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Susquehanna Valley Chorale to open 2016-17 season with two performances

MIDDLEBURG- The Susquehanna Valley Chorale will kick off its new 2016-17 season with “Two Symphonic Masses: Past and Present,” at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15 and 3 p.m. Oct. 16 at Midd-West High School Auditorium, 540 E. Main St.

The two works featured will be “Mass in G” (1815) by Franz Schubert and “Sunrise Mass” (2008) by Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo. Though written nearly two centuries apart, the pieces work well together.

“They are each distinct but alike in their spiritual undertones; solemn yet uplifting,” said Bill Payn, Chorale conductor and music director.

The performance will feature 97 SVC singers including three local soloists: Amy Caron, soprano; Adam Dietz, tenor; and Andrew Finck, bass. They will be joined by a 24-piece string orchestra.

“Mass in G Major” was written by Schubert in 1815 when he was just 18 years old. It demonstrates a remarkable depth of expression and level of compositional maturity. It was a busy year for the composer, as he wrote more than 140 songs, two symphonies, a string quartet and much more some 20,000 bars of music and all the while he was working as a teacher in his father’s school. The mass was composed in just six days.

“Sunrise Mass” is a four-movement tone poem for chorus and orchestra. The composer, Gjeilo, was born in Norway in 1978 and began playing the piano and composing at the age of 5. In 2006, he earned a master’s degree from The Juilliard School. Since then he has been the composer-in-residence for the Phoenix Chorale, Voces8 and DCINY.

For more information or to buy tickets, visit www.svcmusic.org or call 570-547-0455.

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