Resonance Ensemble announces its 2018-2019 Season!
For immediate release: — September 19, 2018
Email: info@resonancechoral.org
Web: resonancechoral.org
Media Contact— Liz Bacon Brownson
Phone: 971-212-8034
A true reflection of the best of humanity every time.
— Mimi Sei, Audience Member
Resonance Ensemble announces its tenth season, featuring programming that reflects our times.
PORTLAND, OR — Resonance Ensemble announces its upcoming tenth anniversary season, with an emphasis on new music that highlights underrepresented perspectives. The season will consist of a fundraising concert event, RESONANCE AT THE GILTNER HOUSE, on September 29, 2018; HIDDEN VOICES on October 21, 2018; WOMEN SINGING WOMEN on February 3, 2019; and INTENSIVE CARE on June 9, 2019.
Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon says, “I am delighted to announce that we will present major premieres at every concert this season.”
In our opening concert, Hidden Voices, we will give the world premiere of a movement from bass-baritone and composer Damien Geter’s forthcoming Requiem. This piece is based on the quotes of African-American men killed by police; the full work will be premiered by Resonance next season. Hidden Voices also includes the West Coast premiere of Melissa Dunphy’s American Dreamers, with texts by five young Americans who came to the U.S. as undocumented children.
In our February concert, Women Singing Women, we will give the world premiere of a new work by Portland composer Joan Szymko.
Intensive Care will feature the West Coast premiere of Stephen Caldwell’s Pre-existing Condition, composed to honor Caldwell’s own son, who was born with a congenital heart defect. We will also return to the work of Renée Favand-See with the release of our first CD, Only in Falling, showcasing Favand-See’s beautiful music that celebrates the short but precious life of her beloved son, Owen.
Other noteworthy moments of the season:
Portland writer and Resonance Ensemble Poet in Residence, S. Renee Mitchell will perform an original work written for each performance.
Compositions by local composers
Q & A talks after each concert with Resonance Ensemble Artistic Director, composers, and artists.
Resonance Ensemble opens its 2018-2019 season with a benefit concert on Saturday, September 29, 2018 at 7:00 pm. This celebration of the season will be held at the one-of-a-kind Giltner House, a historic home restored by host John McCullough, who continues the tradition begun by its original owners almost a century ago: supporting arts and culture in our community. Attendees will enjoy delicious hors d’oeuvres, desserts, and drinks while mingling with Resonance Ensemble members, along with musical performances, up close and personal. Space is limited. Order individual tickets for $75 at resonancechoral.org -- or become a season subscriber and a ticket is included!
“As always, you can look forward to hearing extraordinary solo and ensemble singers perform diverse repertoire, with heart and passion,” says Dinah Dodds, president of Resonance Ensemble’s Board of Directors and long time supporter of the organization. “We are on a path to making a real difference in our community by offering thoughtful, thematic concerts that work to inspire all of us to think and feel and possibly have a transformational experience as a result.”
HIDDEN VOICES — Uplifting Voices of Color (October 21, 2018, at 4:00 p.m.) is a collaboration with Bethel A.M.E. Church, the oldest continuously operating black church in Portland, and the only African Methodist Episcopal Church in the state of Oregon. Resonance Ensemble will perform with the BRAVO Youth Orchestra and members of the NE-PDX Ensemble, a new regional collective of gospel and spiritual singers. (Bethel A.M.E. Church is located at 5828 NE 8th Avenue, Portland)
WOMEN SINGING WOMEN — Hear Us Roar (February 3, 2019, at 4:00 p.m.) will be performed at the beautiful Cerimon House, and features the women of Resonance Ensemble as they sing audacious new music by female composers. These works celebrate the experiences, questions, autonomy, and generally kick-ass nature of women of all backgrounds and colors. Yes, all women. (Cerimon House is located at 5131 NE 23rd Avenue, Portland)
INTENSIVE CARE — Expecting Love, Learning Hope (June 9, 2019, at 4:00 p.m.) at the Cerimon House closes our season. This concert reflects on parents whose early days of parenthood are different than envisioned -- with babies born early, babies born sick, babies lost. These are often invisible stories, but they are also stories of hope and of transformational love. (Cerimon House is located at 5131 NE 23rd Avenue, Portland)
Season subscriptions are on sale now. Subscription packages offer savings off single ticket prices, exclusive benefits and personalized customer service. Regular full-season subscriptions are available for $150 and include guaranteed tickets to all of the Resonance Ensemble concerts, plus a ticket to the Resonance Ensemble Giltner House Benefit concert on September 29th, 2018. Also available this year are VIP Subscriptions which offer all the subscriber benefits PLUS a guest pass to bring a friend to one of the three exciting concerts of the season, plus reserved seating to all concerts. For more information about subscriptions, visit resonancechoral.org or contact RE’s Box Office, (503) 427-8701. Single tickets are available online to the general public.
