The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: The Madison Choral Project celebrates the holidays and the winter solstice with “A Light in the Darkness” concert this Saturday night.

By Jacob Stockinger

The recently formed Madison Choral Project (below) will perform “A Light in the Darkness” concert this Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the First Congregational Church, 1609 University Ave., that features traditional holiday music combined with secular pieces focusing on the theme of light and darkness to mark the winter solstice — which falls on the same Saturday.

Perhaps Madison’s newest choral ensemble, the Madison Choral Project, is a fully professional 17-voice ensemble, under the direction of Dr. Albert Pinsonneault (below), who teaches and conducts at Edgewood College. You can hear the new choral group performing a work from Felix Mendelssohn‘s oratorio “Elijah” live in a concert this past May in a YouTube video at the bottom.

MCP is a professional chamber choir dedicated to bringing international-caliber choral performances to southern Wisconsin.

Along with spoken texts, narrated by Noah Ovshinsky (below), assistant news director of Wisconsin Public Radio, the evening weaves together an eclectic range of old and new designed to be both balm and hope, joy and inspiration, on the darkest day of the year, December 21, the Winter Solstice.

A world premiere performance (of a work by David Evan Thomas, below (will be featured among favorite composers such as Herbert Howells, Henry Purcell, Charles Ives, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Moses Hogan. (Update: The world premiere of a new work by Madison composer Jerry Hui has been taken off the program.)

Tickets are $20 general admission and $5 for students (with valid ID), and can be purchased online at www.themcp.org or at the concert.

The program, arranged into four groups, includes:

Long, Long Ago (Herbert Howells)
; Silent Night (arr. Malcolm Sargent); 
Angels We Have Heard on High (arr. Matthew Culloton)
; Hear My Prayer (Henry Purcell); 
The Celestial Country: Double Chorus A Cappella (Charles Ives)

Prepare the Way (arr. Margareta Jalkeus); A Christmas Carol (Charles Ives)
; In Dulci Jublio (arr. Matthew Culloton); Jingle Bells (arr. David Moore)

“From Light to Light: Earth” by J. Aaron McDermid; and the 
WORLD PREMIERE of “Confirmatum est” by David Evan Thomas.

Go and Tell John (arr. Carolyn Jennings)
; Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom Op. 31, No. 12 “We Hymn Thee” (Sergei Rachmaninoff); This Little Light of Mine (arr. Moses Hogan)
; Glory, Glory, Glory to the Newborn King (arr. Moses Hogan)