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December 7, 2006
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It?s holiday high tide The second weekend of December is prime time for local holiday concerts. You can?t hear it all (nor should you try), but here?s a quick look at your choices. ? Pick of the week: For something different, swing out to Peterborough this weekend to catch a performance of Rachmaninoff?s ?Vespers,? a rarely performed piece being done this year by the Monadnock Chorus. This amazing 15-part choral work, a setting of 15 texts that celebrate the all-night vigils of the Russian Orthodox Church, is worth the trip. It?s sung a cappella, meaning without instruments, with the vocal writing sometimes splitting into eight parts. Nine movements are based on authentic Russian chants; for the remaining six, Rachmaninoff created new melodies that blend in perfectly. Monadnock Chorus members have been rehearsing throughout autumn with conductor Carroll Lehman, and they?ve even brought in a diction coach to get the Russian words just right. Anton Belov, a Moscow native and former voice student of Lehman, will appear as visiting clinician and share conducting privileges. The program also includes three Ukrainian Christmas carols. Performances are at Peterborough?s Town House on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 10 at 3 p.m. Tickets $17 in advance, $20 at the door. Children 18 and under, $10. Purchase tickets online at www.monadnockchorus.org or at Toadstool Books in Milford. For info, call 547-2856. Other worthwhile concerts take place this weekend as well: ? Concord Chorale: Conductor Ryan Turner turns back the clocks with ?Sounding Joy!? billed as a ?Baroque Christmas? holiday concert featuring works of Bach, Charpentier, and Praetorius. Period instruments, too, with tenors Kyle Masterson and Aaron Sheehan and baritone Mark McSweeney joining as soloists. Two performances at South Congregational Church, Concord: Friday, Dec. 8 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 10 at 3 p.m. Tickets $20, seniors/students $15. For info, call 224-0770 or visit www.concordchorale.org. ? N.H. Gay Men?s Chorus: ?The First Breath of Winter? is this year?s holiday theme. Locally, the group will stage performances on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the Derryfield School in Manchester; on Sunday, Dec. 10 at 4 p.m. at the Unitarian-Universalist Church in Nashua. Tickets $16; senior/children $12. For info, visit nhgmc.com or call 866-644-6274. ? Nashua Symphony: Holiday pops ?Christmas Cabaret?-style, with the orchestra (under retiring conductor Royston Nash) playing in the ballroom of Nashua?s Sheraton Tara. Guest soprano Teri Hansen contributes solos; program includes the Nashua Symphony Choral Society under Diane Cushing. Not your usual sit-in-a-chair-and-listen pops. Sunday, Dec. 10 at 4 p.m.; cabaret seats sold out but others remain. Tickets $10 to $30; for more info call 595-9156 or visit www.nashuasymphony.org. And looking beyond: ? Granite Statesmen: The Nashua-based Granite Statesmen Barbershop Chorus perform their annual Christmas Cabaret shows at Bishop Guertin High School in Nashua on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 2:30 p.m. (with special added attractions for the kids) and again at 7:30 p.m. One of area?s unusual holiday experiences; good music and always a lot of laughs. For more info, visit www.granitestatesmen.org or call 886-7464. ? Belle Voci: The Manchester=based singing group presents an intimate holiday concert of classical and traditional carols, including some unusual arrangements of popular seasonal songs. The cast: sopranos Karol Carroll and Martha Ebel, tenor Christopher Porth, bass Mark Andrew Cleveland, and pianist Kathryn Southworth. If you enjoy singing, you?ll enjoy this close-up performance with some of the area?s best voices. One performance only, on Sunday, Dec. 17 at 2 p.m. at Grace Episcopal Church, 106 Lowell St., Manchester. Tickets $12, available at the door. More info, call 848-7986 or visit www.bellevoci.org. ? Granite State Symphony: A concert of holiday favorites for orchestra under the always spirited baton of conductor Robert C. Babb. Local kids sing on stage, and Santa joins in, too. (He sure gets around.) One performance only on Sunday, Dec. 17 at 3 p.m. at Concord City Auditorium. Open seating; tickets $18, senior/students $2 discount. For info, call 226-4776 or visit www.gsso.org. ? New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra: Kenneth Kiesler leads the NHSO in four performances in three venues. Key hook: local students joining in on stage. The playing is often superb, and there?s an emphasis on the multicultural. Shows are at the Portsmouth Music Hall on Sunday, Dec 17 at 3 and 7 p.m., at the Capitol Center for the Arts on Monday, Dec. 18 at 7:30 p.m.; the Manchester show is at the Center of NH/Radisson Hotel on Tuesday, Dec. 19 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 to $49; for more info, call 669-3559 or visit www.nhso.org. ? And finally, the Boston Pops: Annual appearance of aging matinee idol Keith Lockhart leading his band of musical hired guns, here to suck up your holiday musical dollars (tickets $60 each!) and thus deprive all the local groups listed above. They play at the acoustically frightful Verizon Wireless Arena; if you?re that interested, find out the date and time yourself. |
11/30/2006 A holiday music tsunami 11/23/2006 Reed all about it!
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