Download Dvořák`s Stabat Mater blends choral and orchestral

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Dvořák’s Stabat Mater blends choral and orchestral forces in stirring masterwork
Born of personal tragedy, Dvořák’s revered oratorio achieves luminous serenity
OMAHA, Neb., October 28, 2015- Funeral odes, lyrical laments, requiems, elegies, and threnodies: all are
musical avenue to soothe grief, and the Omaha Symphony will present one such majestic work for mourning
by performing Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, Friday, November 6, and Saturday, November 7, 7:30 p.m., at the
Holland Performing Arts Center.
Conducted by Music Director Thomas Wilkins, Dvořák’s 10-movement choral masterpiece Stabat Mater
will encompass the entirety of the program. Four soloists will be featured: Caitlyn Lynch, soprano; Helen
Karloski, mezzo-soprano; Alexander Lewis, tenor; and Tyler Putnam, bass. The Omaha Symphonic Chorus
(Greg Zielke, director), Creighton University Chamber Choir (A. Barron Breland, director), the UNO
Concert Choir and Chamber Choir (Shannon Gravelle, director), and Résonance (under Breland’s direction)
will also be featured under the leadership of chorusmaster Judith Clurman.
Born in Bohemia as the poor son of a butcher, Antonín Dvořák gravitated toward music at a young age,
becoming an accomplished violist and composer. He made a steady living until his Slavonic Dances became
a sensation in Europe in 1878, making him a celebrated musician overnight. However, three years earlier,
Dvořák and his wife lost their first daughter two days after birth, plunging the family into grief.
In the wake of his loss, Dvořák’s began to work on a musical setting of the Latin verses of Stabat mater
dolorosa, a sorrowful Christian hymn written in the 13th century. In taut and affecting verses, it contemplates
the suffering of Christ’s mother as she witnesses the crucifixion of her Son, and asks to share her grief in
order to experience more fully a proper love of Jesus. Many other composers have created music for the
Stabat Mater verses, including Haydn, Schubert, Liszt, Verdi, and Poulenc.
Dvořák worked steadily on the project until early 1876, but was forced to set it aside for other projects.
However, after another daughter died in 1877, followed by the death of the Dvořáks’ first-born son, he was
compelled to finish the work. Stabat Mater’s first performance was held in December 1880, and it was soon
heard throughout Europe. While Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances had made the composer famous, it was his
Stabat Mater that established him as a composer capable of serious and spiritual expression.
Thomas Wilkins counts Dvořák as one of his favorite composers, having performed many of the composer’s
pieces throughout his career, including an entire two-night Dvořák festival in January 2013 with the Omaha
Symphony. However, this is Wilkins’ first encounter with the Stabat Mater.
“I’m thrilled for the opportunity to do it because I’ve done so much Dvořák in my life,” Wilkins said. “He’s
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one of the composers that I feel ‘knows’ me. To be able to come to a sacred work of his with text is a big
thrill.”
Judith Clurman, Emmy- and Grammy-nominated conductor, vocal educator, and choral specialist, has
conducted and collaborated with world-renowned orchestras, dance companies, and music festivals. She
conducted The New York Concert Singers for fifteen years. Clurman received an Emmy nomination for her
work on Sesame Street, and American and Latin Grammy nominations for a recording with Son Sonora
Voices. Currently, she conducts Essential Voices USA, which is in residence with the New York Pops at
Carnegie Hall, is a Visiting Artist at the Curtis Institute of Music, and teaches and coaches voice. Clurman
most recently conducted the Omaha Symphony in Our Biblical Heritage at Temple Israel on April 29, 2015.
Tickets to Dvořák’s Stabat Mater start at $19. They can be purchased by visiting www.omahasymphony.org
or by calling Ticket Omaha at 402.345.0606. Student Rush tickets are available one hour prior to the concert.
Any student with a valid student ID may purchase up to two Student Rush tickets for $10 each.
The Omaha Symphony MasterWorks series is sponsored by Omaha Steaks.
The Omaha Symphony is a non-profit organization that presents more than 100 live orchestral performances from September
through June. In addition to MasterWorks, Symphony Pops, Symphony Rocks, Movie Music, Symphony Joslyn, and Family series
concerts, the Omaha Symphony’s nationally recognized education programs touch the lives of nearly 30,000 schoolchildren each
year. For tickets or information regarding the Omaha Symphony, call 402-345-0606 or visit omahasymphony.org.
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