UCI Chamber Singers and Concert Choir: Faure & Gjeilo

UCI Chamber Singers and Concert Choir

Faure & Gjeilo

Accompanied by the UCI Symphony Orchestra
Dr. Irene Messoloras, conductor

With guest artists Ola Gjeilo, Anna Schubert and John Buffett

Wednesday, March 13, 2024, 8 p.m.

Irvine Barclay Theatre

Immerse yourself in the captivating beauty of Fauré's Requiem and the West Coast premiere of the enchanting compositions of Ola Gjeilo in an extraordinary choral concert. Experience the transcendent power of Fauré's Requiem as delicate harmonies and haunting melodies intertwine, taking you on a profound journey of introspection. Simultaneously, be mesmerized by the Norway-inspired works of Ola Gjeilo, performed with the composer at the piano. Let the combined talents of the UCI Chamber Singers and Concert Choir transport you to a realm of serenity, where the soul-stirring music resonates deeply, leaving an everlasting impression.

Generous support is provided by friends of Choral Activities, the Marjorie and Robert Rawlins Endowment Fund and Professor Emeritus Joseph Huszti.

About the Composer and Guest Pianist

Ola Gjeilo is one of the most frequently performed composers in the choral world. An accomplished pianist, improvisations over his own published choral pieces have become a trademark of his collaborations. Although Norwegian by birth, it is perhaps Ola’s adopted country of America that has influenced the composer’s distinctive soundworld the most, evolving a style that is often described as cinematic and evocative, with a lush, harmonious sound.

Ola grew up in a musically eclectic home listening to classical, jazz, pop and folk, a broad background he later incorporated into his classical composition studies at The Juilliard School, the Royal College of Music in London, and currently as a New York City-based freelance composer. He is especially inspired by the improvisational art of film composer Thomas Newman, jazz legends Keith Jarrett and Pat Metheny, glass artist Dale Chihuly and architect Frank Gehry.

Ola is an exclusive Decca Classics artist, and his Decca albums include Ola Gjeilo and Winter Songs, also featuring Tenebrae, Voces8 and the Choir of Royal Holloway, as well as the solo piano albums Night & Dawn. The recordings are available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and all major platforms. He is currently composer-in-residence with DCINY.

Ola’s music is published by Walton Music (choral), Boosey & Hawkes (wind band), and Chester Music (piano). For more information, please visit olagjeilo.com, or find Ola on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

About the Guest Artists

Anna Schubert, described as "luminously expressive" with a "silvery voice" that "moves from innocence to devastation with an actor's ease," loves bringing new voices, stories, and musical ideas to life. She enjoys an eclectic career that takes her all over the world - premiering new works, performing old favorites, and recording a wide variety of sounds for film and television.

Anna discovered a passion for new music while an undergraduate, and has since made it a specialty. Over the past few years, she has performed in several world premieres, most notably creating the role of Bibi in the world premiere of Ellen Reid's Pulitzer Prize-winning opera p r i s m with LA Opera and Beth Morrison Projects. Her performance in p r i s m was described as "revelatory" (Catherine Womack), and subsequently led to a successful run at Theatro Municipal de São Paulo. She also premiered the role of L in Anne LeBaron's LSD: The Opera, and most recently, the role of Lady Reason in Kate Soper's opera The Romance of the Rose.

Other repertoire highlights from the last few years include the role of Controller in Jonathan Dove's Flight with Opera Omaha; Lise in the Philip Glass opera Les Enfants Terribles, and Arianna in Handel's Giustino with Long Beach Opera; Haydn's Die Schöpfung and several Handel oratorios with the LA Master Chorale; Bernstein's Mass with the LA Phil; and Carmina Burana with Berkshire Choral International. In the 2023|24 season, you can see Anna touring as a soloist with the Peter Sellars production of Schütz's Musikalische Exequien, and as a guest soprano in the tour of Huang Ruo's Book of Mountains and Seas. In the spring, she will join Long Beach Opera and the Martha Graham Dance Company as the soprano soloist in Kate Soper's Ipsa Dixit.

