The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Christine Fairfield & Michael Slon Joined Alex Urpí & Nickolas Urpí On "Today y Mañana!"

Episode Date: December 5, 2024

Christine Fairfield & Michael Slon of The Oratorio Society of Virginia joined Alex Urpí & Nickolas Urpí On “Today y Mañana!” “Today y Mañana” airs every Thursday at 10:15 am on The I Love CVille Network! “Today y Mañana” is presented by Emergent Financial Services, LLC, Craddock Insurance Services Inc, Charlottesville Opera and Matthias John Realty, with Forward Adelante.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Today y Mañana. I'm Alex. This is Nick. We're super excited to have you joining us on a windy morning here in Charlottesville, Virginia. But that's just a great opportunity to stay indoors, get into your cozy place, grab your café con leche, and watch some Today y Mañana. So we're excited for it. Love being here on the I Love Seville Network set. Big thank yous, of course, to our presenter, Emergent Financial Services, and to our awesome partners, Mattias Yon Realty, Charlottesville Opera, Credit Series Insurance, and all our amazing partners. So we love them all, and we appreciate them all. And I appreciate that Nick is on here with me.

This pair has been seen in a while. Who wanted to be here because it's Christmas, but he was unfortunately delayed. That's all right. That's all right. So yeah, this has been the longest non. I'm pretty sure I've been on with Xavier in the last six months. I've been on with Michael.

I'm not sure I've been on with you in the last six months. No, we said that within the last six months, though. We have been. We did a show. We did? Yes, yes, we did about a month or so ago. Not very memorable, according to you, but the guests were great. I loved

when Christy and Michael walked in and they saw me and they're like, oh, it's no Xavier. That was my reaction when I was in prison. But we are, as Nick mentioned and as you probably heard before, we had the cameras on. We're going to be joined by

two awesome guests. We're going to be joined by Christine Fairfield and Michael Slahn. We're going to be talking, of course, Christine is from the Oratorial Society of Virginia. Michael is from so many things, but among them are the Oratorial Society of Virginia, the UVA Singers, and the what is it, Charlottesville? The Charlott Oratorial Society of Virginia, the UVA Singers, and the, what is it, Charlottesville?

The Charlottesville Symphony will be involved with the UVA Singers for the family holiday concert that we'll also be talking about. Already got some people tuning in. Monika Miller from Montana is tuning in this morning. She's good morning, Monika. Dr. Elizabeth Erpey is giving us a shout out so thank you Dr. Erpe we appreciate it like and share is what Xavier likes to say

like and share send us questions, comments we love reading them we love sharing them I think we have even more who is this sometimes I have to do the little eyeball to see who else is watching.

Timothy Allen, liking the show. Judy Ann Watchitch-Smith. I hope I pronounced that right. Singers. Liking it. So we appreciate everyone who is joining us.

It's always done. Oh, I think, did you mention Jeremy Wilson, Vanessa Parco, Marlene Jones liked the show this morning. So thanks everyone. Already, I think, did you mention Jeremy Wilson, Vanessa Parko, Marlene Jones? Yep. Liked the show this morning, so thanks everyone.

Already, I love it when we've already got people tuning in. We haven't even started yet. That tells you how excited we are. Everyone's excited to hear the news. So we've got a lot to cover. The big, I think the one where you should still be able to buy tickets is going to be Oratorio Society of Virginia Christmas at the Paramount, 730 on December 21st. That is a Saturday, if I'm

correct. But I say, I'm ready to jump right into it. Let's do it. Let's do it. So we are excited to welcome this morning Christine Fairfield, Executive Director, I think is the title, for Oratorio Society of Virginia, and Michael Slon, Conductor, Executive Director, I think is the title, for Oratory Society of Virginia. And Michael Slon, Conductor, I guess, Music Director. Music Director. Maestro. On the seventh day he rested.

And so forth for Oratory Society. Maybe not quite that far. Christine, Michael, thanks for coming on today. Thank you. Yeah, always a pleasure. It's always so great to have you guys on. So, I mean, where can we start? Maybe we can start with the Oratory Society. Do we want to start with the one that we can, there's still some tickets.

Messiah Singin' 2 has tickets. Oh, Messiah Singin'? But you're right, yeah, we can go backwards in time. We'll go backwards in time. We'll do it the furthest to the closest. Let's do that because I'd like to, because I know that Christine and Michael both the Oratory Society, and so I'd like to get, Because there was also a Benjamin Brinton story we were promised,

so I want to make sure we get to those things first and at least cover that basis. So maybe let's start with, tell us a little bit about what people will be able to expect at the Christmas at the Paramount this year. Go ahead. Well, so, you know, as the community knows,

the Oratory Society, which is our kind of large, continuous community chorus here in the area, we have, of course, and even a little bit of audience sing-along, with also guest choirs from two area places. We have Regents Scola Cantorum and our partner group also, Voces Lete, which Will Cook from Charlottesville High School leads. And then we also as part of that program always present one more substantial work, meaning in terms of length, compositional content, etc.

