May 13, 2015

Princeton Pro Musica closed its 2014-15 season this past Saturday night with a work well suited for the ensemble, and in an appropriate acoustical space, but the performance may have missed the opportunity to educate its loyal audience about a unique period in music history. The 100-voice chorus presented 11 movements of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil to a full house at the Princeton University Chapel, but a lack of context for why the chorus selected the movements it did for performance may have left the audience unaware of the unique and historic musical effects Rachmaninoff employed in the piece.

Rachmaninoff composed his setting of the All-Night Vigil in 1915, as Russia was teetering toward revolution and Rachmaninoff was conversely achieving worldwide acclaim as a conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer. The Vigil, the traditional Russian Orthodox service celebrated before major feasts or on Saturday evenings, combined portions of three daily services. These texts were not foreign to Russian composers; Tchaikovsky also produced a setting in 1882. Rachmaninoff set 12 traditional parts of the Vigil, with the addition of three movements of his own. Like much of Russian choral music, Rachmaninoff set the Church Slavonic text for a cappella chorus, which was tailor-made for the vast acoustics of the University Chapel.

Conductor Ryan James Brandau selected movements 1-8, and 10, 11 and 15 — excluding the movements that Rachmaninoff added, as well as one movement of traditional praise text. With unfortunately no explanatory notes in the printed program, it was difficult to know why specific movements were selected or deleted. The singers of Pro Musica certainly had their hands full; the concert was less than an hour in length, but an hour of music in Church Slavonic would require great preparation. Through much of the piece, the preparation of Pro Musica came through well. There were many passages during which the chorus moved through dynamics uniformly, and diction was consistently clean. The reverberating acoustics of the University Chapel made it difficult to always discern choral precision and when the music split the chorus into as many as 12 parts Brandau maintained good control over ending movements gracefully. There were some unfortunate lapses in tuning in a couple of movements, particularly at the end of the piece, when the choral chords became a little unstable at the close of the work.

Joining Pro Musica were mezzo-soprano Cynthia Cook and tenor Kyle van Schoonhoven. Ms. Cook, featured in the second movement, sang from the Chapel lectern with incredible richness while accompanied by a stream of sound from the chorus (interestingly, this solo was sung by a boy in the work’s premiere). The soprano sectional sound in this movement was especially clean, as Brandau kept the combined sonority of soloist and chorus steady. Kyle van Schoonhoven is a Westminster Choir College graduate who has done well, singing with opera companies throughout the country. From the Chapel lectern, his solid tenor sound fit in well with the upper choral voices that provided the bulk of the responding text in the fourth movement, with the basses answering “Alliluiya.” Both soloist and chorus created more fervency in the text, ending the movement with a joyful character.

In his introductory remarks to the concert, Brandau suggested that the audience “let the music come to you and wash over you.” This was easy to do in the University Chapel, but what the audience missed was listening for the different types of chants Rachmaninoff employed in the piece. Znamenny, the oldest form of unison, melismatic Orthodox chant, figures prominently in this work, contrasted with Rachmaninoff’s use of Greek and regional Russian chant, as well as chants of his own composition. Without knowing the details of the chant setting, the piece runs the risk of becoming a set of homophonic movements with no connection or delineation. However, the audience present at the University Chapel on Saturday night seemed committed to supporting Pro Musica throughout the season, including this concert of challenging Russian choral works.

November 6, 2012

Thirty-three years is a long time for a chorus to be under the leadership of one person, and when the reins change hands, there are surely adjustments all the way around. Ryan James Brandau, the new artistic director of Princeton Pro Musica, wisely chose for his first concert with the ensemble pieces which were right in the chorus’s wheelhouse. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem is a work well in the comfort zone of Pro Musica, as is the music of J.S. Bach, and both composers are a good vehicle for the chorus and conductor to become acquainted. Dr. Brandau and the 100-voice Pro Musica presented the first fruits of this collaboration on Sunday afternoon at Richardson Auditorium with a concert of Mozart and Bach which showed that this new relationship is clearly working out.

