The Princeton Singers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 2015 Contact: Kal Sostarecz, Executive Director 866-846-7464 [email protected] www.princetonsingers.org

The Princeton Singers to Premiere a New Work in Princeton – A Child’s Requiem

Princeton, NJ – The Princeton Singers, a professional chamber now in its 33rd year of bringing traditional and new choral works to the Princeton community and beyond, will perform A Child’s Requiem at Princeton Meadows Church and Event Center on Saturday, November 21st at 8:00 PM.

This new work, composed by The Princeton Singers’ Artistic Director, Dr. Steven Sametz, is dedicated to the twenty children and six teachers and administrators slain at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012.

Dr. Sametz says of his composition, “When images of the Sandy Hook shootings dominated the news, chief among them was the photograph of a line of children being led out of the school to the nearby fire station. From the time I considered writing a piece to commemorate these children and their teachers these three phrases haunted me as I recalled that picture:

‘Stay in line…’ ‘Hold hands…’ ‘Keep your eyes closed…’

I knew then that these would be the first intoned words of A Child’s Requiem.”

The journey of creating A Child’s Requiem has received national attention, both ABC News and the Associated Press published stories, and CBS Evening News dedicated four segments on the new work, the first of which is linked here: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-requiem-of-hope-for-the-victims-of-newtown/

At the Princeton premiere performance of A Childs Requiem to be held on Saturday, November 21, 2015, The Princeton Singers will be joined by choristers from the Princeton Girlchoir, a twenty-one member , and an international cast of soloists.

For more information please visit our website at www.princetonsingers.org

Artistic biographies and information attached Interviews and Photographs available on request to the Executive Director STEVEN SAMETZ, Artistic Director of the Princeton Singers, has earned renown both as a conductor and composer. Dr. Sametz has appeared as guest conductor with the New York Chamber Symphony, the Taipei Philharmonic Foundation, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, the Berkshire Music Festival, and the Netherlands Radio Choir appearing in such venues as Avery Fisher Hall, the Schubertsaal at the Vienna State Opera House, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Hall (Russia), Chiang Kai‐shek Memorial Hall (Taipei) and Hall. Equally at home with orchestral and choral conducting, Dr. Sametz has led major works ranging from Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony and Beethoven’s Triple Concerto to Lutosławski’s Trois poemes d’Henri Michaut and Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloë. Sametz has conducted the Grammy Award‐winning ensemble in performances of Monteverdi’s Vespro della beata Vergine (1610) to critical acclaim in San Francisco and New York. In recent years, he has led the Pennsylvania and Delaware All‐State Choruses. His choral symphony, Carmina amoris, was presented at Carnegie Hall in November 2014 under his direction.

Sametz been hailed as “one of the most respected choral composers in America.” In 2013, he received one of the most prestigious composition awards in the nation, The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Composition Prize. The press surrounding this award and the resulting new work, A Child’s Requiem, has included international coverage by the Associated Press and CBS Evening News. He serves as ACDA’s national adviser on choral composition and in 2011 was the recipient of ACDA’s 2011Raymond Brock Memorial Commission, composing Three Mystical Choruses for premiere by Chanticleer in Chicago’s Symphony Hall at the national convention. In 2013, Sametz was named to the Fulbright Specialist Program. His works may be heard on four of The Princeton Singers CDs and six Chanticleer CDs, including Chanticleer’s Grammy Award‐winning, Colors of Love. He has received commissions from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Connecticut Council on the Arts, and the Santa Fe music festival, creating new works for Chanticleer, the Dale Warland Singers, Philadelphia Singers, Pro Arte Chamber Choir, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Connecticut Choral Artists, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Harvard University and the King of .

Sametz holds the Ronald J. Ulrich Chair in Choral Music at Lehigh University (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania), where he directs Lehigh University Choral Arts, conducting such works at the Britten War Requiem, the requiem settings of Brahms, Verdi, and Duruflé, Debussy’s Le martyr de Saint Sébastien and Bach’s B‐minor Mass and passion settings with Baroque orchestra. He is the founding director of the Lehigh Choral Union and the Lehigh University Choral Composers’ Forum, a summer course of study designed to mentor emerging choral composers. Sametz has served as acting Director of Choral Activities at Harvard University. He holds degrees from , the University of Wisconsin‐Madison, and the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt, Germany. Dr. Sametz has served as panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, Chorus America, ASCAP, ACDA and the American Composers Alliance

