Messiaen had the ability to transcribe sounds into colors (synesthesia) in their inner imagination and goes to great length describing these colors in his scores where appropriate: “I too see colors- if only in my mind – colors corresponding to sound. I try to incorporate this in my work, to pass on to the listener. It’s all very mobile. You’ve got to feel sound moving. Sounds are high, low, fast, slow etc. My colors do the same thing, they move in the same way. Like rainbows shifting from one hue to the next.” — the artist, Roger Hutchison
Southern Exposure’s first concert of 2014 features one of the Southeast’s finest choirs, the Trinity Cathedral Chamber Singers, directed by Jared Johnson, Trinity’s music director and organ professor at the University of South Carolina.
The Trinity Cathedral Choir regularly tours throughout Europe, including performances at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, and the Canterbury and Gloucester Cathedrals in England. The Trinity Chamber Singers, a select group of 12-14 singers, have created a program that will plumb the depths of innovative choral music, both a capella and accompanied by the organ, from the 20th and 21st centuries. Works by the famed “holy minimalists” Arvo Pärt and John Tavener will highlight a mystical, mercurial program that includes fresh-sounding works both (comparatively) old – by quirky American composer William Albright, British master Benjamin Britten, and French icon Olivier Messiaen – and new, by some of today’s brightest stars, including Steven Stucky, Zachary Wadsworth, Daniel Kellogg, John Fitz Rogers, Gabriel Jackson and Jonathan Dove.
(arrive early for this popular series as seats fill to capacity)
Featured performers:
Trinity Cathedral Chamber Singers
Directed by Jared Johnson
With organist Christopher Jacobson
USC School of Music Recital Hall
(813 Assembly Street, 2nd floor- next to Koger Center for the Arts)
February 22, 7:30 p.m.; Free
Artist Exposure: The Artist Exposure initiative is made possible by collaboration between Southern Exposure and local arts organization Pocket Productions. Each concert features a local visual artist and their work on selected concerts throughout the series, making meaningful connections between visual arts and music and supporting Columbia’s local arts scene. The featured gallery artist for this concert is Roger Hutchison, a Columbia-based painter and writer who also works at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral.
Southern Exposure Website: http://www.sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/music/concerts_and_events/southern_exposure/
Trinity Cathedral Choir website: http://www.trinitysc.org/Worship/Music-the-Arts/Adults/
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