The Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic in Kraków will host the Polish leg of the European concert tour of the American ensemble Yale Alumni Chorus. During this vocal and instrumental concert, in which the American ensemble from Yale has invited Polish guest ensembles: the Dominanta and Psalmodia choirs, and the Beethoven Academy Orchestra, three worlds will converge. The American tradition of academic choral excellence will merge with a Polish choral school of deep liturgical roots and the sound of one of the most recognizable Polish orchestras of the younger generation.
At the centre of this event is the Yale Alumni Chorus, an ensemble with a well-established global concert history that views the chorus not only as an excellent performance format but also as a guiding tool for cultural diplomacy.
The concert programme draws on six centuries of music—from the medieval Mikołaj of Kraków, through the Romantic spirituality of Mendelssohn and Dvořák, to the contemporary sonic languages of Schnittke, Jēkabsone and Rahman. The result is a multi-voiced narrative of spirituality, community, and musical memory in the West and East.
Mikołaj of Kraków Date sinceram merentibus
Zuzanna Koziej Da pacem
Feliks Nowowiejski Sobótka w czarnym lesie
Laura Jēkabsone Father Thunder
A.R. Rahman Balleilakka (arr. by Ethan Sperry)
Romuald Twardowski O Tiebie Radujetsia
Alfred Schnittke Three Sacral Hymns:
– I. Bogoroditse Dievo
– II. Gospodi Iisusie
– III. Otche Nash
Krzysztof Niegowski Hymnum Gloriae Tuae canimus
Down by the Riverside traditional song (arr. by Stacey Gibbs) –
Little Innocent Lamb traditional song (arr. by Fenno Heath and Marshall Bartholomew) –
Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child traditional song (arr. by Fenno Heath) –
Karl Wilhelm Bright College Years
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Antonín Dvořák Serenade in E major for strongs, Op. 1, Mvt I
Felix Mendelssohn Psalm 42 “Wie der Hirsch schreit nach frischem Wasser“, Op. 42 (arr. by Günter Graulich)
Shenandoah traditional song (arr. by Marshall Bartholomew and Fenno Heath)
Feliks Nowowiejski Kraków Wedding
Wincenty of Kielcza Gaude Mater Polonia (arr. by Marek Pawełek)
Elizabeth Legierski – soprano
Yale Alumni Chorus
Noah Horn – piano / organ
Beethoven Academy Orchestra
Jeffrey Douma – conductor
Dominanta Choir of the Krakow University of Economics
Małgorzata Langer-Król – conductor
Psalmodia Choir of the John Paul II Papal University in Kraków
Marek Pawełek – piano
Olga Bodnar – conductor assistant
Agata Nawrot – conductor cooperation
Karolina Grodecka – conductor