Outside the world of classical vocals, Anna enjoys a stimulating and versatile career as a session singer. Her solo soprano vocals and extended techniques can be heard dramatically soaring over orchestra and choir in the films Birds of Prey (2020) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), as well as the Netflix series Midnight Mass and the HBO series Raised by Wolves.

Baritone John Buffett enjoys a versatile career lending his “warm tone and ringing top” (Salt Lake Tribune) to music from the early baroque through the 21st century. Solo engagements during the 23/24 season include St. John Passion with the Cal Poly Bach Festival, Handel’s Messiah with the LA Master Chorale, Long Beach Camerata, and the New West Symphony, St. Matthew Passion and Messiah with the Messiah Festival of the Arts (Kansas), BWV 182 with Musica Angelica, Monteverdi and D’India with Bach Collegium San Diego, Scarlatti’s Il Primo Omicidio with Tesserae Baroque, and multiple engagements with Seraphic Fire.

Buffett has been a featured soloist with the Pacific Symphony, the Utah, San Antonio, Winston-Salem Flagstaff, and Syracuse Symphonies, The Mark Morris Dance Group, The Pacific Chorale, and the Rochester Philharmonic. He has also been a featured performer with many leading Early Music Ensembles including: Apollo’s Fire, Ars Lyrica, Bach Collegium San Diego, The Boston Early Music Festival, Con Gioia, The Charlotte Bach Academy, The Oregon Bach Festival, Musica Angelica and Tesserae Baroque. Also an accomplished Chamber musician, he regularly performs with some of America’s best choral ensembles like Seraphic Fire, The Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

Solo appearances at the Tanglewood Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival and the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center highlight other important performances. Buffett, currently on voice faculty at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music, CSU Long Beach’s Bob Cole Conservatory of Music, and recently for the Professional Choral Institute at the Aspen Music Festival, received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Eastman School of Music.

johnbuffett.com

About the Conductor

Dedicated to inspiring musicians and audiences through a determined passion for musical excellence, Dr. Irene Messoloras maintains an active career as a sought-after music educator, conductor, clinician, and adjudicator. Her ensembles have delivered meaningful and passionate performances across the United States and on the international stage in both Europe and Asia.

Dr. Messoloras serves as Director of Choral Activities at the University of California, Irvine since 2019. She conducts the University Chamber Singers, University Concert Choir, and teaches courses in conducting. Before coming to Irvine, Dr. Messoloras served as Director of Choral Activities at the University of La Verne, she was the Chair of the Fine Arts Department and head of Choral Activities at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, and also served as the Director of Choral Activities at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington.

Messoloras’ collegiate ensembles have performed in over 20 international tours. Under her direction, ensembles have performed at state and national NAfME conferences, performed in national commercial campaigns, and produced professional music videos and recordings.

Irene Messoloras is the recipient of numerous awards for creative programing, diversity and inclusivity, and community engagement. Most recently, Dr. Messoloras was awarded the Grand Prize for conducting at the World Classical Music Awards (2023), the Vivaldi International Music Competition Grand Prize Winner (2023), and received first place with special recognition at the Bach International Music Competition and first place at the World Grand Prix International Music Contest (2023). As a result of Dr. Messoloras' leadership, her ensembles are pushing the boundaries of choral performance in a variety of ways, including educational initiatives, and innovative partnerships around the world.

Additionally, Dr. Irene Messoloras is the featured conductor for the award-winning Hour of Power Choir in the weekly international Christian television program “Hour of Power with Bobby Schuller.” Broadcast in fifty-six countries, the Hour of Power Choir is heard weekly by over 4.3 million viewers. Made up of some of the most accomplished professional singers in Southern California, the choir has toured extensively throughout Germany and the Netherlands. Most recently the Dr. Messoloras’ choir performed at the American Choral Directors Association National Conference in Cincinnati in February 2023, and at the virtual conference in 2021.

Dr. Messoloras received her doctor of musical arts degree in choral conducting from the University of California, Los Angeles at the Herb Alpert School of Music.

Tickets
General Admission: $21
Groups 10+: $18
Senior Age 62+: $18
UCI Faculty, Alumni, Staff, Emeriti and Retirees: $18
Arts Packages (3+ events): $16
Students & Youth Age 17/Below: $8