Masterworks at San Roque
Durufle Requiem and The Rain Sequence
Saturday, March 3, 2012, 8 pm and Sunday, March 4, 2012, 3 pm

San Roque Catholic Church
3200 Calle Cedro
Santa Barbara, CA 93105

Tickets: $20 (advance purchase, seniors, students) or $25 at the door

Buy tickets today here and at Chaucer’s books beginning February 1, 2012.
(NO online ticket purchases after noon Friday March 2, 2012)

Discounts available for Group Sales of 10 or more purchased en bloc. Please call our office at 805-965-6577 for details.

In the second installment of Masterworks at San Roque, Artistic Director JoAnne Wasserman will conduct the 100-voices of the Choral Society and orchestra, and special guests the Westmont College Choir, in performance of the much-loved, ethereal Requiem of Maurice Durufle, and then enchant the audience with something utterly new in the West Coast Premier of American composer Rollo Dilworth’s fascinating work,The Rain Sequence, in which they, themselves, play a key role.

More about The Rain Sequence
RAIN SEQUENCE

For Baritone and Mezzo-Soprano soloists, chorus and chamber orchestra

Rain Sequence is comprised of three movements: In Time of Silver Rain, When Storms Arise, and Didn’t It Rain. The work was commissioned by the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia as part of organization’s focused commitment to encouraging the audience to participate in the music-making process during its performances.

The first movement, In Time of Silver Rain, is based upon a Langston Hughes (1902-1967) poem that bears the same title. The first stanza of the poem is sung by the baritone soloist and then repeated with harmonic support by the chorus.

The bridge section features call and response patterns between upper and lower voices (“the butterflies lift silken wings t catch a rainbow cry, and trees put forth new leaves to sing in joy beneath the sky”).

In the latter portion of the movement, a layered gospel-style chorus commences as the sopranos sing the concluding text of the poem (“In time of silver rain when spring and life are new”).

The title of second movement , When Storms Arise, is taken from the first line of a poem entitled “Hymn” by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906). The notion that Dunbar himself fashioned the text in a strophic, hymn-like structure was an inspiration to use a well-known American hymn tune (Amazing Grace) as a motivic thread that would run throughout the movement. The tune is first introduced by the mezzo-soprano soloist, then it is handed to the audience to hum as the choir sings a vocal-jazz inspired hymn using the Dunbar text.

The third movement, “Didn’t It Rain” is based on the traditional African American spiritual that is narrative in its design. It depicts the story of the Noah and the flood. After the baritone soloist introduces the chorus of the spiritual, the SATB choir responds with a harmonized version. The audience gets the opportunity to participate in this gospel-style by making percussive rain sounds during the 2-measure breaks of the closing section.

...and more about the Composer
Rollo Dilworth is Associate Professor of Choral Music Education at Temple University’s Boyer School of Music in Philadelphia, PA. In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in choral music education, he serves as conductor for the University Chorale. Prior to his appointment at Temple, Dilworth served as Director of Choral Activities and Music Education at North Park University in Chicago, IL for 13 years. Dr. Dilworth holds degrees from Case Western Reserve University, University of Missouri-St. Louis, and Northwestern University. Dilworth has written and/or arranged over 150 choral works that are currently in print. His choral compositions are a part of the Henry Leck Creating Artistry Choral Series with Hal Leonard Corporation and Colla Voce Music Company. He has also published pieces with the Santa Barbara Music Publishing Company as part of the Mary Alice Stollak Choral Series. Dilworth is a contributing author for the Essential Elements for Choir and the Experiencing Choral Music textbook series, both published by the Hal Leonard Corporation/Glencoe/McGraw-Hill Publications, and for Music Express! Teachers Magazine. He authored a book of choral warm-ups for elementary and secondary choral ensembles entitled Choir Builders: Fundamental Vocal Techniques for General and Classroom Use. Dilworth has co-authored another choral warm-up book entitled Choir Builders for Growing Voices. He frequently serves as a guest conductor and/or clinician for honors, festival and all-state choirs throughout the United States and abroad. Dilworth is an active member of the Music Educators National Conference (MENC), the National Association of Negro Musicians (NANM), the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), and Chorus America. He is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), and currently serves on the Pennsylvania ACDA state board as Repertoire and Standards Chair of Student and Youth Activities.

Dilworth has released a recording entitled Good News, which features 12 of his choral compositions. Recent choral-orchestral works include Freedom’s Plow, commissioned by the St. Louis Symphony orchestra and IN UNISON® Chorus and Rain Sequence, commissioned by the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia.