Ragazzi Boys Chorus to Present Holiday Concert MAGNIFICENT WONDERS in December

Ragazzi Boys Chorus will lift their voices with festive songs of the holiday season in the concert Magnificent Wonders. Featuring Ragazzi's Concert Group, Choral Scholars, and Young Men's Ensemble, this evening of marvelous music is filled with treasured yuletide favorites as well as stunning choral pieces, celebrating the season of wonder. Led by Artistic and Executive Director Kent Jue, Magnificent Wonders will perform 1pm PST Saturday, December 3 2022 at First United Methodist Church in Palo Alto and 4pm PST Sunday, December 11, 2022 at Old First Church in San Francisco. For tickets ($15-$45) and more information the public may visit Ragazzi.org or call (650) 362-4425.

For Magnificent Wonders, Ragazzi is joined by special guest artists from the Cal Arte Ensemble, who will provide accompaniment for several pieces within the program. These musicians include Julian Brown (violin), Brandon Wang (violin), Goetz Leonhardt (viola), and Sam Cotta (cello)

Spotlighting the magic of the holiday season, Magnificent Wonders will include a wide variety of songs in its festive repertoire. Among the works offered by Ragazzi's Concert Group (CG) and Choral Scholars (CS) is Movement I of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's euphoric Magnificat, Andy Brooke's buoyant arrangement of the English traditional carol I Saw Three Ships, and Stuart Nicholson's vibrant arrangement of Christmas classic Ding Dong! Merrily on High with organ accompaniment. The two groups will also perform Ola Gjeilo's flowing and resplendent Ecce Novum and Rosephanye Powell's striking Non Nobis Domine. CG will then perform an exquisite rendition of Ave Maria by Johann Sebastian Bach and Charles Gounod, as well as John Rutter's masterful anthem For the Beauty of the Earth.

During this thrilling performance, Young Men's Ensemble (YME) will perform Franz Biebl's breathtaking Ave Maria, Chad Weirick's sparkling arrangement of the traditional English carol A-Wassailing!, and Ola Gjeilo's haunting setting of Ave Generosa, with text by Hildegard von Bingen. YME will also sing Via Olatunji and Wendell Whalum's dramatic and engaging Nigerian carol Betelehemu; Stephen Main's mysterious yet joyful The Darkest Midnight in December; Shawn Kirchner's lively Brightest and Best based on an American hymn tune with text by Reginald Heber; and Ken Berg's dynamic gospel-infused Come and See the King.

All Ragazzi ensembles will then come together to sing Dan Forrest's tender and elegant Shalom, urging peace for all with its text "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives; do not be afraid." The full chorus will close the concert with William McKee's rendition of the jubilant holiday staple Joy to the World by Isaac Watts.

Peninsula-based Ragazzi Boys Chorus is one of the San Francisco Bay Area's premier music and performance organizations for boys. Currently, more than 180 boys from over 100 schools in 30+ Bay Area communities participate in the program. Ragazzi means "boys" in Italian and is the term used in opera to refer to children's voices. Ragazzi has performed with the San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Symphony, Opera San Jose, West Bay Opera, Symphony Silicon Valley, Masterworks Chorale, and the Stanford University Symphonic Chorus among others. The group has toured throughout the United States and internationally. Ragazzi was honored for its contribution to the San Francisco Symphony's triple Grammy Award-winning recording of Stravinsky's Perséphone, and has five CDs available: A Holiday Collection, Canciones de Alabanza, Magnificat: My Spirit Rejoices, Splendors of the Italian Baroque, and I Dream A World.