So this year that will be the Britain Ceremony of Carols, which I think a lot of people do know and features harp. And then we'll have also a few soloists, and we have brass quintet as well for those performances. Did I miss anything, Christine?

Yeah. Do you want to say anything about our soloist? Well, sure. Well, we have some soloists right from the chorus. One of them is sitting next to me. Oh, wow. Not what I meant, but sure. Fantastic singer, as well as executive director.

But also, yeah, we do have a guest artist with us, Chuan-Wan Liu, who is one of my former students at UVA. He's a countertenor. He went on to the Bard Conservatory. He has been a semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera Competition. Obviously the only countertenor the year that he was a semifinalist. He has sung with the Philadelphia Orchestra

and so on. And he has moved back to the region and so we were able to get him to join us for these concerts. Can you tell us a little bit about, because I think probably a lot of our audience will recognize tenor, soprano, and baritone. What is a countertenor?

So a countertenor is generally a male singer who sings in what we would consider a female range, mezzo or even up to soprano. So what they do is they have a, it's usually not a mix, it's usually a highly developed falsetto that has a ton of resonance and really, you know, beautiful. And often very agile, very virtuosic. Yeah. And Xuan Wan is also very musical and expressive, highly intentional when he sings. And so you will hear

a male singing in a higher range than a tenor, than normal. Not than normal, than we are accustomed to. And there are other pieces. Sometimes if people do Bernstein, Chichester psalms

and they don't want to risk having a child soloist, although I prefer that kind of for the innocence of it. But a lot of people will use a countertenor for that. John Adams, you know, the contemporary composer, has written pieces that have three countertenors. El Nino, his kind of modern messiah, has three countertenors.

For many people, that might be a new experience. I think it could be. And a beautiful one. I'm pretty sure I heard a countertenor, Charlottesville Opera had one earlier this year in one of their, I think it was the event where tons of people sang. Oh, great. And it's an interesting and a beautiful, beautiful tone.

It is a beautiful, yeah, absolutely. Listen to. Yeah, absolutely. Rory Shaw, tuning in this morning, the wonderful Holly Sloan. She's the best, she's the best. Thank you for joining us this morning. So you've got this

amazing soloist, and then what I love about, because I went last year with Elizabeth to the Christmas of the Paramount, and one of the fun things I remembered is you've got your different, you know, your familiar tarots, your familiar tunes

but there's always like a kind of central piece that's a little larger in scope that people can kind of enjoy and really almost dig into a little more because it's not just five minutes long. This year I'm guessing that's Benjamin Britten's ceremony of tarots. Can you tell us a little bit because it's not just five minutes long. This year, I'm guessing that's Benjamin Britten's ceremony of carols. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

What would you say, Christine? Eleven movements, I think? Yes, ten. It's framed by the chant, Haudier chant, Christus Natus Est, which Britten used to kind of bookend the carols. He found this book of old poetry, and it's mainly, I want to say, Middle English, right? And then he set these originally for a treble choir. SSA.

SSA. But within a year of its composition, it was arranged also SATB, excuse me, Soprano Alto Tenor Bass, which is what our chorus is. So that means, you know, kind of a contemporary adult chorus with men and women can do the piece as well.

And we did it once, you know, maybe a decade or more before, but the choir loves this piece. Most choirs love it. It's a great piece. And there's a very interesting story about its composition, which is, it was 1942, so right in the middle of World War II. Britain was coming back from America to England, and he had a couple manuscripts with him, including the Hymn to Saint Cecilia, another famous written piece. Excuse me.

And they were confiscated by customs because of some crazy theory that they had codes in them, you know. So now he gets on the boat. So he starts rewriting the Hymn to St. Cecilia, and on that journey, which took quite a while, he was writing

Ceremony of Carolols on the ocean on the ocean liner you see can you imagine that and as he probably had to dream it up imagine it mainly in his head and amidst whatever the sea waves were like not to mention you boats you know we're patrolling I mean this is not the most dangerous journey at that point. And he was able to focus enough to write this beautiful music. That's amazing. What can you wonder if the first one hadn't been confiscated?

Well, that one... Like if St. Cecilia hadn't been confiscated from him, would he have just taken a journey, or were his musical juices flowing because he had to rewrite this piece that was encompassing? Interesting. Wow. But he was in top form, as the audiences will hear

when they come to the concert. Yeah. That's amazing. Fascinating. What a story. And such a great composer, really. In my opinion, of the um most important musical artists composers of the 20th century was yeah i think so yeah i feel like every like

there's people who like classical music are very exposed to britain and then there's and then it's just like you hear about him because i think there's the introductory what is the name of the piece that he wrote? Young People's Guide to the Orchestra. Yes, to the orchestra. And I feel like people will recognize that, but not have a chance necessarily to delve into a lot of his other works,

or they don't know how. Yeah, the operas or the choral pieces. Right, so this is a great chance because it's also a Christmas piece to enjoy that. 100%. That's wonderful, yeah. The other thing that's really special about that piece for me as a performer

is that the accompaniment is harp it's just harp and it's rhythmically and harmonically just incredibly sweet but also complex it shows off that instrument which won't be

you know you don't see harp on a big stage on a regular basis by itself certainly yeah you often you might see it part of a large orchestra but as the sole accompaniment to this work it does offer just kind of

a very festive and intimate. Some of the movements are very almost like lullabies. And some of them are really celebratory. And, you know, imagine Hark the Herald's butt with a Britain twist. And, yeah, we have a fabulous harpist coming from Richmond, Carly Lanham, that's going to be with us for those two concerts and I can't wait to hear her

it will be beautiful you're right about the intimacy you'd be surprised I think for a almost 90% chorus it is 90% the songs and the sounds can. Some of the songs and the sounds can be because of the range and the talent.

