March 11, 2010
Singers, symphony combine in ‘Mass for our Time’
UW Music Professor Geoffrey Boers leads the combined Chamber Singers, University Chorale and University Symphony in Mass for our Time, a series of works portraying relevant themes for our times. The concert is at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 12, in Meany Hall.
Utilizing movements of the traditional Roman Catholic Mass, the concert features Kyrie, by Maurice Durufle; Gloria, by Francis Poulenc; Eternal Sun, by John Tavener; the premiere of a new Sanctus by Robert Kyr; and movements from Dona Nobis Pacem, by Ralph Vaughan Williams. New responsories by UW choral conducting student Eric Barnum will be interspersed among the movements, with dance choreographed by Elizabeth Lentz.
Boers is director of choral activities at the School of Music. Under his direction, the choral program has grown to include nearly 20 graduate choral conductors each year, as well as nine ensembles conducted by five faculty and many graduate students, with nearly 600 singers participating. Boers conducts the UW Chamber Singers, the university’s premier ensemble of graduate and advanced singers.
In addition to his teaching and conducting, Boers is also exploring the idea spirare, or the connection between breath and spirit, in disciplines as far reaching as Yoga , Tai Chi and world faith systems. This study is leading to evolving thoughts of gesture as it relates to breath, evocation of sound, and touching the heart.
Choreographer Elizabeth Lentz graduated from Carleton College with a B.A. in religion and a concentration in women’s studies. She comes to Seattle from Chicago, where she has spent the last ten years dancing, choreographing, teaching, and co-producing/curating the Other Dance Festival. Lentz was an adjunct faculty member in Columbia College Chicago’s Dance and Theater Departments for six years. Her work with primary and secondary schools includes teaching technique and arts-integrated curricula; working with mixed-ability populations; and co-choreographing works with students.
Lentz also loves leading embodied spirituality retreats and workshops and has written Sitting in the Desert: Embodied Meditations for Lent.
Tickets for the concert are $10 and are available at the Arts Ticket Office, 206-543-4880 or online at www.music.washington.edu.