A work originally composed for a funeral might not seem a good piece to celebrate Brandau’s beginning tenure with Pro Musica, but the one-movement O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht is vintage Bach, especially in the composer’s own second “arrangement” including trumpets. Conducting without a baton, Brandau presented a smooth and peaceful interpretation of this piece, blending strings and trumpets well. He kept the sopranos of Pro Musica restrained with the chorale tune, with the tenor section sounding particularly unstressed. Brandau brought out the lower voices of the chorus, effectively eliciting relaxed phrase cadences from the ensemble, aided by the small and precise orchestral ensemble. Especially subtle trumpet parts were provided by Rodney Mack and Thomas Cook.

As a nod to his predecessor, Brandau programmed an instrumental work to give the chorus a rest and show the more virtuostic side of Bach. Solo violinist Elizabeth Field, well-versed in 18th-century performance practice, joined the orchestra for Bach’s three-movement Violin Concerto in E Major, which could easily have been a seventh “Brandenburg” concerto, containing the same chipper spirit in a bright key. As with concerti of the time, soloist Ms. Field played with the ensemble for much of the time, coming out of the instrumental fabric with clean sequences, rhythms, and melodies. Phrases had elegant direction from all players, and Ms. Field added color to the solo line on cadenzas. In the second movement, Ms. Field played the countermelody with more richness and a bit of Romanticism, showing that Bach was not all about virtuoso playing. Ensemble and soloist maintained a graceful lilt to the third movement rondo, showing especially delicate endings to the instrumental refrains.

Pro Musica had its chance to shine in Mozart’s Requiem, performed from an edition which may not have been familiar to all chorus members and which added new fugal passages to the score. As Mozart aficionados know, the composer died in mid-composition of the piece, and “how would Mozart have finished this” has been one of the great musicological mysteries for the past two hundred years. In the 1990s, scholar Robert Levin presented his version, which gave the chorus additional challenging music, but which may have taken some drama out of the orchestral writing, particularly in the “Benedictus.” This was the version performed by Pro Musica on Sunday afternoon, challenging the audience to pay a bit more attention to a piece they may have thought they knew backwards and forwards.

Throughout the piece, Brandau maintained a well-balanced sound from the chorus, with cleanly articulated fugal lines in the “Kyrie,” “Amen,” the “Lacrymosa,” and “Cum Sanctis Tuis” which closed the work. He is clearly a stickler for detail, and there were very few false entrances or final consonants spilling over. His approach to the piece, with attention to word accents and gradual dynamic builds within the movements would make the work easy to sing for the chorus, with a great deal of musical variety within a well-contained scope of sound. The orchestra continued its precise approach to the music, with especially clean playing from cellists Jodi Beder and Elizabeth Thompson and clarinetists Daniel Spitzer and Rie Suzuki in the Recordare quartet. A trio of trombones, played by Brian Mahany, Richard Harris, and Pat Herb, subtly balanced the lower registers of the orchestra and reminded the audience that Mozart was on his way to the 19th century when he wrote this piece.

The chorus was joined by a quartet of vocal soloists, several of whom have local connections. Soprano Justine Aronson possessed a youthful and clear voice which matched the clarinet color perfectly in some of the quartet passages. Ms. Aronson also showed particular sensitivity to the text, especially on the words “supplicanti parce” (“spare the supplicant”). Mezzo-soprano Amanda Quist blended well with Ms. Aronson, showing the strength of her sound in the “Benedictus” quartet, as did tenor Christopher Hodson. The most unique singer to appear on the Richardson stage recently by far was bass-baritone Dashon Burton, who easily is headed for a great career. With a terrific set of waist-length dreadlocks which breaks the traditional “classical singer” visual mode, Mr. Burton combined self-assuredness, a commanding voice, and precision gained from singing in top-notch choral ensembles to provide a solid foundation to the vocal quartet. One definitely wants to hear more from this singer.

Ryan James Brandau and Princeton Pro Musica performed this concert on the eve of the “frankenstorm” threatening New Jersey. Brandau did not announce his arrival like a hurricane, but rather with a solid performance which foretells great things to come with the chorus.