His compositions are published by ECS Publishing, Oxford University Press, Alliance Music, Walton Music, GIA, and Steven Sametz Publications. The Princeton Singers ‐ Biography For thirty years The Princeton Singers has captivated audiences and listeners through excellent singing and musicianship. Founded as a small, professional, independent ensemble in 1983 by John Bertalot, then choirmaster and organist at Trinity Church in Princeton, New Jersey, the Singers soon earned a reputation for “excellent tuning, impeccable control, and subtlely nuanced phrasing.” Since being appointed Artistic Director in 1998, composer‐conductor Steven Sametz has expanded the group’s repertoire. Under Dr. Sametz, the ensemble has been noted for its versatility and its mastery of works from Bach to Schoenberg, with forays into unexplored and exciting realms such as Aboriginal and Native American ritual music, Igbe chanting and Arab‐ Andalusian muwashahat. Our repertoire has come to include not only the local holiday favorite, A Child’s Christmas in Wales, when we bring to life traditional carols while Dylan Thomas’s classic story is read by a narrator, but also popular collaborations with the Princeton University Art Museum, where the Singers’ range and Dr. Sametz’s creative programming genius are given free rein, allowing us to pair Rothko with Ligeti and Jasper Johns with John Cage. Whatever the repertoire, The Princeton Singers has been hailed as “masterful choral singers” with a “rich vocal color” and “flowing choral tone.” The Princeton Singers is also a vital force in the creation of new choral compositions, serving as choir‐in‐residence at the biennial Lehigh University Summer Choral Composers Forum which is co‐sponsored by the American Choral Directors Association. There, composers from around the country gather to write new works that they then hear performed by the Singers in workshops. At the end of a week’s writing and rewriting, their works are premiered at a culminating performance. Additionally, each season The Princeton Singers commissions a new work by Dr. Sametz, and for its 30th anniversary commissioned and premiered new works by Steven Stucky and A.J. Kernis, both Pulitzer Prize‐winning composers. In addition to popular hometown performances, The Princeton Singers has been featured at conventions of the American Guild of Organists, the American Choral Directors Association, and Chorus America. Dr. Sametz has led the ensemble in collaborative concerts with Chanticleer, The American Boychoir, Westminster Choir College’s Schola Cantorum, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Lehigh University Choral Arts, and the Princeton Girlchoir. The Princeton Singers has been heard on National Public Radio’s Performance Today and With Heart and Voice, and has been broadcast by the BBC while on tour in Europe. The Princeton Singers Polished, Professional… Provocative

“Singing with the Princeton Singers is like rehearsing for the choir in heaven.” The adventure of The Princeton Singers began in 1983, when John Bertalot gathered a group of dedicated singers in the Princeton, New Jersey area to delve into the rich traditions of English cathedral repertoire. Their love of singing combined with purity of intonation and beauty of tone to create The Princeton Singers.

“The Princeton Singers stretches the boundaries of all things choral” When John Bertalot retired in 1998, the seeds he planted continued to grow. The musicians and supporters of The Princeton Singers undertook an exhaustive search for new leadership, hiring noted composer and conductor Dr. Steven Sametz. At the same time, the group felt ready to explore a wider repertoire. Under Sametz’s direction, The Princeton Singers has ventured into music from medieval to modern, collaborating with Indian and Arabic ensembles, taking on major works like Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in a staged version with Baroque orchestra, and actively lending their talents to the creation of new music. Biannual concerts at the Princeton University Art Museum combine sight and sound, giving voice to the visual splendor of exhibitions of the Italian and German Baroque, the photography of India, and the works of Jasper Johns and Mark Rothko. And in a more light‐hearted vein, the annual Child’s Christmas in Wales has become a Princeton area holiday favorite, with music both serene and silly surrounding the telling of Dylan Thomas’s classic tale.

“God didn’t give me a voice, so he lets me listen to The Princeton Singers.” The heart of the group is as it was in the beginning: the singers themselves. Virtuoso ensemble artists, they are frequently showcased as soloists in opera and art song. While honoring the music we know and love, we boldly go where no choir has gone before… commissioning and presenting new music to our loyal and adventurous audiences.

“Every time I hear The Princeton Singers, I fall in love with them all over again.” After thirty years, our love affair with the Princeton community continues. We are thirty years young this year and still excited for the next part of our adventure.

Polished – offering the finest in choral excellence; professional – singing at the highest standards; provocative–calling forth and challenging us to continually refine the choral art.

“EXCELLENT TUNING, IMPECCABLE CONTROL, AND SUBTLY‐NUANCED PHRASING” THE RECORDED A CAPPELLA REVIEW BOARD

2015 ‐ 2016 Season

Sametz: A Child's Requiem Saturday, November 21, 2015 at 8:00pm – Princeton Meadow Church & Event Center

Artistic Director Steven Sametz recently won the prestigious Sackler Music Composition Prize. The resulting commissioned work, "A Child's Requiem," is a 45‐‐minute oratorio for children's chorus, adult choir, three soloists and chamber orchestra. Sametz, a native of Connecticut, wrote the work in memory of the children and administrators who were slain in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

In creating "A Child's Requiem," Sametz reached out to elementary schools across the country to collect children's responses to tragedy and loss. Children's writings combine with poetry of Emerson, Dickinson, and H.D. to create a powerful libretto about the effect on children of violence in our culture.

