April 8, 2018
Arrowhead Chorale will explore the wonders of the cosmos, the northern lights, and light and darkness through the expressions of music and art at the May concerts.
“Aurora Musicalis: Music of the Cosmos” is Saturday, May 5, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 6, at 3 p.m. in Sacred Heart Music Center in Duluth. Tickets are $20 for adults, $6 for college students and free for ages 18 and under. They are available at arrowheadchorale.com.
The concert will feature two works by contemporary Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo. Dark Night of the Soul, based on three stanzas of the poem with the same name by St. John of the Cross, was written and premiered in 2010. Northern Lights, written in 2007, is his musical expression of the northern lights reflected on the wintry lakes of Norway during his Christmas visit that year.
Other featured composers and pieces include Sergei Taneyev, Eric Whitacre (Lux Nova), Eric Barnum (The Wheel that Moves the Sun and Stars), Imant Raminsh, Frode Fjellheim and Samuel Barber (Sure on this Shining Night).
Alice Pierce, instructor of voice and director of the Opera Studio at UMD, will perform a solo and a piece with the Chorale.
The guest conductors are Dr. Bret Amundson and Dr. Sarah Ludwig. Amundson is the director of choral activities and of general education at The College of St. Scholastica. Under his direction, the college choir performs several concerts a year and annually tours regionally, nationally and internationally. Amundson has been awarded the college’s Benedictine Professorship in General Education and is also the artistic director for the Lake Superior Youth Chorus and of the Twin Ports Choral Project. Ludwig, assistant director of choral activities and vocal music education at The College of St. Scholastica, serves as assistant chorus master of the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra Chorus, associate artistic and prelude program director of the Lake Superior Youth Chorus and sings with the Twin Ports Choral Project.
Photographer Bob King, also known as Astro Bob, will be participating in Saturday’s concert. He will make remarks about the night sky before the concert and have his new book, “Wonders of the Night Sky You Must See Before You Die,” for sale.
Local Aurora Borealis photographers will share their work as a visual backdrop for the performances.
Arrowhead Chorale is an auditioned civic choir based in the Twin Ports. Singers represent a wide variety of backgrounds including many with musical degrees. All have at least collegiate level chorale singing experience.
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