Not everything is... I think that's part of our job, right? To be able to have gorgeous pianissimo subtle moments, even with a big choir, and then in other moments, kind of I think unleash is the wrong word, but you know what I mean.

Like the end of the Beethoven. Beethoven 9 last spring. Which we also talked to you about. We could talk about that too, but let out that sound. Thank you. I will admit, and I told Michael

this, Alex and I are very particular about a very few, like we're not picky, but there's about two or three pieces in classical music where we are very, very picky. And one of them is Schubert's 8th and one of them is Beethoven's 9th. I think I can speak for both of us on that. And especially with the end of Beethoven's 9th,

we are extraordinarily like, we're very open-minded. There's just a couple recordings and composed that we really, really truly enjoy. There's a way it's done which we feel really captures what Beethoven tried to do. And you did it perfectly. Well, thank you. The orator

was like a master. It was like exactly how every moment was perfectly done. Like exactly as we felt like Beethoven really wanted it to be done. Thank you. It was a completely transformative experience. It's amazing to hear a lot. It was for the singers. It was very moving, that entire production last year,

but especially the end. Just out of curiosity as a sidebar, whose recordings are you big fans of? Herbert von Karahan. It's 1968. Herbert von Karahan yeah we like Karahan which one I think you've got like 1968 1968 I have a set that has him doing all with Berlin and it's in 1968

it's the combination very very frequently you will hear it done I don't know if it's a preference of conductors or a preference of choruses where it's just a little slow They really slow down the the part I go here the proximity at a normal pace But then the fourth movement comes and it's just a little slower and I think carry on just the opposite Well, I what I love the way in the way you did in the way Karahan does it that I particularly like is that there's that just orchestral double fugue

right before it hits the big moment that everyone is very familiar with. And a lot of, as Alex is saying, they slow it down and so it feels very stately, which is not what I imagined. And when I read the score, I'm like, it's not supposed to be like a stately

lead-up. It's supposed to be almost like a frenzied impact in this moment that's trying to get up to this big thing. So the fact that you were able to capture that, it's like all these different elements coming together in an orchestra

and then it just stops and then boom, chorus. That's like, for me, the climax of the whole piece is like the most important part. And you did it just right. It wasn't so fast that you can't tell what's going on. Like you can't hear the melodies. Fast for fast sake.

But it was fast enough so that you could feel like the music itself was getting out of control. But you're not. You want to have that drive. Yeah, exactly. That moment has a lot of, you know. And the energy. and I think you just also the strength of the chorus captured it yeah they did beautifully

and that's really I think one of the beauties of it because I noticed at that time I remember at last year's Christmas concert someone was even motivated to like sing along from the top top in the audience because the energy that just all those voices singing powerfully brings.

That's beautiful if it inspires someone to draw something out of themselves. And Christmas at the Paramount is always a good chance to do that because we actually invite the audience to sing with us. We do have a sing-along carol. Oh, there is one this year? Are you going to reveal what it is or do we have to go in person? Well, sure. I think it's Hark the Herald.

You can practice it before you come. Oh, that's what we need to do. Work on your harmonies. Oh, I can't do that. I'm like, no, I'm just going to enjoy everyone else. So I'm at that crossroads where I know too much about music so I can hear

myself completely not getting it right. But I'm also not good enough to get back into the room. I keep chasing the key. So you're saying we shouldn't pursue you for the auditions? No, do not call me out. Do not make me audition. Me and Xavier, I'm already nixing him even though he's not here.

He cannot sing. He cannot sing at all. He doesn't know what a bitch is. But it really is a beautiful experience. I was able to be there last year. And the Paramount is just beautiful. The Paramount is beautiful. Yeah, good decorations.

The decorations are beautifully done. You really do feel very festive as soon as you walk in, and you feel even more festive when you walk out. So it's people's feeling. Oh, wonderful. That's the idea. It's athlete. It really is a great experience.

And that will be December 21st at 730. And 230. And 230. But 230 is basically sold out. That's fair. What did we count? like, three seats left? Three on the main floor and two in the balcony, or one in the balcony, yeah.

That's fantastic. So if you are a solo person, you can still go to 2.30, or if you're willing to split up as a pair or a family, like, you can still go, but it's basically sold out. 7.30, so make sure you grab your tickets now, because I believe 7.30, too, the main orchestra. 730 is also doing quite well. Yeah, the main orchestra center has less than a handful of seats available, singletons.

