Alexander’s Feast, the Barber of Seville overture and a review of popular TV themes are among the offerings in year-end concerts by ٺƵ singers and musicians. Also, the university’s resident Empyrean Ensemble will present its annual concert of new works by graduate student composers.
The University Chorus plans to perform Alexander’s Feast in a concert scheduled for 8 p.m. May 31 in Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.
George Frideric Handel wrote the music for Alexander’s Feast, which features a libretto by Newburgh Hamilton, who adapted the work from John Dryden’s ode Alexander’s Feast, or the Power of Music (1697).
It describes a banquet held by Alexander the Great and his mistress, Thais, in the captured Persian city of Persepolis. The success of the piece encouraged Handel to make the transition from writing Italian-language operas to English choral works.
The University Chorus’ presentation of Alexander’s Feast will feature soprano Elizabeth Weigle, tenor Benjamin Butterfield and baritone Jeffrey Fields, according to the Department of Music Web site.
Also on the evening’s program: Handel’s Coronation Anthems, including Zadok the Priest.
The Empyrean Ensemble concert, New Music from Davis: Graduate Student Composers, is set for 7 p.m. June 1 in the Mondavi Center’s Studio Theatre. The composers, writing specifically for the ensemble: Hendel Almétus, Ben Irwin, Sue-Hye Kim, Garrett Shatzer, An Tan, Davide Verotta and Ching-Yi Wang. A preconcert talk, “Demystifying the Music,” is set for 6 p.m.
The Symphony Orchestra concludes its 50th anniversary season with a family-friendly concert the evening of June 2 in Jackson Hall. The Department of Music advises people to take note of the early starting time: 7 p.m.
The program, with D. Kern Holoman conducting: the overture from Rossini’s comic masterpiece, the Barber of Seville, which includes Figaro’s famous aria “Largo al factotum”; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 (Pastoral), giving sound to the beauty of nature and then its untamed fury; and Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, with ٺƵ undergraduate John Abdallah, violin. This concerto proved to be Mendelssohn’s last and probably most influential orchestral work.
Next up is the University Concert Band’s Summer Serenade, at 7 p.m. June 3 in Jackson Hall. Bands from Roseville’s Buljan and Cooley middle schools are due to join the university band. The program lists Holst: A Moorside Suite; Hazo: Rush, otherwise known as Ride, Part II; Karrick: Mambo Furioso; Zaninelli: Roma Sacra; and Prime Time Review (popular TV themes).
Tickets: (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787, or .
Media Resources
Dave Jones, Dateline, 530-752-6556, dljones@ucdavis.edu