St. John’s is pleased to host the Cumberland Oratorio Singers.
COS will present work by French composer, Francis Poulenc. Composed in 1959, Gloria is one of three sacred pieces from Poulenc’s “mature” years. While some critics suggested it bordered on the sacrilegious, Pouleric replied, “While writing it, I had in mind those Crozzoli frescoes with angels sticking out their tongues, and also some solemn looking Benedictine monks that I saw playing football one day.” The Cumberland Oratorio Singers present this work with Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. When the Very Reverend Walker Hussey of the Chichester Cathedral in Sussex, England commissioned a piece from Bernstein for the church’s 1965 music festival with Winchester and Salisbury Cathedrals, he would get more theatre music than he realized. His request was, “I think many of us would be very delighted if there was a hint of ‘West Side Story’ about the music.” Bernstein brilliantly fuses aspects of Broadway projects with Judaic liturgy. His Chichester Psalms remains for many in the choral world a principal, if not sole, encounter with Hebrew choral music. The Cumberland Oratorio Singers are also proud to feature a performance by the Terry Sanford High School Varsity Choir under the direction of Assistant COS Director Sean Closz.
Dr. Michael D. Martin has served as artistic director and conductor for COS since 2008. A native of Maine, Dr. Martin is the director of Choral Activities and Music Education at Methodist University. He completed his Ph.D. in Music Education at Kent State University. He has taught in grades 4-12 throughout Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Dr. Martin has received recognition as a teacher and conductor and served as a guest conductor, vocal clinician, and judge of New England, Midwestern, and Southeastern musical festivals.
Tickets will be sold at the door for $23. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. Call Cumberland Oratorio Singers, 910-630-7153, for information. Students of all ages will be admitted free with ID.