And, yeah, still some in the sides and in the balcony. So jump on your tickets now. Like, oh, get them now. And where do we get the tickets? Theparamount.net. Exactly. Paramount dotnet exactly paramount dotnet you're good you're good you can do this one day I'll let you handle that I wasn't expecting the pop quiz where do we get the tickets and if you're unlucky and don't get a ticket for coming in person we do have a live stream option that's through our website, oratoriosociety.org. Unlimited capacity.

And that has an unlimited capacity. The more viewers, the better. That is for the 7.30 performance. And the link does stay up for a couple of weeks afterwards. So if you can't watch it live, if you have a conflict, but you still want to participate in watching it in the holiday spirit um or yeah or or just experience the paramount and the oratoria society for the first time if you've never been um that is another great way to use that we have that's awesome

but you get options you should put it on you know if you turn on your fireplace put it on your big screen yeah it'll be like you're this that's for our viewers in Miami, New York. I mean, if you're in Charlottesville, go. Go in person. Didn't you say someone's listening from Montana? Monica Miller from Montana. Wonderful. I know we have regular viewers from New York and Miami,

so I'm telling those people, you can check in. For sure. For sure. But you've got to be there because it's so much more powerful in person. So make sure you go. We want to see all the seats sold. A blanket of gray on the tickets.

Exactly. The nice thing is, we're not only here to talk about concerts that are almost sold out. We have more. We have more. So tell us, next up on our docket, moving closer. We're going more. So I mean, tell us next up on our docket moving closer. Okay, so we're backward. Yeah. We're going backward. So I believe this is next Tuesday. Next Tuesday, December 10th. Yeah. Is the Messiah singing. And this concert is actually

older than any of the other concerts. I shouldn't call it a concert. It's kind of an event. It's more than 50 years old. Started by my predecessor at UVA, Don Loach, and I think one of the first Messiah sing-ins in the country. There are now many of these around the country. And the idea is that the audience, all the seats in Old Cabell, are not people observing. There are people actively participating in singing Handel's music. And what we will do is, with a kind of a pickup orchestra on stage, we have a few pros in there, which will be great. We will work through various of the choruses and a few solos with guests of Handel's Messiah. And hundreds of people at the same moment, right?

We can have 500, 600 at this event typically, will get to sing it together. I mean, it brings to mind that phrase from the music, all flesh shall see it together. Because that's literally what happens at this event. And they get to be the performers. So it's not necessarily like you're just jumping in from beginning to end. Right. You're actually, like, is it like a little back and forth, too, where, like, you're teaching the audience a little bit?

Yes, we sit in sections. I don't get too professorial, but we sit in sections, and I'll sing through it, and I will occasionally offer a few tips. Some tips, says the voice teacher. Yes, a little musical guidance or a little historical background or just some musical ideas of how to make it more musical. Now, do you do the Christmas section and the Hallelujah Chorus at the end? That's right.

Do you add any of the other choruses from some of the other sections? We occasionally make a foray into something from the other sections. But principally, it's part one, a few solos, holiday chorus. A little bit out of order. The idea that I inherited was that it was never you just start at page one and keep going. You jump around and enjoy it. Just try to make it fun. You make sure you hit the big

moment. People do have favorites and they want to sing them. I can imagine people disappointed if they did the whole thing. Isn't there a hallelujah? We do do that. People come from all over. Toward your side of the mountain,

a lot of Mennonite folks love to come over for this, which is fantastic, because they're very good at singing. And you know what? It's a special experience. I'm guiltily enough, I haven't yet done, so I'm going to try to see if I can go this year. Bring your brother and see how he does.

Is it a ticketed event? Yeah. You can get tickets. Tickets are very, I would say, inexpensive, and there are also student tickets. And those can be found at artsboxoffice.virginia.edu or by calling the UVA Arts Box Office. It's nice that if you Google Messiah Singh in Charlottesville, the first thing that pops up is the Department of Music. When you click it, there's a little box that says Tickets, and it'll take you straight to the box office. Perfect.

You don't even have to search it on the box office. December 10th at 8 p.m. 8 p.m. December 10th. So that's next Tuesday. Next Tuesday at 8 p.m. It's always the Tuesday kind of after classes have wrapped up. So you can get all the kids to come in.

If they're not studying exams. I should say it benefits our choral ensembles at UVA, and it's sponsored principally by the UVA University Singers. And then a group of the students from all those courses usually sit in the front and kind of... And kind of act as a choir. They help the sound. So do you have to sort yourself as what...

