Pairing a sure crowd-pleaser with a piece that’s a world premiere is quite clever.
Clever and a bit exciting, said Lee Mathews.
Mathews is director and conductor of the Everett Chorale. He leads the members in a concert called “Touches of Sweet Harmony” with performances Saturday night and Sunday afternoon in Everett.
As part of the first half of the concert, audiences will hear a world premiere work based on the words of Shakespeare. The Shakespeare theme continues in the second half of the concert, which will highlight songs from the musical “Kiss Me, Kate,” about a troupe of actors who perform Shakespeare.
Mathews is confident the second half of the concert will be a hit. And he wants people not to fear the world premiere in the first half.
“That’s what I think life is all about. You’ve got to experience some new stuff,” Mathews said. “And I hope it doesn’t scare people. Ed’s pieces are very accessible and very singable.”
“Shakespeare Lyrics” by Ed Harris, a Montana composer, is a set of nine pieces for piano solo, soprano, tenor and baritone soloists and mixed chorus and is based on the texts of Shakespeare.
The chorale commissioned Harris to write the work two years ago. He completed it months before his death last September from Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Harris and Mathews went to school together in Montana in the 1960s and stayed in touch over the years. It was Mathews who persuaded Harris to change his original Shakespeare work from seven pieces to nine. Mathews said the work “turned out really beautiful,” but Harris never got to hear it.
This concert’s for Ed, Mathews said.
“He holds a special place. I have a very, very close attachment to Ed Harris,” Mathews said.
The first half of the concert will also feature the sacred music of Claudio Monteverdi, with his “Cantate Domino,” and the “Gloria” by Francis Poulenc.
Mathews called Poulenc’s “Gloria,” written in 1959, a “bearcat” because of its extreme challenge to singers because of the complex rhythmic patterns and crashing harmonic dissonances.
But after 12 rehearsals, the chorale has got it down. Soprano Marita Ericksen will be the featured soloist in the “Gloria.” Kim Croft, who makes his debut with the chorale, will provide accompaniment for the concert.
“It’s contemporary music,” Mathews said. “You hum that melody when you leave.”
The whole second half of the concert will be filled with a medley of songs from Cole Porter’s Broadway show “Kiss Me, Kate.” Some featured numbers include “Another Op’nin’ Another Show,” “Wunderbar” and “Brush Up Your Shakespeare.”
“I’ve discovered it works when we play to a different audience,” Mathews said. “We do a half that’s more classical” then a second half “on the lighter side.”
Arts writer Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424 or goffredo@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
