The 80-voice Music in the Mountains (MIM) Chorus, along with the organization’s professional orchestra brings a performance of the famous masterpiece, “Carmina Burana” to Nevada County on Monday, July 1st at the Don Baggett Theater.
The group has been in demand in recent years, singing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Auburn Symphony at the Mondavi Center on Mother’s Day last year and recently fulfilling a request to sing with the Folsom Lake Symphony at Harris Center in Folsom on June 8 and 9. The Chorus will bring their sought-after performance home on July 1, performing Carmina Burana with the 65-piece professional MIM Orchestra at the Don Baggett Theater at Nevada Union High School.
Featured soloists include beloved soprano, Carrie Hennessey, tenor Daniel Ebbers, and baritone Robert Balonek. Hennessey performed a breath-taking solo event at The Center for the Arts on Saturday, June 22nd. She is known for her soaring voice and richly nuanced characters and has sung all over the world. Ebbers’ melodic tenor has enchanted audiences. His most recent solo appearance was with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra with Marin Alsop conducting Richard Einhorn’s critically acclaimed Voices of Light: The Passion of Joan of Arc. Balonek has been Praised by the NY Times as having a “Commanding, steely baritone and a direct, crystal-clear delivery’. These world-class performers will join Music in the Mountains for this one night engagement.
“Our chorus has improved exponentially since the pandemic, which is why we are in demand in the region” comments Ryan Murray, MIM Artistic Director and Choral Conductor. “We continued to rehearse via Zoom during the lockdown, and each singer was able to hear and fine-tune their own voice. As our reputation and exciting repertoire expand, we are attracting more and more new singers.”
Carmina Burana is a famous secular piece that is likely the most widely performed choral work today. This exciting masterpiece by Carl Orff celebrates the joys of taverns, nature, love and lust. Most people will recognize passages from the piece, which are frequently used in movies and commercials.
The concert at the Don Baggett Theater will also spotlight Grammy Award-winning violinist Jessie Montgomery’s “Hymn to Everyone,” a colorful orchestral piece that provides a contrast to Carmina Burana. This piece was originally commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2022.
Tickets for are available at www.musicinthemountains.org, or the MIM Box Office at (530) 265-6124.
Music in the Mountains is a nonprofit organization that pairs world-class musical performances with a deep commitment to music education. Tickets for all SummerFest concerts are available now.