SMU Chorale to perform Puccini’s ‘Messa’

Local talent collaborating on sacred work

February 26, 2008

Lacey, Washington — The Saint Martin’s University Chorale will be teaming up with the Olympia Chamber Orchestra, South Puget Sound Community College Choir and Opera Pacifica to perform Puccini’s “Messa di Gloria” this Saturday, March 1. The event begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts at South Puget Sound Community College, 2011 Mottman Rd. SW, Olympia, WA 98512.

Under the direction of Claudia Simpson Jones, the performance will feature tenor soloist Brother Aelred Woodard, O.S.B., artist in residence at Saint Martin’s University. “We are fortunate to have a nationally recognized tenor in our midst,” says SMU Assistant Professor of Music Darrell Born. “Our students benefit from the opportunity to hear and perform with Brother Aelred. He is a superb role model and mentor to our young vocalists.”

Born has spent the first part of the semester preparing Saint Martin’s choral students for the “Messa,” a sacred work consisting of five movements. “It is a beautiful piece,” remarks Born. “In it, Puccini doubles the vocal lines with strings for a rich, dramatic effect.”

Ticket prices for the performance are $18 for general admission, $12 for students and seniors, and $5 for children. No advance tickets are available; tickets must be purchased at the door. For more information, call the Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts at 360-596-5501.

Saint Martin’s University is an independent four-year, Catholic, coeducational university located on a 320-acre wooded campus in Lacey, Washington. Established in 1895 by the Catholic Order of Saint Benedict, the University is one of 18 Benedictine colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, and the only one west of the Rocky Mountains. Saint Martin’s University prepares students for successful lives through its 21 majors and six graduate programs spanning the liberal arts, business, education and engineering. Saint Martin’s welcomes 1,250 students from many ethnic and religious backgrounds to its main campus, and 650 more to its five extension campuses located at Fort Lewis Army Post, McChord Air Force Base, Olympic College, Centralia College and Tacoma Community College.

For additional information:

Darrell Born
Music Department director
360-486-4506
dborn@stmartin.edu