The Princeton Singers presents the New Jersey premiere of this prize‐winning work under the baton of the composer in collaboration with The Princeton Girlchoir and an international cast of soloists. The evening will begin with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ rapturously beautiful "Serenade to Music" for sixteen soloists, chorus and orchestra.

A Child's Christmas in Wales Saturday, December 12, 2015 at 6:00pm – Nassau Presbyterian Church, Princeton

Narrated by author Paul Watkins, holiday carols accompany a reading of Dylan Thomas’s classic story. This local favorite will be, as always, replete with snowballs, Christmas whiz‐bangs, harrowing pranks and a heart‐warming ending. This program is recommended for children ages 10 and older.

Hear My Prayer Saturday, February 27, 2016 at 5:30 & 8:00pm – Princeton University Art Museum, Medieval Gallery

Composers of all eras chose to set prayers – to heighten the meaning of the text or allow us to enter a sacred world that opens beyond the texts. The Princeton Singers performs the luminous Lamentations of Jeremiah of Thomas Tallis, one of the gems of the English Renaissance, with Bach's Motet III, "Komm, Jesu komm" and the glorious Lenten motets of Francis Poulenc.

Brush Up Your Shakespeare Saturday, April 23, 2016 at 5:30 & 8:00pm – Princeton University Art Museum, American Gallery

Music of the Elizabethan era as well as settings old and new of the Bard in honor of the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. Our musical offering will be counterpointed with readings by renowned Shakespearean actor Christopher Coucill.

To book The Princeton Singers for your venue: E‐mail [email protected] or phone 1‐866‐846‐SING (7464)

www.princetonsingers.org

Key Facts  Fully professional, a cappella chamber choir  Founded in 1983 by John Bertalot, choirmaster at Trinity Church, Princeton  Under Bertalot, three tours of English Cathedrals singing at St. Martin‐in‐the‐ Fields, Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, as well as Liverpool Cathedral, Blackburn Cathedral, Chichester Cathedral, St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, and the Hereford Cathedral Three Festival  Steven Sametz (www.stevensametz.com) appointed Artistic Director in 1998  Performs a wide variety of choral music from medieval to modern and spanning the continents  Annual holiday concert, A Child’s Christmas in Wales has become a favorite Princeton tradition  Performs two concert series each season in collaboration with the Princeton University Art Museum, where music is paired with an exhibition creating an artistic convergence between sight and sound  Website is located at www.princetonsingers.org  Email address for press use is [email protected]  Video of singers produced by Lehigh University ‐ HTTP://BIT.LY/1KPV7M5  Audio Recordings available here: o http://www.princetonsingers.org/shop/ o https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/the‐princeton‐singers/id430545623

PRINCETON GIRLCHOIR

Where girls make beautiful music, and music makes beautiful girls Fueled by the power of a girl's voice, Princeton Girlchoir presents extraordinary performances at home and throughout the world, while educating the musician, building confidence, and fostering a life‐long love of singing together.

Princeton Girlchoir, founded in 1989 as an after‐school activity for girls interested in choral music, has grown into the area's premiere training and performance choir for girls, with over 250 choristers. We are a community of six choirs, made up of 3rd – 12th grade girls from New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania. Choristers come together each week from September through May to rehearse, and give anywhere from a few to over a dozen concerts every season in a variety of venues, depending on their choir level. The choirs present music from a wide array of genres, conductors, and composers. While honing their mus9icianship, our choristers begin life‐ long friendships, enjoy professional performance opportunities, and travel the world.

Princeton Girlchoir has been honored to perform in a wide array of venues for audiences, both nationally and internationally. Notable performances include the swearing‐in ceremony for New Jersey Congressman Rush Holt in Washington, DC; singing in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center with Yo‐Yo Ma in the North American Premiere of Tan Dun’s Symphony 1997; singing at the 2013 Liberty Award Ceremony honoring Hillary Rodham Clinton; performing the National Anthem at a new York Red Bulls Game in 2014, and a New York Jets game in 2013; and performing at Carnegie Hall twice as guests of the New York Choral Society in 2014 and 2015.

The Princeton Girlchoir has performed at several professional conferences, such as the American Choral Directors Association Regional Conventions, the Kodaly Eastern Division Conference, and the New Jersey Music Educators Association Conference.

www.princetongirlchoir.org