Event

Magnificat

Featuring the Balkan-styled Christmas Cantata composed by Frederick N. West and the joyous gospel sounds of the Gospel Magnificat composed by Kent Stevenson.

TWO SHOWS ONLY:
Saturday, December 3, 7:30 PM
Sunday, December 4, 7:00 PM

Green Lake Methodist Church, 6415 1st Ave NE (1st and 65th), Seattle

$15 advance, $20 at the door ($15 for students and seniors)

Frederick N. West's Christmas Cantata will be performed together with Kent Stevenson's Gospel Magnificat for a rousing evening of festive choral music.

PI Music critic Douglas McLennan cited West's Christmas Cantata as "an imaginative and spirit-filled work that tells of Christmas through Eastern European and Middle Eastern ears." The Cantata draws on the opening lines of the Magnificat, magnificat anima mea dominum, and then tells the traditional Christmas story employing Balkan dance rhythms and harmonies. The piece is scored for string quartet, timpani and hand bells and features Balkan soloist Mary Sherhart. R.M. Campbell of the Seattle P.I. offers praise: "Sherhart, a superb singer with dark colors in her mezzo-soprano voice, has long experience in Balkan music, . . .. Her commitment to this cause is profound."

Kent Stevenson's Gospel Magnificat displays his lifetime of immersion in gospel music with a palette ranging from traditional spirituals to the joyous strides of contemporary gospel and jazz with rhythmic influences from his travels to Brazil. The Gospel Magnificat will be performed by the combined voices of the City Cantabile Choir and the Shades of Praise and Jubilation Choirs of St. Therese Parish in Seattle and featuring soloists: ______
The text of the Magnificat is the canticle of Mary, which proclaims a vision of a fair and just world where the poor are filled with good things and the proud are scattered.