic, I heard several
transcriptions of Whitacre’s music
played by marimba quartets,” said
Maestro Caulkins. “I was stunned by
the colors and how well his choral
music translated to the marimba. It
was a stunner and I wanted to share
some of these transcriptions with our
audiences. I know it will be especially
captivating in the ear-bathing acoustics
of St. Boniface Church, perfect for this
kind of music.”
The final work of the program will
combine marimba quartet and Chamber
Singers performing Whitacre’s hauntingly
beautiful Sleep, one of the most
moving choral pieces ever written.
Concert Details:
St. Boniface Episcopal Church
5615 Midnight Pass Rd., Siesta Key
Date: April 7 at 5 p.m.
Tickets $35-$45
22 WEST COAST WOMAN APRIL 2024