Yeah, we have signs about where to sit if you're a soprano or a bass or a tenor. What if you have no clue? Then just have fun. Sit with your friends and see how it goes. Hide yourself in the baritone section probably. Yeah, and pretend I'm like, I got a great voice, you should hear me

next to this guy. You know what's nice is that I think people are so used to, especially if you're not part of an orchestra or something, you're probably most used to listening to music rather than participating in it. And this is a nice way to do it without kind of that

added pressure. The stakes are low. Yeah, exactly. You're not on the stage. You're in the audience. You're hidden among 500 people. Exactly. And look, if you want to just come and listen, there's a place to sit for that too. You can just come and listen. But most people come to sing to just come and listen, you know, there's a place to sit for that too. You can just come and listen. But most people come to sing. And I think like you say,

it's, that's good. That's how things would have been in a, speaking about going backwards, in a further time, just the sense that you have to make music yourself if you want music. Now we're blessed with all these ways to stream and play music, but I think it's very enlivening and good to make it ourselves sometimes. Oh, it's wonderful. My mother's greatest memory, just to go back, she always tells us that her father and his two brothers, one played trumpet, one played accordion, and my grandfather,

God rest his soul, would sing. That's how they entertained themselves. Yeah, all on their own. He'd play the piano or whatever. No televisions. A lot of people turned to Ford Radio. Yeah. Yeah.

Amazing. But, and then imagine that times 500 and then that's, that would be the concert, yeah. Though no accordion

as far as I know. Well, they will have to figure it out. It's not generally a staple of Handel's Messiah. Not usually.

So. Unless they played it in the street, yeah. Exactly. Katie Manning, thanks for watching the show this morning one of our sopranos I love it when we get all the beautiful singers

tuning in and watching in addition to our regular exactly so be sure to check that out that's also really easy that one I don't believe not sold out yet. Sold out yet.

But love it if it did. Exactly. We didn't make that happen. Get your tickets because they're all selling out at this point. They're very clear. So that's very easy to get to December 10th at 8 p.m. And like I said, UVA Arts Box Office. But if you search for it on Google, you'll get the McIntyre Department of Music, and from there you click the little

box that says tickets, and it'll take you right to the spot where you should go to get those tickets. So those you can still enjoy on a Tuesday evening. It can be your continuation of the Tuesday evening concert series. Now you can participate. You are in the series now. Exactly, exactly. Which leads us to another wonderful concert which is even closer it's in two days which is the

family holiday concert with the UVA singers and the Charlottesville Symphony so maybe tell us a little bit about that we're not necessarily like telling everyone to draw their tickets it's sold out but I'd love for people to know about it so they can have it on their mind next year

and maybe talk about the experience of preparing it so I'm also very proud of these concerts the family holiday concerts which we started in 2005 so next year will be the 20th anniversary and thank you and a lot of people have contributed to that over the years from the UVA

University singers which is our flagship course at UVA and also the Charlottesville Symphony which I guess conduct but it's led by my colleague Ben Rouse and of course also our executive director for that Janet kaltenbach helps out a great deal and and our faculty principals, etc. And so this is a concert where we do a lot of pieces with big chorus and orchestra. You'll hear familiar favorites like Sleigh Ride, or you might hear a little excerpt of Nutcracker or something like this. But we also do pieces you might not hear every day. We have a great arrangement of patapan for a chorus and orchestra, the French

Carol. There's going to be a kind of a spoof Christmas type piece. There's a movement of Vivaldi's Gloria. There's always at the end the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel. And we also

have Leroy Anderson, Sleigh Ride, and Christmas Festival, which is wonderful, very traditional pieces. But I think the thing that people find most memorable is 12 Days of Christmas, where from day six to day 11, we leave out the five golden rings, and we have people in the audience with microphones, and they will just drop in front of people, and then they get a spontaneous solo on five golden rings. So now Christine would sound amazing on that. And some people have over the years sounded amazing, and sometimes it's been a little bit of a plant.

You know, you have like a row of you singers or something. But sometimes you just get a kid or an adult who wasn't expecting to sing and does something quite lovely. And the audience gets very fired up about it. Occasionally just relieved that they didn't get chosen to sing. But it really is a very fun tradition

at these concerts. And they have become very popular in the community. I think the Seville just described it last week as a town gown favorite. I think it really is. It's beautiful. It sells out two concerts very quickly

and some of our local dignitaries can come as well. Anybody can come. Young people. It's meant for the family just like Christmas at the Paramount. Exactly. Sometimes you can also reach people that you might not reach through our other regular concerts

during the year. Which is maybe they come for a Christmas carol that they know and can follow. But then while they're there, they'll hear Vivaldi's... Gloria, exactly. That's beautiful. Maybe I should listen to the whole thing. Or just to hear a wonderful orchestra and a wonderful chorus, you know, just like at Christmas at the Paramount.

Singing and playing together is an uplifting, profound, and beautiful experience. I remember the first time we went, do you remember? One of my best memories ever. One of the five golden rings was, it was Professor Rouse's first year at the UVA Symphony and he was the five golden rings. Oh, and they got him? Yeah, they got him. And you called him out for

his falsetto voice. He probably did that just for fun. He did it on purpose, yeah. See, there's a counter-terror. That's great. Actually, my favorite was the very, very first time where this must have been, maybe a decade ago. And there was the five goldenyear-old rainstorm.