October 24, 2012

MUSICAL MAGIC: “The musical ability of the singers in Princeton Pro Musica is high. I’m not at all constrained in the choice of repertoire. We’ll continue with most of the well-loved pieces as well as new ones. We also look forward to some collaboration with other arts groups.” Ryan Brandau, new artistic director of Princeton Pro Musica, looks forward to the organization’s upcoming season.

Providing beautiful choral music to the Princeton community has been the goal of Princeton Pro Musica for 33 years.

As its mission statement points out: “Princeton Pro Musica exists to perform choral masterworks and other works of the choral literature with energy, passion, and uncompromising artistic excellence. We believe in the power of choral music to uplift and transform our audiences, performers, and communities.”

Begun in 1979, the organization was founded by singer and choral conductor Frances Fowler Slade. At that time, a small singing group was sponsored by the YWCA, recalls Princeton resident and long-time Princeton Pro Musica singer Simon (Sy) Marchand. “I was a member of the Y group, which was the genesis of Princeton Pro Musica.”

Once under way, with approximately 30 singers, all amateurs but serious, experienced musicians from the Princeton area, the group rehearsed at the Y, notes Princeton Pro Musica executive director Mary Trigg. “They quickly outgrew the space, however. The group expanded so quickly under Ms. Slade’s leadership. Soon, there were 80 singers — there have never been fewer than that, and this season, we have 105.”

High Standards

The singers, who range in age from 18 to 70-plus, are serious musicians, and many continue to study voice. They must audition every year, and the standards are very high. In addition to the amateur musicians, there is a core group of eight professional singers.

Many singers have been with the organization over time, including some for 20, even 30 years. Simon Marchand is an original member and continues to sing with the group. “The community did not have a real community chorus, and Princeton Pro Musica started off as a community creation and has retained that flavor. It is something Princeton can be proud of.

“Personally, I love the weekly rehearsals, when you can hear it all coming together, and hear the sounds that really transport you. The sound that is produced is like no musical instrument.”

The importance and enjoyment of the rehearsal to the musicians is emphasized again and again. Princeton resident Jan Johnson, former children’s librarian at the Princeton Public Library, has been a member of Princeton Pro Musica since its beginning, and she is also a member of the organization’s smaller Chamber Chorus.

“When I think of music, I can hear harmony, but I need to sing with other people because I can only sing one note at a time. I prefer choral singing because it’s like being on a team. One of the things that makes it so special is this group of people who have such a strong commitment, take the music very seriously, and work very hard. The rewards are commensurate with the effort.

“And, we provide high quality performances for the community. People don’t have to go to New York or Philadelphia to hear beautiful music.”

Original Instrument

After a career in music and business in New York, executive director Mary Trigg has been singing with Princeton Pro Musica since 1998 (as did her father before her). She is proud of the quality of the performances the chorus brings to the Princeton area.

“These performances are experienced singers and the scope of musical works that this group has presented is impressive. The voice is the original instrument. The combined choral music is a unique combination of words and music, supported by instruments, and is unlike any other form of music.”

Princeton Pro Musica plans four concerts for the 2012-13 season by the full chorus, as well as a series of performances by the Chamber Chorus, consisting of 24 members who sing a cappella.

The full chorus will perform Mozart’s Requiem, K 626 and Bach’s O Jesu Christ meins Lebens Licht, BWV 118 at Richardson Auditorium on Sunday, October 28 at 3 p.m. Its 42nd performance of Handel’s Messiah — a holiday tradition — will be presented at Patriots’ Theater, Trenton War Memorial on December 16. Performances in 2013 will take place in March and May.

These and future performances will be under the leadership of the new artistic director Ryan Brandau, who recently joined the organization after Ms. Slade’s retirement.

“We had a national search for director, and considered  53 candidates,” says Ms. Trigg. “Ryan was an outstanding choice.”

Superior Musicianship

Previously the artistic director of the Santa Clara Chorale in California and director of choral activities at Santa Clara University, Brandau has also worked with choirs at colleges and churches in Massachusetts and Connecticut. A Princeton University graduate, he has received graduate degrees from the University of Cambridge and the Yale School of Music.

