[Colorado-talk] Free Christmas Concert

[Jessica Beecham]

The Ars Nova Singers wanted to extend an offer of free tickets to their
Christmas show on December 15th.  The show will take place at  Bethany
Lutheran Church at 2:00PM.  4500 e. Hamden Ave. Cherry Hills Village, CO
80113.

Please let me know if you would like tickets for this event by e-mailing
jbeecham at cocenter.org or calling 303-7781130 extension 223.  When you
contact me, include the number of tickets that you would like to reserve as
I have to RSVP for the number of tickets our group will need.  I will be
turning in the final count tomorrow afternoon so please RSVP before noon
tomorrow.

Best Wishes

Jess

Ars Nova Singers Celebrate the Season
*[Denver, CO]?*The Ars Nova Singers, Boulder?s nationally recognized
ensemble of 34 choral musicians, will present their eagerly anticipated
annual holiday concerts, *A Midwinter Collage: Christmas with Ars Nova*,
over two weekends in December.  This year?s wide-ranging program spans
centuries of transcendent holiday music, and includes special guest artist
Lucille Reilly on the hammer dulcimer.



Artistic Director *Thomas Edward Morgan* says of the concert?s selection of
music, ?Our annual holiday program has become a valued community tradition,
recognized for presenting *unusual, rarely-heard* music for the season. As
Artistic Director, this is one of the most challenging concerts to
assemble; my goal is to construct a program that balances novelty and
tradition, mystery and jubilation, and familiar melodies with innovative
new sounds.?

This year?s offerings begin in the medieval era with music from the 12th
and 13th centuries, including *Ave Maria, O Auctrix Vitae* by *Hildegaard
Von Bingen*, the renowned German writer, composer, philosopher, mystic,
Benedictine abbess, and visionary. Next, we fast-forward three hundred
years to the Renaissance ? truly the golden age of vocal music.  Ars Nova
will perform several works from this period, including the magnificent
eight-voice quadruple canon *Nesciens Mater* by the French master *Jean
Mouton,* as well as*Michael Prateorius?* double-chorus setting of *In Dulci
Jubilo.*

Moving closer to our own era, the Singers will perform a selection of early
American carols from the 18th and 19th centuries, incorporating the unique
vocal stylings of this genre.  We will feature *Star in the East,**Malcolm
Dalglish?s* suite of three Appalachian carols, which was composed for choir
with hammer dulcimer accompaniment.  *Mr. Dalglish* (b. 1952) is the
country?s leading hammer dulcimer virtuoso, and is also a composer and
choral director.

*Ars Nova Singers* is widely-recognized as a leading interpreter of
contemporary works, and this year?s Christmas program will include several
innovative plums for fans of modern music. We will be performing original
works by *Michael McGlynn* and *William Mathias*, as well as traditional
carols presented in vibrant new arrangements by *Lucille Reilly* and our
own *Thomas Edward Morgan*.



*Performance Date, Time, & Location for the special ticket offer:*

    Saturday, December 15, 2:00 p.m. - Bethany Lutheran Church, 4500 E.
Hampden Blvd, Englewood



For further information on the program or the ensemble, please visit our
website at www.arsnovasingers.com



Ars Nova?s 27th season is made possible in part by grants from the
Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (Boulder County); the Schramm
Foundation; and the Avenir Foundation. All performances during the season
are accessible to persons with disabilities. For complete accessibility
information, please contact the Ars Nova Singers office at (303) 499-3165.



+++

* *

*Guest Artist: Lucille Reilly, hammer dulcimer*

Lucille Reilly, The Dulcimer Lady? lives in metro Denver.  She is a
graduate of Westminster Choir College and a Melodious Accord Composers
Fellow, as well as an award-winning performer on both hammered dulcimer and
diatonic autoharp (1997 National Hammered Dulcimer Champion, 1995/2010
Mountain Laurel Autoharp Champion and 1995/2003/2010 International Autoharp
Champion).  In addition to performing locally, her distinguished list of
performance venues includes The Academy of Music, Philadelphia; Arizona
Folklore Preserve; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City; Ozark
Folk Center, Mountain View, Arkansas; City Stages, Birmingham, Alabama;
California Autoharp Gathering, Dunlap, California; Denver Center for the
Performing Arts, Colorado; United Methodist Council of Bishops; Westminster
Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey; The Philadelphia Folk Festival; Sore
Fingers Summer School, Kingham, England; Suwannee Dulcimer Retreat, White
Springs, Florida; Mountain Laurel Autoharp Gathering, Newport,
Pennsylvania; Original Dulcimer Players Club, Evart, Michigan; New Jersey
State Council on the Arts; Winter Festival of Acoustic Music, Dallas,
Texas; Old Faithful Inn, Yellowstone National Park.  Her r?sum? also
includes numerous chamber-music series around the United States, including
Abendmusik, Morristown, New Jersey; The Fountain Music Series, Ridgefield,
Connecticut; Music at Port Charlotte UMC; Port Charlotte, Florida; Music at
Ascension, Frankfort, KY; Music at Saint John?s Cathedral, Denver; and
Steinway Concert Series, Ringwood, New Jersey.

Ms. Reilly is also an educator: she practices as an instructor-trainee in
body mapping through Andover Educators (www.bodymap.org) and continues to
dedicate her teaching to helping musicians of all instruments craft
wonderful sound with grace, freedom and resonance.

The author of two best-selling instruction books for hammered dulcimer and
a monograph series for autoharp, Ms. Reilly has composed several choral
works and has three recordings to her credit.  For more information, visit
www.thedulcimerlady.com.



*About Ars Nova Singers***

Specializing in *a cappella *music of the Renaissance and the 20th and 21st
centuries, the *Ars Nova Singers*of Boulder, Colorado are presenting their
27th concert season in 2012-2013. The professional-core vocal ensemble
conducted by founding Artistic Director*Thomas Edward
Morgan*<
http://arsnovasingers.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10&Itemid=12
>
is
composed of 36 selectively auditioned choral musicians from the
Denver/Boulder metropolitan region. In its history, theArs Nova Singers
has presented over 250 performances of more than 100 different concert
programs.

The musical accomplishments of the nationally recognized ensemble range
from performances of the complete *Responsoria* by the eccentric late
Renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo to the premiere of new works by many
Colorado and other American composers. In September, 2002 the ensemble
premiered a major new work, *I Heard a Voice,*composed by *Thomas Edward
Morgan* and New York visual artist *Lesley Dill*. The project has
subsequently been presented internationally: in June of 2003, the Ars Nova
Singers performed the piece at the Evergreen Cultural Centre in Coquitlam,
British Columbia.

The choir has participated in numerous commissioning and new music
projects, performing new works by Libby Larsen, Stephen Paulus, Luis Jorge
Gonz?lez, Jan Gilbert, R. Anthony Lee, and Terry Schlenker. They have been
heard in radio broadcasts throughout the United States, Canada, South
America, Australia, Japan, and Europe, including such National Public Radio
programs as *The First Art*, *Music from the Hearts of Space*, and locally
on *Colorado Spotlight* and*Colorado Matters*. The ensemble has released
ten independent recordings on compact disc, and performed on seven
internationally released recordings with Boulder composer and
instrumentalist Bill Douglas.
-- 
Jessica Beecham
Chapter and Community Development Coordinator
National Federation of the Blind of Colorado
2233 West Shepperd Ave.
Littleton, CO 80210
jbeecham at cocenter.org
720-440-2632