OSSCS Present Pulcinella & Christmas Oratorio in November and December

Orchestra Seattle and the Seattle Chamber Singers (OSSCS) present two unusual concerts for the holiday season and OSSCS will be the only ensemble in the Seattle area performing Bach's Christmas Oratorio. For the November concert guest conductor Joseph Pollard White chose two of his favorite compositions as anchors, both pieces were written in the 1920s and based on music from centuries past. Igor Stravinsky's neoclassical Suite from Pulcinella references the work of Mozart and Bach, and Ralph Vaughan Williams' a capella Mass in G Minor is steeped in the sixteenth century's English Rennaissance style. Soloists for Vaughn Williams' Mass in G Minor include: Catherine Haight, soprano; Kathryn Weld, alto; Dustin Kaspar, tenor and Charles Robert Stephens, baritone.

Handel's Concerto Grosso in G Major, Op. 6 No. 1, Eric Whitacre's Five Hebrew Love Songs with soprano Peggy Kurtz, the world premiere of Short Stories, a piece for wind quintet by Seattle's own Huntley Beyer and the first movement of Vanhal's Concerto in D for Double Bass complete the afternoon program. The Vanhal concerto features double bassist Nick Masters, winner of Seattle University's Second Annual Concerto Competition.

For the holidays, Hans Jürgen Schnoor travels from Lübeck Germany to lead Bach's beloved Christmas Oratorio on December 18. One of Germany's leading performers of early keyboard music, Herr Schnoor is also a noted conductor of period instrument performances of Bach's instrumental and choral works. The Christmas Oratorio, also known as "Germany's Messiah," is performed in six parts and OSSCS will perform it in its entirety. Soloists include Maike Albrecht, soprano; Melissa Plagemann, alto; Wesley Rogers, tenor; and Stephen Tachell, baritone.

General Admission tickets are $20 for adults; $18 for seniors; $10 for students; and youth ages 7-17 are FREE. They are available through Brown Paper Tickets by phone at 1-800-838-3006, online at www.brownpapertickets.com and www.osscs.org. Free parking is available at First Free Methodist Church. For more information please call 206-682-5208, or visit www.osscs.org.

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