“Both our board and our chorus believe Brandau possesses just the right mix of superior musicianship, organizational and community relations skills, experience programming from a diverse yet compelling repertoire, and a personal/professional philosophy compatible with Princeton Pro Musica’s mission,” says Jacques Lebel, immediate past president of Princeton Pro Musica’s Board of Trustees. He is an outstanding choice to become our new artistic director.”

Brandau looks forward to continuing to bring the combined voices of Princeton Pro Musica to area audiences. “It’s the magic of taking something that is ink on a page and transforming it into sound. For me, it’s a process of getting 100 people together and making that magic happen. I love it!”

Carolyn Landis, president of Princeton Pro Musica’s board of trustees and a singer with the group, looks forward to seeing the orginization thrive with the continued help of private donations, and funding from the Edward T. Cone Foundation, the New Jersey Cultural Trust, the Scheide Fund, and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State.

“In my role as president, the most gratifying aspect is to see how well established and strong Princeton Pro Musica is. This is so important. Of course, the music is primary. The real essence for me is the weekly reshearsal, the opportunity to be transported to a higher level. Within the greater Princeton community, we hope to inspire hundreds, even thousands, of people with our performances of traditional and contemporary classical chord music.”

For further information, call (609) 683-5122, or contact www.princetonpromusica.org.

August 8, 2012

Mercer County arts institutions have won over $1.5 million of this year’s New Jersey State Council on the Arts total gift of $15.7 million to organizations throughout the state.

Among the highest area award-winners are the American Boychoir School ($147,120); the Arts council of Princeton ($46,158); McCarter Theatre ($626,820); People & Stories/Gente y Cuentos ($15,248); Princeton Pro Musica ($14,647); and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra ($45,592).

“I’m very moved by the State of New Jersey’s generous funding of so many arts organizations across the state,” said People & Stories Executive Director Pat Andres. “This signals the state’s appreciation of the benefits of the arts for residents of all ages. It also demonstrates sound fiscal sense, because the arts really generate income.”

“The American Boychoir School is highly honored by this funding and recognition,” commented president and CEO Dean Ornton. He also expressed the school’s pleasure at being among a “wonderful peer group” of winners, which includes nearly 800 arts organizations, projects, and individuals statewide.

According to a recent study by Dun & Bradstreet on arts and economic prosperity, New Jersey is home to more than 25,000 arts-related businesses. “This study supports what New Jersey already knows; that a vibrant arts and cultural sector are crucial in developing a prepared workforce, attracting and retaining businesses, and fostering the creative thinking and innovation that will keep us competitive for years to come,” said Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno when the awards were announced.

The New Jersey State Arts Council describes its mission as “enabling the cultural community of New Jersey to create those public values for the benefit of all New Jerseyans, both those that are intrinsic and those that are instrumental such as fostering quality education, stimulating economic development, bolstering tourism and building New Jersey pride.” The Council receives funding in direct appropriations from the State of New Jersey through a dedicated hotel and motel occupancy fee, and through grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

In addition to financial awards, the Arts Council of Princeton, McCarter Theatre, and People & Stories received “citations of excellence,” and the American Boychoir School, McCarter, and Princeton Symphony Orchestra each received a “designation of significant impact” from the state.

The awards are given, for the most part for the “general support” of an organization’s operations, and this, said Ms. Andres is a particularly “wonderful” thing.

“It’s harder to garner than program support, but you can’t offer the programs unless your general operating support is in place,” she explained. “It’s a sound philanthropic approach that ultimately supports programs by supporting the infrastructure of the organization.”

Ms. Andres said that she was also heartened by the evidence of the state’s “core belief in the power of the humanities and arts.” While many may acknowledge the intrinsic value of the arts, she added, arts budgets are often the first to be cut during challenging times.

This is the fourth consecutive year that People & Stories has won a grant; for the American Boychoir School “it’s been a wonderful 25 years of support that we’ve enjoyed,” reported Mr. Orton. The gift “allows for us to tool around the country as ambassadors of New Jersey. It’s vital to our operation; I can’t say thank you enough.”

