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Led by artistic director Barbara Pickhardt, the singers will move around the cliffs, crevices and slopes of the remarkable stone sculpture to capture the power of songs of Pete Seeger, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Thomas Morley,
Elliot Levine, Stephen Schwartz and other composers.
Members of Ars Choralis featured as soloists are Wendy Lowe, Anita Shamansky, Leeta Damon, Christina Gardner, Amy Martin, Jim Noecker, Chuck Snyder, Matthew Ulrich and Harvey Boyer.
The chorus will be supported by an ensemble of instrumentalists including a cello quartet, pianist Kristen Tuttman, flutist Lynn Peck, recorder players Mary Leonard and Wendy Lowe, percussionist Karen Levine and guitarist Gregory Dinger.
Non-refundable tickets for adults, purchased in advance, are $15.00 — $20.00 purchased at the gate. Children under 18 are half price.
Tickets are available online, at the Golden Notebook in Woodstock, DIG in Saugerties, Barcone’s Music and Mother Earth in Kingston.
Because outdoor concerts are weather-dependent, a rain date has been scheduled for Monday, June 21 in the event a concert must be canceled because of unsettled weather.
Ars Choralis has performed at Opus 40 on three occasions during thepast decade: a concert version of Henry Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas” was staged in the amphitheater in 2001, the mystery of the sun was explored among the stones in 2004 (“Mysterium Solare”), and again, in 2007 Ars Choralis returned to the magical setting to sing “A Renaissance Feast of Song”. During the latter, the singers and audience alike moved around the majestic stone sculpture to experience the wonder of Harvey Fite’s monumental work and the joy of Elizabethan madrigals.
A remarkable element of performing at Opus 40 is the natural
projection of voices as sound waves resonate off the stones. With no need for amplification, the singers are free to move about and perform from places perfectly suited to the music they are singing.
For Spellbound on the Solstice, Ars Choralis will return to the amphitheater section of Opus 40 and use the full potential of the cliffs and crevices surrounding it to capture the essence of each song |
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