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Feature Story
30 years of Glorious Music by June LeBell

2009 marks the 30th anniversary of Sarasota’s Gloria Musicae, the city’s all-professional chamber choral ensemble. In honor of this milestone season, Gloria Musicae is pulling out all the stops with a special Concert and Gala Celebration on April 13, 7:30 pm at the Sarasota Opera House.

The concert features the Southeast premiere performance of Mozart’s “Great” Mass in C Minor, in a special edition by the Mozart scholar and pianist, Robert Levin. Unfinished at Mozart’s death, the composer left copious sketches and notes and, after studying these pieces, Levin, a Harvard professor and the Artistic Director of the Sarasota Chamber Music Festival, was able to complete the work, adding approximately 20 minutes of music that include stirring solos and choruses in Mozart’s style.

Because this is such a special event, Gloria Musicae has brought in guest soloists to sing this unique work. Michelle Giglio, an extraordinary singer with the huge range called for by both Mozart and Levin, will sing the First Soprano part, which includes the beautiful “Et incarnatus est.” Leah Wool, a rising coloratura mezzo-soprano who sings with the Metropolitan Opera in New York and will be making her debut with the Glimmerglass Opera this summer, will sing the Second Soprano solos. Matthew Giebel, the young singer who recently concluded his debut season as a Studio Artist with the Sarasota Opera, will be returning to Sarasota to sing the tenor solos. And Marcus DeLoach, unanimously voted the first place winner of London's inaugural Wigmore Hall International Song Competition, a member of the Marilyn Horne Foundation, the New York City Opera and Boston Lyric Opera, who has garnered rave reviews from the New York Times, will sing the baritone part of the Mass.

Dr. Elwood Smith, artistic director of Gloria Musicae, will conduct the work with members of the Sarasota Orchestra.

The “Great” Mass was written as a celebration of Mozart's marriage. Though left unfinished, it became one of the composer’s greatest works, performed all over the world and often recorded. Robert Levin's additional final movements have completed the work and this new edition has been performed in Carnegie Hall and the scholarly conductor, Helmut Rilling, has recorded it.

This celebration of Mozart is indicative of the unique approach Gloria Musicæ has taken over the past three decades when selecting and presenting musical events to the Sarasota community. Made up of classically trained, all-professional singers, Gloria Musicae has built a reputation for performing the highest quality music covering a broad spectrum of the choral literature.

Founded in 1979 by Arden Fowler, Ann Stephenson-Moe, and George Bledsoe, Gloria Musicae was the first professional chorus in the southeastern United States. One of GM’s chief aims has always been to sing premiere performances of little known works of value in order to broaden the public’s knowledge and appreciation of the richness of the choral art. The April 13 performance captures Gloria Musicae’s passion for combining first-rate performers with first-rate, unusual works.

Tickets available at the Historic Asolo Theater box office 941-360-7399 or online (click "Buy Tickets Online"). Please note: Although tickets are sold through the Historic Asolo box office, this event takes place at Sarasota Opera House, situated in downtown Sarasota at 61 North Pineapple Avenue.

For more information, visit www.gloriamusicae.com.