Chronos performs Beethoven’s 9th Symphony (Ode to Joy) with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra on May 4, 5, and 6 at the Winspear Centre. It is an honour to be invited to perform with Edmonton’s world class orchestra and to collaborate with so many wonderful singers from other choirs, including members of Kokopelli and Cantilon Choirs, and our friends from Vocal Alchemy.
Collaborations between orchestras and choirs are always memorable occasions… the last time Chronos sang with the ESO was for performances of Handel’s Messiah in 2018. Chronos was preparing to join the symphony again for a spectacular multimedia concert in April of 2020, but as those plans were interrupted by the Covid pandemic, we are especially pleased to be able to join the orchestra again!
Don’t miss this presentation of Beethoven’s “Choral” Symphony with its enduring message of unity and peace. His 9th Symphony is a work that ranges from passionate to playful to restful, but is best known for its fourth movement. Perhaps better know as the Ode to Joy, the text is a setting of Friedrich Schiller’s poem An die Freude (“to joy”) and serves as a summation of Beethoven’s lifelong thinking and dedication to brotherhood and humankind.
Balancing out this program are two thoughtful and reflective pieces by two of today’s celebrated women composers, Canadian Vivian Fung and American Jessie Montgomery.
At this concert:
Michael Stern, Conductor
Miriam Khalil, soprano
Andrea Hill, mezzo-soprano
John Tessier, tenor
Nathan Berg, bass
Chronos Vocal Ensemble (Jordan Van Biert, conductor)
Vocal Alchemy (Jordan Van Biert, conductor)
Kokopelli (Scott Leithead, conductor)
Òran (Kathleen Luyk, conductor)
Belle Canto (Heather Johnson, conductor)
Vox Hominis (Elaine Myhre, conductor)
Timothy Shantz, chorusmaster