On Friday November 21, 2014, 7:30 pm, Rockefeller Memorial Chapel launches the fourth season of its signature Quire & Place concert series with seventeenth century Heinrich Schütz’s charming Christmas drama Weihnachtshistorie and his Deutsches Magnificat alongside contemporary composer Kile Smith’s spectacular Vespers, written for Renaissance band Piffaro. This performance features Matthew Dean, evangelist, and soloists Kaitlin Foley, soprano, and Andrew Schultze, bass, with a period instrument group including sackbuts, natural trumpets, and theorbo under the baton of choral director James Kallembach.
Four further concerts are included in this season’s Quire & Place, including two performances of Handel’s Messiah on Friday December 5, 7:30 pm, and Sunday December 7, 3 pm, sung by the joyous student voices of the University of Chicago’s Motet Choir, Chicago Men’s a Cappella, and members of the University choral ensembles, conducted by James Kallembach, with soloists Kimberly Jones, soprano, Hyounsoo Sohn, alto, Matthew Dean, tenor, and Andrew Schultze, bass.
On Saturday February 28, 2015, Rockefeller brings together two art forms for an evening entitled Sacred Powers of Water, with music including Aaron Copland’s In the Beginning, Henryk Górecki’s Szeroka Woda (Broad Waters), and the world première of a new work on the sacred power of water by Chickasaw Nation composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate. At the same time, fiber artist Libby Chaney presents more than two dozen large-scale fabric pieces on the theme Seasons, showcasing complex textures and colors. This installation will be on display from January 17 to March 3, 2015. An artist’s reception is scheduled for Sunday January 18, 2015, 12:15 pm. The Sacred Powers of Water concert will be repeated at the University of Chicago’s Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, later in the year, with Christopher Neill, director of MBL’s Ecosystems Center, offering commentary at both performances.
On Sunday March 29, 3 pm, the critically acclaimed Chicago Chorale offers Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in a performance with a period instrument orchestra led by the Juilliard’s Robert Mealy, with soloists Steven Soph, Gerard Sundberg, Ellen Hargis, Angela Young Smucker, and Ryan de Ryke, conducted by Bruce Tammen. The season concludes with one of Bach’s last written compositions, his majestic B Minor Mass, on Saturday May 2, 7:30 pm. Sung by the Rockefeller Chapel Choir, this performance features acclaimed countertenor and Seraphic Fire member Reginald Mobley, with soloists Kaitlin Foley, soprano, Lindsey Adams, alto, Matthew Dean, tenor, and Andrew Schultze, bass, conducted by James Kallembach.
Quire & Place features the Chapel Choir and invited guests in beloved choral masterworks alongside contemporary works of outstanding beauty, including newly commissioned pieces. Tickets for the Quire & Place series are available through the UChicago Box Office and through Chicago Chorale websites.
2014-15 Quire & Place Press Release