Criteria used by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts in awarding its annual grants include high artistic quality in pursuit of a mission that provides/creates public benefit and value; significant public benefit and broad accessibility based on sound understanding of who is/will be served that is clear, measured, and documented; sound governance, management and operations based on sound strategic planning; fiscal soundness and accountability with evidence of broad and diverse financial support; and commitment to arts education and to providing opportunities for meaningful arts learning.


May 23, 2012

Thirty-three years, or a third of a century, is a long time in any organization’s history. In her pre-concert remarks, Princeton Pro Musica Artistic Director Frances Fowler Slade commented that when she first wanted to start a chorus in Princeton she was told that “the last thing Princeton needed was another music ensemble.” On the contrary, in the past thirty years, the Princeton area has exploded with high-quality musical performances, and Princeton Pro Musica has grown right along with the musical community. After thirty-three years, Ms. Slade has decided to pass on the Pro Musica baton to a new choral visionary, and the chorus honored its founder on Sunday afternoon with a final performance under Ms. Slade’s direction. Choosing what could be the most towering choral work going, Ms. Slade, chorus, soloists and orchestra brought J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor to spirited life in Richardson Auditorium.

It surely was not easy to conduct the last concert of an ensemble that she has brought up like a child, but Ms. Slade was all business when it came to Bach’s intricate music. Tempi were quick with instrumental soloists finding nuance within the speed, and the chorus showed off three decades of choral discipline in its handling of coloratura runs. Movements which often get bogged down in over-romanticization moved right along, with the pathos and poignancy of the Biblical text conveyed by Baroque phrasing and tapered cadences.

Bach probably never heard all the components of this monumental work performed together as a single unit in his lifetime, but since the 19th-century revival of interest in Bach’s music and evolution of the choral society it has become a staple of choral performance, featuring up to five choral parts and four soloists, accompanied by Baroque orchestra. Soloists for Sunday’s performance included singers who had a history with Pro Musica, as well as newcomers. Soprano Mary Ellen Callahan had her hands full with a very quick “Laudamus Te,” but handled the tempo well without feeling rushed. Ms. Callahan was well matched with mezzo-soprano Alyson Harvey, with whom she shared two duets. These two singers were especially cognizant of each other in the “Et in unum Dominum” duet, as phrases flowed among singers and violins.

Ms. Harvey had two very tough arias, closing phrases particularly well in the mezzo aria from the “Gloria” section. Her phrasing never felt rushed, despite the difficulty of the passages, and she was elegantly accompanied by oboe d’amore player Caroline Park. Ms. Harvey was also key in closing the entire mass, singing a haunting yet crystalline “Agnus Dei” which summed up the imploring text leading up to this point and making the final chorus all the more glorious.

Tenor Robert Petillo brought a long history of Bach performance to this concert, drawing on his experience as a Bach passion evangelist to present the “Benedictus” text with the authority of a preacher, as the flute obbligato, gracefully played by Mary Schmidt, chased the vocal phrases. Mr. Petillo collaborated well with Ms. Callahan in a duet from the “Gloria,” with Mr. Petillo handling well some unusually quirky word placement. Bass Kevin Deas, who has been heard with Pro Musica numerous times, was as commanding as he has been in previous performances, maintaining especially well the long vocal lines of “Et in spiritum sanctum.” In this aria Mr. Deas was accompanied by two oboi d’amore (played by Ms. Park and Nathan Mills), which was a special treat since it is rare enough to hear one oboe d’amore, much less two. In a previous choral section, Ms. Slade wisely re-assigned a very difficult bass choral line to Mr. Deas, who presented the resurrection text with affirmation and conviction.

More than anything else, this performance was about Pro Musica and what Frances Slade has created over the past thirty-three years. The choral movements were full of the trademark Pro Musica blocks of sound, with especially clean runs in very quick tempi. As could be expected, the vocal musicians sang their hearts out, and the sections were always well-balanced. Most energetic among the choral movements was the “Et expecto” section which closed the “Symbolum Nicenum,” with the chorus flying through runs and three trumpets adding a joyous touch. As also should have been expected, all performers, and especially Ms. Slade, were clearly pleased with themselves as the ensemble celebrated its past and looked toward new beginnings.