CALENDAR
Saturday, September 29th, 2018 — 7:00 p.m.
RESONANCE AT THE GILTNER HOUSE
The Giltner House — 1729 NE Siskiyou Avenue, Portland
Sunday, October 21st, 2018 — 4:00 p.m.
HIDDEN VOICES
Bethel A.M.E. Church — 5828 NE 8th Avenue, Portland
Sunday, February 3rd, 2019 — 4:00 p.m.
WOMEN SINGING WOMEN
Cerimon House — 5131 NE 23rd Avenue, Portland
Sunday, June 9th, 2019 — 4:00 p.m.
INTENSIVE CARE
Cerimon House — 5131 NE 23rd Avenue, Portland
Note to Journalists: Katherine FitzGibbon is available for print, online, and broadcast interviews. If you would like more information on this event or would like to schedule an interview, please contact Liz Bacon Brownson at liz@ohcreativepdx.com or by calling 971-212-8034
About the Resonance Ensemble 2017-18 season:
In its tenth season, Resonance Ensemble, a professional vocal ensemble based in Portland, Oregon, creates thoughtful programs that promote meaningful social change. Resonance Ensemble works to amplify voices that have long been silenced, and they do so through moving, thematic concerts that highlight solo and choral voices, new and underrepresented composers, visual and other performing artists, and community partners.
Resonance Ensemble’s outstanding musicians give voice to the concerns, hopes, and dreams of all communities. Their concerts reflect this in the themes that reside in HIDDEN VOICES (October 2018), WOMEN SINGING WOMEN (February 2019), and INTENSIVE CARE (JUNE 2019).
Under Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon, Resonance Ensemble has performed challenging and diverse music, always with an eye toward unusual collaborations with artistic partners from around Portland: poets, jazz musicians, singer-songwriters, painters, dancers. The Resonance Ensemble singers are “one of the Northwest’s finest choirs” (Willamette Week), with gorgeous vocal tone, and they also make music with heart.
For more information:
Website:/resonancechoral.org
Facebook: /resonanceensemblepdx
Instagram:/resonanceensemblepdx
Twitter: /resonanceensemblepdx
About Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon:
Katherine FitzGibbon is Artistic Director of Portland’s professional Resonance Ensemble, called “one of the finest choirs in the Northwest” by Willamette Week. With Resonance Ensemble, she has collaborated with the Portland Art Museum, Artists Repertory Theatre, Third Angle New Music, Portland Chamber Orchestra, Thomas Lauderdale and Hunter Noack, the Chuck Israels Jazz Orchestra, the Oregon Poet Laureate, and local actors, composers, visual artists, and dancers. Resonance Ensemble is currently partnering with several local arts and community organizations to explore questions of arts equity and inclusion, both in musical programming and in a new series of round table discussions we will present in 2018.
Dr. FitzGibbon is also Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor of Music at Lewis & Clark College. In 2014, she was an inaugural winner of the Lorry Lokey Faculty Excellence Award, honoring “inspired teaching, rigorous scholarship, demonstrated leadership, and creative accomplishments.” A faculty member at the summertime Berkshire Choral Festival, Dr. FitzGibbon has also conducted choirs at Harvard, Boston, Cornell, and Clark Universities, and at the University of Michigan. She is a lyric soprano and music historian whose research on German choral music and politics has been presented and published internationally.
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