Saturday, October 17, 2009 at 8:00 p.m
Holy Rosary Church, 4200 SW Genesee St., Seattle [directions]

Sunday, October 18, 2009 at 3:00 p.m.
Blessed Sacrament Church, 5041 Ninth Ave. NE, Seattle [directions]

Since its inception, Opus 7 Vocal Ensemble has established a reputation for featuring a diverse range of rarely performed masterworks by major composers, along with time-honored classics of choral literature. Opus 7’s October 2009 concert pays tribute to two of the 20th century’s most fascinating composers: Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959) and Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887–1959), making 2009 the 50th anniversary of their deaths.
Despite the fact that their countries of origin were literally a half-a-world apart, their music shares many common traits, including influences of jazz, early 20th-century French music, and elements of the indigenous folk and popular music of their native cultures (Czech for Martinu and Brazilian for Villa-Lobos). The concert features both secular and sacred choral works by these engaging composers, including the final choral works that each composer produced.

Opus 7 Vocal Ensemble, a resident ensemble at St. James Cathedral
Loren W. Pontén, Founder and Artistic Director
St. James Cathedral Soloists Lisa Pontén, soprano; Kathryn Weld, mezzo-soprano
St. James Cathedral Orchestra

Sunday, December 6, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.
St. James Cathedral [directions]

Brighten up your December nights with Opus 7’s Holiday concert From Heaven on High, featuring the festive sounds of choir, soloists and orchestra. We continue our year-long celebration of Mendelssohn’s bicentennial by performing two of his early compositions: his radiant cantata Vom Himmel hoch and his brilliant Magnificat. Both works exhibit youthful energy and enthusiasm with their sparkling orchestral writing and bravura displays for choir and soloists. Also on the concert is Canticum Mariae Virginis by the Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara, which captures the divine mystery of the Nativity as a movement from darkness to a glorious blaze of light. Finally, Georg Schumann’s setting of Vom Himmel hoch paints a vivid picture of the heavenly reaction to the earthly birth on Christmas night.

Come experience the joyful sounds of Opus 7 in the beautiful acoustic of St. James Cathedral on December 6!

Opus 7 Vocal Ensemble, a St. James Cathedral Resident Ensemble
Loren W. Pontén, Founder & Artistic Director

Joseph Adam, St. James Cathedral Organist

Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.
St. James Cathedral [directions]

The Last Supper. Marble relief (after da Vinci).Artist unknown, 1907. St. James Cathedral, Seattle. 

Musicians over the centuries have created some of the most extraordinary music ever written for the season of Lent. Opus 7’s next concert features music spanning six centuries from some of the greatest and well-known European and American choral composers including Howells, Parry, Gesualdo, Georg Schumann and Pizzetti; a set of pieces by 18^th-c. composer Gottfried Homilius; Northwest composers John Muehleisen and Bern Herbolsheimer; and the North American premiere of “Lord, is it I?” by Grayston (Bill) Ives, a former member of the King’s Singers. Hear the music unfold from the drama of the full choir and organ to a solitary voice pleading for mercy.  Experience the simplicity and inner reflection following the storm; the rebirth, the turning back to God - a musical journey through Lent.

May 15, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.

Pre-concert lecture at 7:15 p.m.

St. Mark's Cathedral, Seattle [directions]

Immerse yourself in the glories of Spring as Opus 7 performs seasonal songs, humorous works, and love songs by Eric Whitacre, Eric William Barnum, Vaughan-Williams, Bernstein, Barber, and Mendelssohn; plus works for clarinet and choir by NW composers Bern Herbolsheimer, Stephen Chatman, and John Muehleisen. Meet the winners of Opus 7’s Student Choral Composition Awards—Kayle Sanders and Mark Weidenaar—as Opus 7 premieres their winning works. The men sing Barbershop, the women join the Temperance movement, and they all join together to engage in some good-natured verbal sparring in Brahms’ rousing drinking song Tafellied. Guest artists for the concert include pianist Christina Siemens and clarinetist Anthony Taylor.