And suddenly on one of them, before they could hand the microphone to someone, some little boy in the audience just goes, just melts it, five-year-old rainstorm. And you just stopped, turned around, and everyone just stopped and clapped. Isn't that hilarious? He just got caught up in it yeah he was so excited he didn't even need to be dropped in front he wanted to sing that's great i do remember that there have been a lot of memorable moments from that over the years i mean one year we got

president jim ryan or president um one, there were a group of you singers, alumni, and two of them had just gotten engaged. And they got the mic and instead of singing five golden rings, they sang one diamond ring. And everybody just clapped for the couple.

That was witty, too. It was very clever. That's amazing. I forgot about that little boy. That's wonderful. He was justitty, too. It was very clever. That's amazing. I forgot about that little boy. That's wonderful. He was just full of joy. Yeah, he was so ready for it. That's what it brings out. And he didn't even do it shy,

because you know how little kids sometimes will be shy so they don't do it? He just belted it out, like full singing voice and everything. It was wonderful. Yeah, that was fun. I think this year we'll have nice memories, because isn't this the last concert?

John Deere. John Deere, the jazz professional. I'm this year we'll have nice memories. Isn't this the last concert? Won't John Durth, the jazz professor... I should have mentioned that sooner. So every year... Thank you for mentioning that. Yeah. So every year, I have a guest soloist, usually frequently from our faculty. And my friend and colleague, John Durth, who needs no introduction around here,

you know, jazz legend, wonderful educator as well. I've been... You know, my office is near a classroom where he teaches. I've heard him teach for years. He's an inspiring educator. And I thought, since he's retiring the end of this semester, let's get him to be our guest. And so he will, with his trumpet, we just rehearsed it last night, he will be playing and improvising on Winter Wonderland, and I'll be home for Christmas. Those are perfect.

It's going to be, he's so good and imaginative. Yeah, we have to give him shout-outs. We know multiple people have taken classes with him and absolutely just loved him. Yeah, he's an excellent mentor. So I think my submission is that will make for some beautiful memories. Great moments. Yeah, absolutely. Some that will make for some beautiful memories. Some beautiful memories once again

at that concert. Thank you. That's a little bit about the family holiday concerts. Just in general, and this is really for both of you, because one of the things when it comes to Christmas concerts is that

you're often, you have some new things, but you're often doing pieces that people are very familiar with. Or that you've heard, that you will, you know, hear from December 1st, and probably now from October 31st to the end of the year. What, how do you kind of, you know, approach it? You know, do I need to do something of approach it? Do I need to do something new with it? Do I need to embrace the traditionalism of it? How do you kind of approach it each year when you're doing something that's super familiar for people but you want to make it special?

I have a thought, but let me let Christine take this one first. Well, just speaking personally as a musician and a mom and extended family for me it's music is so nostalgic and it it it's like smells when you hear something or you smell something it takes you back and it connects you i think to your emotions and how you felt as a child in the wonder of the season and just sort of the warm connected feelings now

hopefully those are all good memories that's probably not true for everyone but for me it's about family and closeness and connection and within the musical context also, that is probably some of the music that got me to love music or got me to love singing because they're so familiar

that you could sing them by yourself initially and then it's about community and coming together and celebrating something bigger than ourselves, which for me, music is really about what we all do as individuals to make something that is bigger than what we do alone. 100%. Beautifully put. 100%.

You know, I agree with Christine about there's there's the traditional part that does it can have a nostalgia factor for people it can also help create new bright memories and bring some light to the season so then what i think to go back to your question because i think you're getting at a question of like how do you balance traditional and new as well every year i think it's important that we're not just always doing exactly the same tunes. I mean, there's a couple things on both concerts that are a bit traditional,

but there are some things that we've never done before on both concerts. So for an example, on the Oratory Society concert, we have a setting by a good friend of mine, Carrie Magan. She's a composer up in New York State of a Latin a cappella piece. And it's a non-traditional Latin text, too. Absolutely.

Vergente Mundi. Pretty much all of us were in the choir and had never heard it before. No one will know this piece ahead of the concert. So we present some new work, right? Or we're doing a carol that Alice Parker arranged with Robert Shaw. We haven't done that carol before. And, you know, Alice Parker was a choral legend. I knew her,

I interviewed her several times. She just passed away in the last year at about 95 or something. She was incredibly full life. And I want to be like her because her mind was so sharp right to the end. So I think we honor her, but we also present some of her music.

And that's one with the countertenor. So that'll be a nice way to mix, right, things that are familiar, like Hark the Herald or the other one, the Hallelujah Chorus, with things that are opening up people to to music they may not have experienced but that is equally meaningful which i think the beautiful thing is that the music in that way it kind of reflects how life works right each christmas you have things which are extremely familiar but you you look forward to the new things who got married what baby has joined the picture you know what i mean what friend is coming over that you didn't know last year yeah and that's what makes the new

memory so it's a conversation that you happens amongst that you didn't have a different yeah it's a beautiful thing or you're in a different place and it's a different experience that's a great point a mix of traditional and something new which is the beauty of it and new. With something new. Which is the beauty of it. I really enjoyed that aspect of it last year because, I mean, as much as I love classical music, when I went to the Christmas at the Paramount last year, there were songs that I definitely knew and there were ones

that were brand new to me. I'm pretty sure the, what was the major, I forget what was the major central piece. Rudder's Gloria. Rudder's Gloria. I had actually never heard it. I had never heard it before. Michael had mentioned it when we had done the interview. And so when you mentioned it at the time, I hadn't heard it yet.

