A full view of the sanctuary of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church as seen from the pulpit
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church will serve as the home of a new ensemble led by conductor Don Scott Carpenter. The group is called the Zephyr Symphony; and Carpenter has prepared a season of four programs, three of which will involve a chorus with vocal soloists. In addition, the opening program will feature two solo vocalists, soprano Chelsea Hollow and baritone Julio Ferrari, while the final program will present a pair of instrumental soloists, violinist Gail Hernández Rosa and pianist Franz Zhao. Most readers probably know by now that St. Mark’s Lutheran Church is located at 1111 O’Farrell Street, just west of the corner of Franklin Street. Dates and times for the four events are as follows:
Saturday, September, 20, 7:30 p.m., Mozart: Carpenter will begin the season with a program of four compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The second half of the program is likely to be more familiar to most listeners than the first is. The opening selection will be the K. 623 cantata Laut verkünde unsre Freude (let our joy resound). This was composed for a Masonic celebration in 1791; and it is sometimes known as the “Little Masonic Cantata.” Mozart would die, shortly after completing this work, on December 5, 1791. It will be followed by the concert aria “Per questa bella mano,” K. 612. Ferrari will be the soloist, joined by a virtuoso obbligato for bass performed by Daniel Turkos. Hollow will then serve as soloist for the K. 165 motet “Exsultate, jubilate.” The program will conclude with one of the most familiar symphonies, K. 551 in C major, Mozart’s final symphony often known as “Jupiter.”
Sunday, December 21, 4 p.m., Messiah: The title says it all, but this will be an abridged version of George Frideric Handel’s HWV 56 oratorio. As usual, there will be four vocal soloists: soprano Shawnette Sulker, countertenor Kyle Tingzon, tenor Alexander John Perkins, and baritone Cory York. This program will also feature the first performance of the Zephyr Chorus.
Saturday, March 7, 7:30 p.m., Elijah: Readers know that the texts for Messiah were drawn from both the Old and New Testaments. Felix Mendelssohn’s oratorio, on the other hand, draws only upon the Old Testament with particular attention to the first Book of Kings. The title role will be sung by bass-baritone Andrew Thomas Pardini. The other vocalists will be soprano Mary-Hollis Hundley, contralto Leandra Ramm, and tenor Elliott James-Ginn Encarnácion. They will be joined by the Zephyr Chorus. [added 11/29. 8:25 a.m.:
Saturday, March 21, 7:30 p.m., In Praise & Protest: There seems to be one more program in the Zephyr season that I may have overlooked when this article was first written. According to its Web page, this program “explores sacred beauty, social conscience, and the enduring power of the human voice across five centuries.” Each of those centuries will be represented by a different composer. In chronological order (which will not be the order of the performance) the composers are Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Charles Wood, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Saunder Choi, and Luna Pearl Woolf. The last of these selecdtions is a concerto for violoncello and a cappella chorus.]
Saturday, April 18, 7:30 p.m., Spring: True to its title, this program will begin with the first of the twelve concertos in Antonio Vivaldi’s Opus 8, Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione (the contest between harmony and invention). The first four of the concertos are best known collectively as The Four Seasons. The program will begin with the first of them, which depicts the spring season. This will be followed by Mozart’s K. 467 piano concerto in C major. The soloist will be pianist Franz Zhao. The “leap” from Baroque to Classical will continue into the Romantic period. The program will conclude with Johannes Brahms’ Opus 90, his third symphony in F major.
The Zephyr Symphony now has its own Web page, which includes hyperlinks for purchasing tickets. Prices for single performances will range from $25 to $65. Subscription rates will reduce the price by 15%.
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