SLO Master Chorale hosting auditions for spring performance
Auditions happening Jan. 31 starting at 7 p.m. at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Pismo Beach
– The San Luis Obispo Master Chorale took the stage on Dec. 18, 2021, for the first time since 2019 to present the annual holiday performance of Handel’s Messiah. The 2021/2022 season will continue with auditions for new members in preparation of the next concert, “The Poets Speak,” later this spring.
Auditions will be held on Jan. 31 beginning at 7 p.m. at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Pismo Beach. Individuals should plan to sing a prepared piece up to three minutes in length and provide a copy of the music for the accompanist. Prospective members can learn more and sign up for an audition time slot by visiting the SLO Master Chorale’s website, www.slomasterchorale.org.
The next performance of the season will feature a diverse concert on Sunday, April 24, 2022, at 3 p.m. in Harold Miossi Hall at the San Luis Obispo Performing Arts Center on the Cal Poly campus. Titled “The Poets Speak,” the works selected for the concert are three musical masterpieces by one of England’s most revered composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams, that were inspired by the poetry of Walt Whitman and George Herbert. In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Vaughan Williams’s birth in 1872, the SLO Master Chorale will perform Fantasia on the “Old 104th” Psalm Tune, Five Mystical Songs, and Dona nobis pacem. The baritone soloist is Joel Balzun, currently a teaching assistant at the University of Southern California as well as a member of the voice faculty at Biola College. Puerto Rican soprano Alba Franco Cancél returns to sing with the SLO Master Chorale after her beautiful performance of Mozart’s Exultate Jubilate in 2019. SLO Master Chorale accompanist Susan Azaeret Davies will be the piano soloist in the Fantasia on the “Old 104th” Psalm Tune.
In addition to the performance, the SLO Master Chorale will host two informative presentations related to the works as part of its educational “Beyond the Notes” series. Dr. Eric Saylor, professor of music history at Drake University in Iowa, will present two talks during the weekend of the concert. “The Composer in Wartime: Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Music of Conflict” will be held April 22 at 6 p.m. in room 218 of the Davidson Music Center on the Cal Poly campus. “The Letter and the Spirit: Religion and the Music of Ralph Vaughan Williams” will take place on April 23 at 3:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church in San Luis Obispo.
Tickets to all performances are available for purchase at www.pacslo.org or by calling the PAC box office at (805) 756-4849. No tickets are required for “Beyond the Notes” presentations.
