Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra June Concert

Submitted by the Event Organizer

Friday June 7, 7:30 pm

Saturday June 8, 3:00 pm

Sunday June 9, 3:00 pm

Berkeley Community & Orchestra (BCCO)

Ernest Bloch’s Avodat Hakodesh

Maurice Durufle’s Requiem

Ming Luke , conductor

Sara Couden ,  contralto

Simon Barrad , baritone

Hertz Hall on the UC Berkeley Campus Map

FREE concert, no tickets needed

Ernest Bloch, then head of the SF Conservatory of Music,

was commissioned by the congregation of Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco, to compose a complete Sabbath morning service for baritone cantor, chorus, and full symphony orchestra. The work, entitled Avodath Hakodesh, completed between 1930-1933, is meant for both the morning sabbath service and the concert hall, for both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences.   For Bloch all music is essentially about the human spirit and what lies deep in the human psyche.

Ming Luke our conductor states that the Bloch’s Sacred Service and the Durufle Requiem are both special works that look forward and backward at the same time.  The Durufle Requiem sets medieval Gregorian chant in a gorgeous fluid modern orchestration of the Requiem mass, while the Bloch brings the Jewish liturgy into an oratorio and concert setting for audiences beyond its Jewish origins.  The vocal lines are beautifully set, whether the gentle undulations of the chant in the Durufle, or the vibrant setting of the text by Bloch, each phrase vivid and energized by Bloch’s writing.  It’s sure to be a powerful and beautiful concert! ”

For further information call 510-433-9599 or email Jan Murota, publicity chair, at jmsings17@gmail.com. Also see website: https:// www.bcco.org 

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.