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Join The Esoterics for QUINDECIMA:
Fifteen years of The Esoterics
Over fifteen years ago, a group of talented and highly committed singers came together to perform as part of Eric Banks'
choral conducting recitals at the University of Washington. They decided to continue singing together and,
in 1993 became the incorporated non-profit entity called The Esoterics. In 2008, The Esoterics is proud to present
QUINDECIMA,
a choral extravaganza that commemorates the group's crystal anniversary.
In QUINDECIMA,
The Esoterics will premiere three works by the winners of POLYPHONOS,
its annual composition competition that awards a commission and travel funds to one American composer, one international composer,
and one young composer (under age 30). Apropos to the anniversary event, the POLYPHONOS
awardees were asked to compose pieces based on the concept of "marking time." In I saw eternity, international winner
Leonard Enns (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada) sets a poem by Henry Vaughn; Nathan Stumpff (Liberty, ME), the national awardee,
has chosen Walt Whitman's O me! O life! for his commission. Baudelaire's L'invitation au voyage is the
inspiration for young composer winner Scott Perkins' (Rochester, NY) composition, in which he sets the English translation
of this poem by Richard Wilbur.
With the 2008 POLYPHONOS
compositions representing choral music at its most contemporary, The Esoterics, along with ÆDONIS, The Esoterics' all-male
counterpart ensemble, will reprise its 15-year history in QUINDECIMA,
performing one piece written in each year since the ensemble began. This program features only works of living composers, including
songs by Washington state composers David Asplin (In nature's charm), Bern Herbolsheimer (Love letters),
John Muehleisen (Perplexed music), Donald Skirvin (O lady), and Linda Waterfall (Guang); pieces by
national composers Mark Adamo (Supreme virtue), Dominick Argento (Sonnet LXIV), Abbie Betinis (Bar xizam),
William Hawley (Meeting at night), Stephen Paulus (Meditations of Li Po), and Martha Sullivan (Laudes Domini);
and music from abroad by Vanraj Bhatia (Hymn of creation), and Jaakko Mäntyjärvi (Psalm 150 in Kent Treble Bob Minor).
The Esoterics will host a 15th-anniversary celebration and composers' reception after the performance on Saturday, April 19th at St. Joseph's Catholic Church.
Please join The Esoterics for this unforgettable documentation of choral innovation in the great Pacific Northwest!
The Esoterics' QUINDECIMA performance dates and locations are as follows:
Saturday • 12 April • 8 pm • Tacoma
Trinity Lutheran Church • 12115 Park Ave S
Sunday • 13 April • 7 pm • Lynnwood (NEW VENUE)
Trinity Lutheran Church • 6215 196th St SW
Saturday • 19 April • 8 pm • Seattle
St Joseph's Catholic Church • 732 18th Ave E
Sunday • 20 April • 3 pm • West Seattle
Holy Rosary Catholic Church • 4139 42nd Ave SW
Tickets are $20 at the door, $18 in advance, $15 for students,
seniors, the un(der)employed, and the differently-abled. Discounts
are available for groups of five or more at $12 per person.
Active singers of any choral group may attend for only $10.
Advance tickets are available online at www.TheEsoterics.org
(through PayPal.com), or reserved by phone at 206.935.7779.
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