English
Spanish
Creative Voices + Cultural Happenings
in Montgomery County, MD
MY BOOKMARKS
There are no recent bookmarks.
SEARCH
Based in Rockville, MD, a suburb of Washington, DC, ChorSymphonica is a professional choral-orchestral ensemble supported by grants from The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, and the Maryland State Arts Council. Additional support comes from private foundations, including the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, as well as gifts from the general public, and the 19/19/19 Campaign.
Founded in 2011 by conductor Richard Allen Roe, the group first took the name The Advent Project, owing to the Advent repertoire performed on their first concert. The group has since explored a wide range of repertoire, from Renaissance to Romantic era a cappella music, with a strong emphasis on the cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Along with our concert performances, we have developed a unique concert experience, called Conversation Concerts. We continue to produce these educational and musical events along with traditional (non-lecture) concerts, and hope you will join us for our next performance.
ChorSymphonica is a project-based ensemble of musicians drawn from across the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond, with the goal of making Music That Matters. Nearly all of our musicians have earned graduate degrees in vocal performance. Every one of our members are dedicated to using their artistic life to improve the lives of others, to inspire others to a more complete point of view, reaching out to audiences with our music making through our concerts. This purpose gui ... view more »
VIDEOS
-
ChorSymphonica with Richard Allen Roe, conductor performing the Final Movement of Johann Sebastian Bach's Cantata Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 61 Final movement of the cantata. We've tried to make the "Verlangens-Motivik" stand out, with tempo, articulation, dynamics. A "Verlangens Motive" is a motivic segment that is connected with the Lutheran Chorale "Herzlich, tut mich verlangen." This chorale is, perhaps, more famously known as the PASSION CHORALE, "O Haupt, voll Blut und Wunden," but it's original tune/text setting is connected with longing (verlangen). Bach uses the melody in the earlier tenor aria, but here it is embedded in several spots and in different voices, including each of the chorus sections, the violin part, and the basso continuo. The violin part is very interesting, soaring at the very end to the 2nd highest note Bach ever wrote for the instrument. Where the chorus sings the text, "Deiner wart ich mit VERLANGEN" the motivic writing begins to appear, in long notes in the chorus soprano, and then through Stimmtausch in the Alto, Tenor, and Bass voices, and in diminution in the violin part. Bach's spectacular pairing of a Lenten/Good Friday chorale with this Advent music is surpassed only by the sheer beauty of the composition. Recorded in The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, Bethesda, Maryland. Video: Casey Cook Audio: Ron Duquette, RonArt & Associates