And so I said to myself, you know what? I'm not going to go listen to this. I said, there's like a month to the concert. Just a fresh experience. I want to experience it for the first time there. Cool. I said, you know what? I've done this long without ever having heard it before. Let me experience it fresh.

And the way it was meant to be experienced. Yeah, sometimes it's great to know pieces and then they're familiar and you recognize them. But sometimes, I must say, you probably feel this as a musician too, we know a lot of music at this point. It's sometimes wonderful to just be surprised by something that you haven't heard before

yes, well does it bring back that first time because we've all got our list of favorite pieces, right, but we can never recapture that very first time we started listening and realized oh my goodness, I love this yes, right, and so we've got

those handful of ones that we do and you just I'm so glad you said that here's something I wonder about I remember when I was a kid the first time I heard a decent large choir and the experience

like what that I was just astounded and inspired and everything at the same moment I was just a kid and I and everything at the same moment. I was just a kid, and I thought, wow. And of course, you and I, we don't have that experience anymore because we wouldn't be able to do our jobs if every minute we were just like, oh, wow. So this is what it's like. But I do wonder, I hope that there are people out there

that maybe haven't had a lot of exposure to a large chorus that sings beautifully. And they come and they have that experience. Like you're talking about, that fresh first experience where they're just amazed by the transcendence of that. I will say that actually is a nice segue because I've thought of this a couple of times while we've been talking. Last year, at our community event in the spring, we partnered with the Voces Lete Youth Choir, one of the choirs that will be appearing at the 7.30 performance of Christmas at the Paramount. And two of the young singers from that group auditioned

for the Oratorio Society this fall because of their experience with us last spring. And so they're singing with us at Christmas at the Paramount. They'll also be singing with Voces Lete on the 730 performance. But I just thought, here's one of those moments where they went, holy cow, this is in my town, I can do this, and came out for auditions and got in and yeah we're delighted when that happens so uh you know bring your younger kids bring your middle school

students bring your high school students maybe bring your one-year-old yeah maybe not your one-year-old although although I will say that the paramount has a lounge upstairs where they have the live stream video feed with sound. So if you sit in the back or in the balcony and you need to sneak out with your toddler, we're all for that. program that is friendly to a wide variety of expertise levels and exposure levels. If you've never heard a big choir with a brass ensemble or a harp this time. We have an acapella piece and I have to say this is actually one of my favorite choral pieces, the Taverner, the Lamb. Oh, we didn't talk about that.

I have never gotten to sing it, but I have heard it many times. And when that showed up on our list of music, I was like, yes! So Taverner, just to say a quick word about this. Yeah, sure. Taverner, you know, modern British composer, no longer alive, but again, only passed away very recently, like Arvo Peric, kind of cultivated a more austere spiritual style and did this setting of the William Blake poem

from Songs of Innocence and Experience, The Lamb. And it's beautiful and slightly thorny in its own way. It's very challenging. Yeah, he's really using a very particular compositional technique which makes it a challenging piece and yet also very beautiful.

And Christine's exactly right. We have this on the program and I think it will be a very interesting experience for the listeners. Yeah, I hope so. Yes. Well, I remember what our parent was when you did his mask several years ago. It was a beautiful experience.

He sat in the labica, yeah. Sometimes, I think people will be surprised. I think that's one of the joys of going to something like this because I think most people's experience of choral music probably has a lot

of accompaniment to it. Like, I mean, in other words, if your only experience with choral is Beethoven's Ninth and you're hearing it with a bunch of instruments thrown in, you will hear what, because of, I mean, in other words, if your only experience with choral is Beethoven's Ninth, then you're hearing it with a bunch of instruments thrown in. You will hear what, because of, I think, the talent, what oratory society is able to do,

you're able to hear those ones where it's just the voices. It's very pared down. It's very simple. And the beauty shines through in a way that sometimes, you know what I mean, isn't the same. It's just as beautiful, but isn't the same as when it's accompanied by a full orchestra. I love it all, but there is something unique about each. Voices with instruments, I love it. Voices on their own, I love it.

There's something beautiful and powerful. I want to return to the question about how to make something or experience it new versus the other thing that we're doing on this Christmas program is one of the movements from Bach's Mass in B Minor, which we are doing

next spring. And it's again, that is one of the pieces that I heard as a teenager for the first time, professionally performed and went, holy cow. I'm jealous. I didn't hear it until I was in my 20s.

