Annapolis Chorale

Last Saturday, all the components were in place for an unforgettable performance of Handel's "Messiah" -- St. Anne Episcopal Church's warm acoustics, maestro Ernest Green inspiring the Annapolis Chorale to sing with intense joy, the Annapolis Chamber Orchestra playing almost flawlessly and four sublime soloists to implement the score.The Annapolis Chorale's performance surpassed the version it released on CD last year. Considering that Saturday's concert followed five major performances between Dec. 10 and 19 by the chorale in addition to several outreach concerts, this was a remarkable achievement.

The Annapolis Chorale, led by musical director J. Ernest Green, opened its 27th season with a bright and joyous pops concert.As is customary in Green's pops concerts, this "In the Mood" swing concert showcased new musical talent in the form of the Unified Jazz Ensemble, an instrumental sextet. Green introduced the sextet: Michael Noonan on vibraphone, Jeff Antoniuk on tenor sax, Chad Macala on baritone sax, Kevin Watt on trumpet, John Pineda on bass and Marty Morrison on drums.They played a medley of Duke Ellington tunes that featured "Take the A Train" with a verve that made Ellington centennial concerts I've heard this year pale in comparison.

It's not often that a subscriber can go from the baroque to Broadway with the same musical organization in the same concert season, but that's what J. Ernest Green's Annapolis Chorale has in store for its listeners in 1999-2000.With eight programs spread across three series of concerts, the chorale solidifies its place as one of the most eclectic, innovative ensembles around.Choral masterworks dot the season, beginning Dec. 18, when director Green's forces present the Christmas portion of George Frideric Handel's ever-popular oratorio, "Messiah."

In its premier performance in the Baltimore-Washington region, "Voices of Light," directed by J. Ernest Green, will be presented Saturday by the Annapolis Chorale with the composer, Richard Einhorn, attending.The chorale will perform the oratorio as the composer intended, as an accompaniment to the screening of Carl Dreyer's 1928 silent film "The Passion of Joan of Arc."It seems appropriate that the Annapolis Chorale should introduce this work here, because it seems to be the only group of musicians dedicated to bringing new music to Annapolis.

The Annapolis Chorale had programmed Richard Einhorn's "Voices of Light," to be performed in accompaniment to a silent film about Joan of Arc at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts for its last concert of the season.But three weeks ago subscribers were notified that a program of mostly sacred music from the 16th to late 20th century would be presented instead in the new Price Auditorium at Severn School in Severna Park.Chorale director Ernest Green explained that technical problems inherent in producing "Voices of Light" proved so difficult that he decided to postpone the program until next season.

Johann Sebastian Bach poured everything he had into his musical setting of the passion of Christ as recorded in the Gospel of John.Indeed, the "St. John Passion" is one of the most dramatic vocal works, with shouts of "Kreuzige ihn!" ("Crucify him!") belted out by the choral multitudes, and a heart-rending narration of Christ's death told by the tenor Evangelist whose solo recitatives spin out the essence of Christianity's defining moments.I wish I could report that the Annapolis Chorale poured everything it had into its performance of the "St. John" last Saturday, but I can't.

"The Greatest Story Ever Told" long ago became one of the greatest sagas ever sung in Johann Sebastian Bach's supremely dramatic "Passion According to St. John."This masterwork will be performed Saturday in Annapolis by conductor J. Ernest Green and the soloists, orchestra and choir of his Annapolis Chorale.When Bach sat down in 1723 to compose the musical version of Jesus Christ's final days on Earth, there was nothing new about Christians celebrating Easter. A liturgical tradition dated to medieval times.

Concertgoers who braved Saturday's heat, humidity and threatening thunderstorms were doubly rewarded at the third annual Star Spangled Celebration at Anne Arundel Community College's Siegert Field.In addition to hearing the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, they were treated to two hours of fine music supplied by four local groups: the Crabtowne Big Band, the Sons of the Severn, the Annapolis Chorale and the Annapolis Vocal Corps.The local talent donated its time, some acts forgoing paying gigs in air-conditioned halls.

The Performing Arts Association of Linthicum saved the best for last this season -- the Annapolis Chorale, directed by J. Ernest Green, on Saturday at North County High School in Ferndale.With the help of accompanist Carolene Winter, soprano Robin Lounsbury, tenor Richard Koons and Bob Diener on piano, Nat Becker on drums and Glen Dewey on bass, the chorale ended its 25th season and PAAL's 16th on a high note.The program was tilted toward the music of Cole Porter and George Gershwin and contained songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1988 hit, "Phantom of the Opera."

The Annapolis Chorale took us on a musical journey last weekend from Maryland Hall to the Salzburg of Mozart, conveying the delicacy and refinement of his music, then to the Detroit of Berry Gordy, nailing the beat and soul of Motown.The Annapolis Chamber Orchestra strings were heard in a sprightly, exhilarating "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik." The musicians brought depth and freshness to this familiar favorite of the Austrian composer.The orchestra expanded to include woodwinds and solo pianist Stefan Scaggiari in Mozart's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 23 (K488)

The Annapolis Chorale's 2009-2010 season will feature masterworks, Broadway classics, "Noteworthy Encounters" to discover what is behind two classics and the annual Christmas concerts, plus three "Messiah" performances. This is the 37th season and the second under Live Arts Maryland, the chorale's presenting and producing arm. The county's largest performance group has grown to the 180-voice Annapolis Chorale, the Annapolis Chamber Orchestra, the 25-member Annapolis Chamber Chorus, the Annapolis Youth Chorus and a group of superb soloists that includes baritone Shouvik Mondle, soprano Fatinah Tilfah, soprano Carolene Winter and tenor Tom Magette.

