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Gualala Arts
Promoting public interest and participation in the arts since 1961.
Archive of past events: 2004 through 2014
On Saturday, May 17 the Sacred and Profane Choir visits Gualala Arts to present their third performance of a concert specially planned to honor the Swedish choral conductor, Eric Ericson (1918-2013), whom many consider the most important choral director of the Twentieth Century.
Founded in 1977 and based in Berkeley, Sacred and Profane performs a wide variety of a cappella choral music. Concert repertoire includes sacred and secular works from the Middle Ages to the contemporary period, drawing from classical, ethnic & folk traditions. Director Rebecca Petra Naomi Seeman is a member of the faculty at the University of San Francisco, where she teaches voice and music history. She also conducts the University Choir. Seeman says, "We aim to provide an inspiring & educational experience for audiences and for chorus members through innovative programming, intensive preparation and high quality performances." The eclectic program provides examples of early music including Palestrina's "Sicut Cervus," Morley's "Fyre, Fyre" and Monteverdi's "Ecco mormorar l'onde." The second section of the concert showcases works by Rachmaninoff, Bruckner, Debussy, Ravel and Barber that Ericson championed. Four pieces of Scandinavian romantic music written especially for Ericson conclude the concert.
Chorus Artistic Director Rebecca Seeman has held university positions at the University of California, Santa Cruz and the University of Iowa and has directed numerous church and synagogue choirs. Seeman specializes in Swedish choral music, feminist music studies and contemporary Swedish composer Karin Rehnqvist. She has studied conducting with Nicole Paiement, Timothy Stalter, William Hatcher and the renowned Swedish conductor Eric Ericson. She holds bachelors & masters degrees from University of California, Santa Cruz & a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of Iowa. The concert in the Coleman Auditorium begins at 7:00 p.m. Samples of their music and more about Sacred and Profane can be found on their website - www.sacredprofane.org. Tickets for this tribute to a major figure in the history of choral music may be purchased for $20 with youth 7-17 admitted for free, $5 more the day of the performance at Gualala Arts Center, the Dolphin Gallery, or online -- see below. Special lodging packages which include tickets to this performance are available from the Timber Cove Inn. Brown Paper Tickets Ticket Widget Loading... Click Here to visit the Brown Paper Tickets event page.
The Gualala Arts Center, located at 46501 Old State Highway in Gualala, CA, |
In the 1930s and beyond, Ericson cultivated some of the finest choirs in the world. These choirs were among the first choral ensembles to study the performance practice of Renaissance polyphony while also meeting the challenges of virtuosic music composed specifically for them.