Well, I got to sing it in my 20s, and it's been a favorite ever since. I mean, I think for a lot of classical music lovers, the Bach Massive B Minor is... It's not just pivotal, it's pinnacle. Yeah, it's like the piece. So you'll get a little taste of that, what we can bring to that. And again, we're doing one of those, I won't say which,

one of the movements that is quieter but also has a moment, a peak and we'll get a little of the brass accompaniment that is standard part of the orchestration. You won't get to hear it with the full orchestra until May but just giving you a little taste, a little foreshadowing and

that is again one of my absolute favorites on this program oh that'll be beautiful i was i was excited when i saw it because uh michael had lunch with xavier and i once and we that was one of the pieces we talked about is how difficult that must be to conduct it is that's a big piece two hours long it's Bach, so you want to really give it the respect and do justice that it deserves. But like Christina, I mean, Christina sounds just like me. A lot of us think this is the

greatest piece ever written or assembled or however you want to describe it. And so I'm excited that we're going to experience a little bit of it on this concert and then as a preview or foretaste of the whole piece when we do it in May. At Old Cabell Hall? At Old Cabell Hall. Because I think there are, and people, if they go to Orators Society, right, both the Spring Together in Song

concert and the Bach Mass in B minor, you can't buy tickets yet, but you can get the dates. Yes. Yeah, so please mark down the dates and details. Mark it on your calendar, get the details. Because the Deterrent song, that's the event where... You can register to sing with us. Yes. Learn the piece and sing. That's in March, yeah.

So that'll be March 15th. Yeah, check the website again in January. Certainly for the March event, that'll be up in January. Probably also the Bach. The Bach? I'm working on that. I want to see that. Everybody should hopefully come. That'll be fantastic.

It would be great if people could get a preview of it. It's like, how do you follow Beethoven 9? You guys said such beautiful things. What are we going to do after Mass in B minor? This is one of the answers, right? Yes, exactly. That's true. What are you going to do after Mass in B minor?

Scale it down all the way. I have an idea. Yeah, that's good. We do have an idea, actually. It's a beautiful experience, and I think a great way for people to kind of, if you've never been to a Virginia Oratorio Society, come for Christmas. I mean, it's a beautiful experience, and I think a great way for people to kind of get it. If you've never been to a Virginia Oratorio Society, come for Christmas.

Come in March, and then trust me, if you do one of those two things, you will be there in May. I was going to say, these are pieces, too, like the Mass in B Minor, the Beethoven, these kind of concerts. We are lucky to live in Charlottesville where we have these things because Charlottesville is not necessarily the size of a town where you would expect to have such great talent that's just so concentrated in such a small area. Usually you'd have to be in a city, I would feel like, to listen. It's a big city.

At a high level. Yeah, I mean, I think we're blessed that we have a lot of creative people in this area. We have a lot of supportive people in this area we have a lot of supportive people in this area including donors and and foundations that support us and help us make these things reality and and you have also community i mean it's a growing community but i think with the university and then the community around it a lot of people who are interested in in these kind of beautiful works of art and

performances. And that's great. It's great to be a part of a community that loves music in many ways. And we're lucky to have people like you, Christine, that help make it happen, even with the behind-the-scenes work. Look, hugely, it's essential. It's essential.

You need people to do the other work beyond just the actual singing she's very good at it she's very good at it I mean one of the shows already sold out we know she's good at it and you as well Michael you try to put something out there

that people if they've experienced it then they want to come back for it and that's part of the success too I think and the choir is doing really beautiful singing right now. All the choirs we've talked about today are doing beautiful singing. Absolutely. Well, this has been such an absolute pleasure.

Thank you. Thank you both so much for coming on. So I just want to reiterate. So for the Christmas at the Paramount on Saturday, the 21st at 730. That's theparamount.net for tickets. For anything else Oratorio Society, Virginia-related, oratoriosociety.org. And then for the Messiah singing, it's either the UVA Arts Box Office or Google Messiah singing in Charlottesville.

Make sure you put Charlottesville. Otherwise, you'll get a lot of other ones. Utah, everywhere. Norway. Make sure you put Charlottesville. Otherwise, you'll get a lot of other ones. Utah, everywhere. Norway. Make sure you put it up. Messiah Singh and Charlottesville. And trust me, the internet will get you to the right place. But this has been such a joy.

We always love having you both on. It's our pleasure. We enjoy it, too. It's been great. Thank you. We'll be seeing you in person at the you. We'll be seeing you in person at the concerts. We'll be seeing you shortly.

Stephanie Kowalczyk, thanks so much for tuning in this morning and for watching us. Thanks to everyone who joined us and gave us all these likes and hearts. Stephanie hearted it. She's really hearting the... She's a good singer so thanks for everyone who tuned in thanks

for being here with me thanks for having me you know we'll check keep keep posted on Facebook for what's coming up I mean on today manana in the holiday season and thank you Judah behind the camera for doing his doing his magic showing it was great everyone who was viewing was able to see kind of the poster for each concert. Oh, great. So they were able to see the dates and everyone. I could see it popping up. So Judah was on top of that, making sure everyone could see it.

So we appreciate that. Thanks for being on with me, Nick. Thanks, all of you, for joining us. Thank you, of course, Charlottesville Opera, Mattias Young Realty Credit Series Insurance. Thank you, Emergent Financial Services, for presenting. Thank you all for tuning in. Stay warm and safe from the wind today.

Safe driving. We look forward to seeing you all next week. But until that time, as we like to close it out, hasta mañana. Thank you.