Schola Cantorum on Hudson to Present THRESHOLDS, 5/19 & 20

By: May. 10, 2012
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In its concert season given to the theme of Healing, Schola Cantorum on Hudson (SCH) presents 'Thresholds,' featuring the chamber premier ofB ellagio Resident Andrea Clearfield's cantata Tse Go La ('At the threshold of this life').

Tse Go La derives its inspiration from the composer's experiences studying chant and folk music in the Tibetan community of Lo Monthang, located in a remote and restricted Himalayan region of Nepal. The 30-minute cantata is scored for double chorus, three percussionists (some native to the region), harp, flute, piano and electronics.  In the cantata's six movements, thresholds (or transitions) into, through, and out of life on this earth are explored and experienced through music and poetry of this threatened culture. With encouragement and support from the Lo Monthang community, Clearfield andanthropologist Katey Blumenthal together recorded over 100 folk songs, previously undocumented.  It is upon some of this material that Tse Go La was composed.

  • Listen to composer Andrea Clearfield talk about her experiences in Nepal and how she incorporated Tibetan chants and instruments into her new composition, Tse Go La: Click here.
  • Read about the composer's trek into the Himalayas:  Click here.
 'Thresholds' is SCH's annual focus on a selected culture or nationality through its Ethnic Celebration Series. 
 
"Working with Andrea [Clearfield] is both an honor and a joy," comments SCH Artistic Director Deborah Simpkin King.  "The reality of our bringing forward in performance the sounds and thoughts of people on the other side of the world, from a culture so very different from ours, provides a global connection that is, I believe, a very tangible part of the 'healing' of the human condition."  The notion of 'life as an ongoing cycle of thresholds' is extended through additional material including SCH's Featured Composer Ivo Antognini's 'Life is a Circle,' and other selections.
 
SCH is joined by the Caldwell College Choir (this season's Cantorum Young Singers), under the direction of Dr. Laura Greenwald, in both the Manhattan and Montclair, NJ performances of Thresholds.


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