In the Annapolis Chorale's April 4 production of Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas at St. Anne's Episcopal Church in Annapolis, there was little evidence of the cost-cutting announced earlier by music director J. Ernest Green. Because of its lower production costs, Dido and Aeneas replaced the previously scheduled J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion. Maintaining a high artistic level to assure superior musical and dramatic quality, Green introduced his audience to a largely unfamiliar 17th century 1-hour opera sung in English that demands much from the leads, featured soloists and choristers and requires innovative staging to make the church setting irrelevant.

Navy introduces warship USS Freedom at Academy The U.S. Navy's newest warship, the USS Freedom, will visit the Naval Academy in Annapolis today through Monday during its maiden voyage from the Great Lakes to Norfolk. The ship will be open for public visitation from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow, on a first-come, first-serve basis. Visitors may walk through Gate 1 (King George Street) and Gate 3 (Maryland Avenue) and should be prepared to show a government-issued photo identification. Handicapped individuals with proper decals may drive through Gate 1 after a vehicle inspection.

Music director J. Ernest Green showed marked musical and political courage in presenting the challenging Dona Nobis Pacem, a major choral anthology warning against war written in the 1930s by Ralph Vaughan Williams. This work, not heard previously in this area, and Puccini's rarely performed Messa di Gloria are vastly different gems of the choral repertoire that underscore Green's programming skills. Last Friday and Saturday at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, Green conducted the 180-voice Annapolis Chorale, Annapolis Chamber Orchestra and three soloists performing these works, beginning with three marches by Williams before turning to the transcendent Dona Nobis Pacem, written in the English composer's maturity.

J. Ernest Green and the Annapolis Chorale ended their 35th season on the highest possible note with two Aida performances last weekend, performed with the Annapolis Chamber Orchestra and guest soloists. The collaboration exceeded even expectations raised by a news release promising "opera like you've never heard it before," with a 160-voice chorus and "an international cast of opera stars who will launch a new world tour from Annapolis." Such heady stuff was nearly impossible to imagine happening at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts.

Annapolis Chorale subscribers in recent months had appealed to music director J. Ernest Green with one common request: more chorale. Not to suggest anything unkind about the capable Annapolis Chamber Orchestra, which typically accompanies the chorale, or the fine array of soloists recently featured, but chorus singing is what some fans craved. Green e-mailed them back before Saturday's concert to promise exactly that in a program "all about singing." Music for the Heart did indeed delight the near-capacity audience at St. Anne's Episcopal Church on Saturday, while providing solace for the soul.

"Broadway in Annapolis," a decade-long tradition of the Annapolis Chorale and Annapolis Chamber Orchestra, hit a new high last weekend with its production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific. Music Director J. Ernest Green initially encountered scheduling hurdles in bringing the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical to Maryland Hall's stage, but its arrival was worth the wait: The production excelled in terms of quality musicianship, dramatic storytelling, clever staging, skilled acting and, above all, a dream cast.

The Annapolis Chorale's annual presentation of George Frederic Handel's Messiah -- which, in the words of director J. Ernest Green, so beautifully "embodies in every note the power, majesty and mystery of faith" -- usually fills St. Anne's Episcopal Church to capacity. It did so again last Friday evening. To provide a moving religious experience, Handel's work requires soloists who are vocal virtuosi, a chorus that can articulate the message of hope and fulfillment with sensitivity and feeling, and an orchestra that supports them while majestically propelling the anthem forward.

To open their 35th season, J. Ernest Green and the Annapolis Chorale brought their talents in the Broadway musical genre to Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate, investing it with everything this classic deserves. Instead of a synthesizer or small combo, Green and the Annapolis Chorale offered a full orchestra, 170-voice chorus and leading players who are classically trained singers. With the overture downbeat Saturday night, the audience was instantly immersed in Porter's fabulous score. From the liveliness of "Another Op'nin', Another Show" to the lush romanticism of "So in Love" to the infectious rhythms of "Too Darn Hot" and the delicious schmaltz of "Wunderbar," the Annapolis Chamber Orchestra transported us back to Broadway's golden age. The Maryland Hall stage was so full with chorus and orchestra that there seemed little room for any dramatic action to create the Kiss Me Kate/The Taming of the Shrew play within a play.

The Annapolis Chorale's 2007-2008 season will feature musical works that include masterpieces of the choral repertoire, Broadway classics and grand opera. Music director J. Ernest Green said he intends to "celebrate the wealth of musical talent this organization now boasts," a group consisting of the Annapolis Chorale, the Annapolis Chamber Orchestra, the Annapolis Youth Chorus and guest artists. "We've come a long way in 35 years," said Green, who has been around for 22 of them, "and we've got all musical tastes covered."