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Grande Prairie Singers Prepare for Spring Concert


Hyun-Suk-Jang

Soloist Hyun Suk Jang of Seoul, Korea, will perform with the Grande Prairie Singers. (PHOTO SUPPLIED)

Park Forest, IL–(ENEWSPF)– The Grande Prairie Singers, under the direction of Artistic Director Dr. James Kallembach, will present their spring concert, "Eternal Light" on Sunday, May 4, 2008.

With a theme of light eternal, the 50 voice choir will perform Morten Lauridsen’s "Lux Aeterna" composed in 1997. Lauridsen, a native of Colfax, Washington, received a National Medal of Arts from President George Bush in 2007. His five-movement work, Lux Aeterna , written for chorus and orchestra, is well liked in the United States and has been performed frequently as well as heard in recordings and in radio broadcasts. NPR Radio said Lauridsen’s work "’demonstrates that it IS possible for important contemporary music to speak directly to the human heart."

Continuing the theme of eternal light, the Grande Prairie Singers will sing "Cantique de Jean Racine" by Gabriel Faure. The soaring melodic sound expresses ,"Our sole hope of salvation, Eternal Light of the earth and the day, we kneel in adoration, O Savior, turn on us Thy loving eye. And these, Thy gifts, we return unto thee."

Professional instrumentalists will also join the choir for the third of Joseph Haydn’s masses, Mass in D Minor, many times referred to as the Lord Nelson Mass.

The concert will range from works by Lauridsen, born in the United States in 1943, to Joseph Haydn, born in (today) Austria, 1732, bound by an identical theme – God’s Eternal Light.

Featured soprano soloist will be Hyun Suk Jang, a native of Seoul, Korea, a recent winner of the Chinese Fine Arts Society Competition at the Chicago Cultural Center. She graduated with a Voice Performance Certificate from DePaul University where she also received her Master of Music degree. She is a member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, a soprano soloist at the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel at the University of Chicago, and a faculty member of the DePaul Community Music.

Returning to perform again with the Grande Prairie Singers is bass Andrew Schultze. Mr. Schultze is an active performer, conductor, stage director and teacher. He is an interpreter of the standard opera/oratorio repertoire and as a specialist in the performance of early music. He has sung at La Scala, Milan, Italy, with the Vienna Baroque Ensemble, has presented masterclasses and participated in early music workshops and conferences in Vienna, Austria, Innsbruck, Switzerland, and various universities, including the University of Chicago.

Join us at Rich South Auditorium, 5000 Sauk Trail, Richton Park, Il. for the 4:00 p.m. performance under the direction of Artistic Director, Dr. James Kallembach. . Tickets may be purchased by phone with credit card:(708-481-8684 or fax (708) 481-6884 for $20.00 . Check or money order may be made payable to Grande Prairie Choral Arts, 266 Somonauk, Park Forest, Il.


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