For Immediate Release
December 2, 2004
MidAmerica Productions Presents the Mozart's Requiem and
John Rutter's Mass of the Children on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
New York, NY - MidAmerica Productions presents the New England Symphonic Ensemble performing John
Rutter's Mass of the Children and Mozart's Requiem in Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, Monday,
January 17th, 2005 at 8 PM.
New England Symphonic Ensemble
John Rutter's Mass of the Children
Jonathan Willcocks, Conductor
Amy Cofield, Soprano
Mikhail Svetlov, Bass
Featuring choruses from British Columbia, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina and Texas
Mozart's Requiem (Levin, ed.)
Jonathan Griffith, Conductor
Amy Cofield, Soprano
Gloria Parker, Mezzo-soprano
Jonathan Boyd, Tenor
Mikhail Svetlov, Bass
Featuring choruses from Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Utah and Wisconsin
Tickets, at $85, 50, 35, may be obtained by calling CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800, going
online at www.carnegiehall.org, or by visiting the Carnegie Hall Box Office at West 57th Street
and Seventh Avenue in NYC. For more information, call our Box Office at (212) 239-4699or visit
our web site at www.midamerica-music.com.
In 1997, MidAmerica Productions began its tradition of Martin Luther King Day concerts with
the premiere of a work championed by MAP principal conductor-in-residence Jonathan Griffith.
This year Dr. Griffith conducts Mozart's Requiem for the fifth consecutive season. Says Dr.
Griffith, "The Requiem is a breathtaking piece and ideal for this day, which encourages
contemplation. I use the Levin edition of the work because I find it to be the most
complete edition and to be wholly satisfying musically both for the performers and the
listeners." Dr. Griffith is joined in the concert by Jonathan Willcocks who conducts
John Rutter's Mass of the Children, a work commissioned by MidAmerica Productions and
premiered in 2003.
Jonathan Griffith, Principal Conductor-in-Residence for MidAmerica Productions,
has served as chorus master for the Utah and Portland Operas; founded the Kansas City Chorale and
the Jonathan Griffith Singers; and was on the faculties of Marylhurst and Warner Pacific Colleges,
the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and Wichita State University. He made his Carnegie Hall
conducting debut in 1989. He conducted the U.S. premiere of Taneyev's Upon Reading a Psalm, and
the world premieres of Earnestine Rodgers Robinson's The Crucifixion, Seymour Bernstein's Song
of Nature, Jeffrey Bishop's Mankind and Mother Earth, and Leon Bugg's The Journey. In November
1998 he conducted the New York premiere of Boccherini's Villancicos. In the Czech Republic he
has served as a guest conductor for the Dvorák Chamber Orchestra, the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic
(Zlin), Virtuosi Pregensis, the Karlovy Vary Orchestra, and the Czech Festival Orchestra (Prague).
In 1999, he was guest conductor for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and this past March, he guest
conducted the State Philharmonic of Bialystok, Poland.
Jonathan Willcocks was born in Worcester, England in 1953. Following early musical training
as a boy chorister at King's College, Cambridge and an Open Music Scholar at Clifton College, he
took an honors degree in Music from Cambridge University where he held a choral scholarship at
Trinity College. As a conductor, Mr. Willcocks is musical director of two large adult choruses -
Portsmouth Choral Union and the Chichester Singers - and the professional chamber orchestra,
Southern Pro Musica. He works extensively as a guest conductor of both choral and orchestral
music, a career that has taken him in recent years to France, Belgium, Germany, Holland, Italy,
Switzerland, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Australia and Singapore, in addition to engagements
throughout the length and breadth of the USA and UK.
Amy Cofield, soprano, praised for her beautiful voice, wonderful artistry and
beauty of interpretation, has performed all across the U.S. as well as in France, Spain, Portugal,
England, Austria, Santo Domingo, Taiwan and Guam. Ms. Cofield's recent operatic roles performed
include Norina in Don Pasquale as well as Gilda in Rigoletto with Lyric Opera of San Antonio, and
Musetta in La Bohčme with Knoxville Opera.
Mezzo-sporano Gloria Parker has performed with the symphony orchestras in St.
Louis, Richmond, Oklahoma, Fort Myers, as well as the London Philharmonic. Opera performances
include appearances with Washington, Vancouver, Michigan, Minnesota, Fort Worth, Omaha, Pittsburgh,
Cleveland, Washington Concert Opera, Birmingham Opera UK, and Teatro di San Carlo di Napoli.
Jonathan Boyd, tenor, has performed opera and oratorio throughout Europe and North America. Recent
debuts have included appearances in Falstaff, Samson et Delila, and The Merry Widow with San Francisco
Opera and selections from the Lee Hoiby's Romeo and Juliet at the Kennedy Center.
Mikhail Svetlov, bass, was nominated for a 2003 Grammy Award for a recording of Stravinsky's
Histoire Du Soldat Suite and is the first Russian bass to ever perform the title roles in Don
Giovanni and The Flying Dutchman. Mr. Svetlov has graced many stages in his career including
Teatro La Scala in Milan and New York's Metropolitan Opera.
Virginia-Gene Rittenhouse, artistic director and principal conductor of the New England Symphonic
Ensemble, is a violinist, pianist, composer, and conductor. A graduate of The Juilliard School,
Boston University, and the Peabody Conservatory, Dr. Rittenhouse has performed as recitalist and
soloist with orchestras throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, South Africa, and the
West Indies. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the London Associate Board Overseas
Award, the New York Concert Artists Guild Award, the International Music Guild Award, and the New York
Madrigal Society Award.
New England Symphonic Ensemble was organized more than two decades ago by Dr. Virginia-Gene Rittenhouse.
Since 1982 the ensemble has toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia,
Africa, Russia, and Israel, and has performed frequently at Carnegie Hall under the auspices of MidAmerica
Productions.
Over the past 20 years, MidAmerica Productions has brought together conductors, choruses, soloists,
and orchestral musicians for performances at some of the world's greatest venues, especially at New
York's Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall.
Under the guidance of MidAmerica's founder, Peter Tiboris, the company has presented over 720 concerts
worldwide and some 600 in New York at Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall at
Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, and Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.
More than 2115 American ensembles, representing each of the 50 states, have appeared with MidAmerica
in New York, as have 75 symphonic and choral ensembles from Europe, the Far East, South America, and
Canada. There have more than 300 guest conductors, 620 solo artists, and 88,000 performers who have
appeared on MidAmerica's series in Carnegie Hall.
In addition to presenting classic choral and instrumental works, MidAmerica Productions has
championed the works of contemporary composers. On MidAmerica's series in Carnegie Hall and
at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, there have been approximately 31 World Premieres, 16
United States Premieres, and 50 New York Premieres.
|
