Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus &Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra present 11th annual Choral Spectacular | Arts & Culture

Buffalo, NY – The Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra are proud to present their annual co-sponsored celebration of spectacular choral works on Friday, April 20, 2012. This year’s concert, Songs of Eternity, features the hauntingly beautiful Requiem by Gabriel Fauré and includes Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem.

Western New York native, Robert Duerr, will take the podium to lead Buffalo’s premier choral and orchestral ensembles in this masterful performance.   Fauré’s Requiem holds special significance to Mr. Duerr because “…it was the first piece [he] conducted with BPO musicians as a senior in high school.”  In fact, one of the current musicians, harpist Suzanne Thomas, performed in that concert and will once again perform this piece under his baton.

Mr. Duerr founded the Pasadena Chamber Orchestra, serving as its music director for nine years. He also established the Pasadena Chamber Orchestra Chorus. Mr. Duerr has conducted the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, San Francisco Symphony, Juilliard Orchestra, Juilliard Symphony, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, Long Island Philharmonic, and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

Joining the chorus and orchestra on Kleinhans stage will be soprano Johane Ansell and baritone Geoffrey Sirett.

Tickets are $40 or $30 and are available at the BPO Box Office or by phone 716-885-5000. Student and group rates are available.

Visit http://bpchorus.org/ or http://www.bpo.org/ for details. This performance is part of the BPChorus’ 2011-2012 BUFFALO SINGS! Community Concert Series, sponsored by Independent Health. Additional support for this performance comes from WNED and CCS Oncology.

Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus

The Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus (BPChorus) is an independent, non-profit organization known widely as the principal guest chorus of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.  An auditioned chorus, whose members include volunteer and professional singers, the BPChorus appears at various locations throughout Western New York and has performed in Germany and the Czech Republic. The symphonic-sized chorus represents a diverse membership who love to sing and are committed to enhancing the cultural life of Western New York.  The Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus celebrates its 75th Anniversary in 2012.

Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

As Buffalo's cultural ambassador, the Grammy Award-winning Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra under the leadership of music director JoAnn Falletta presents more than 120 Classics, Pops and Youth Concerts each year and reaches over 40,000 students per year (K-12) across all eight counties of Western New York. Since 1940, the orchestra's permanent home has been Kleinhans Music Hall, a National Historic Site with an international reputation as one of the finest concert halls in the United States.

The BPO has toured widely across the United States and Canada including the recent Florida Friends Tour with JoAnn Falletta in March 2010, the first multi-city tour since the 1988 European tour. The BPO has been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall as a participant in the prestigious Spring for Music festival in 2013. This will be the orchestra's 24th appearance at Carnegie Hall and its first since Music Director JoAnn Falletta led the orchestra in a much heralded appearance there in June 2004.

During the tenure of current music director JoAnn Falletta, the BPO has rekindled its distinguished history of NPR broadcasts and recordings, including the release of 18 new CDs of a highly diverse repertoire on the NAXOS and Beau Fleuve labels. The Philharmonic's Naxos recording of composer John Corigliano's "Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan," featuring soprano Hila Plitmann, won Grammys in two categories of the three for which it was nominated: Classical Vocal Performance and Classical Contemporary Composition.