Media Relations

News Releases

For Release Upon Receipt - November 14, 2005
Contact: Ellen Carr, 617-353-8783, emcarr@bu.edu

BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MUSIC PRESENTS HAYDN'S THE CREATION AT SYMPHONY HALL
Concert will take place Monday, November 21 at 8:00 p.m.

(Boston) — The Boston University School of Music presents the Boston University Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Chorus in a concert at Symphony Hall featuring Haydn’s The Creation. The concert will take place on Monday, November 21 at 8:00pm. Ann Howard Jones, Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities in the School of Music, will conduct.

One of Haydn's greatest choral masterpieces, his oratorio The Creation was composed during the years 1795 to 1798, to a libretto written by the Baron Gottfried von Swieten, and based jointly upon the Book of Genesis, supplemented by appropriate sections of the Book of Psalms, and on John Milton's allegorical study of the rise and fall of creation, Paradise Lost. Composed for orchestra, chorus, and soprano, tenor, and baritone solos representing three archangels, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael, the epic-scale piece follows the structure of the Old Testament to tell the story of creation. With abstract conceptions of the separating of the earth from the waters, the mighty storms, and the bringing forth of the plants, birds and animals, the work evokes the kind of musical pictorialism that Haydn knew and loved.

The much-anticipated public premiere of The Creation took place before an enormous audience at Vienna’s Burgtheater on March 19, 1799, conducted by Haydn himself. All expectations for the work’s success were exceeded, and it had to be performed several times that year. Within five years, the oratorio had triumphed in Prague Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, London and Edinburgh. Now, more than two centuries after its first performance, the oratorio’s unparalleled celebration of nature has made The Creation one of Haydn’s most timeless and acclaimed works.

Ann Howard Jones, Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Boston University, conducts the Boston University Symphonic Chorus and Chamber Chorus, administers the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in choral conducting, and teaches advanced choral conducting. Dr. Jones recently concluded her eleventh season as conductor of the Young Artists Chorus at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. Recognized for her expertise in conducting technique, choral and vocal pedagogy, rehearsal procedures and performance practice, Dr. Jones has appeared as a guest lecturer for the American Choral Directors Association, the Long Island Choral Festival, the Tennessee Arts Academy, and on the campuses of Northwestern University and the Juilliard School, among others.

About the Soloists

Soprano Michelle Johnson, a first year student in Boston University's Opera Institute, is a student of Penelope Bitzas. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music, and this past summer was a fellow at Tanglewood Music Center. Ms. Johnson was the recipient of the Jan de Gaetani Award at the 2003 Orpheus National Vocal Competition, and the Encouragement Award in the 2005 Metropolitan Opera New England Regional Finals.

Tenor Patrick Miller, a recent graduate of Lyric Opera of Chicago's Center for American Artists, made his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut in the roles of the First Philistine in Samson et Dalila and Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor. In the 2004-2005 season he created the role of Dino (the groom) in the Lyric Opera of Chicago's world premiere of A Wedding by William Bolcom, and made a highly-acclaimed debut with Chicago Opera Theater in its production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. His Boston University Opera Institute appearances include Così fan tutte, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Emperor of Atlantis and Die Fledermaus.

Baritone James Demler is a professor of voice at the Boston University School of Music. Mr. Demler first gained international attention at Houston Grand Opera, where he appeared as Gugliemo in Cosí fan tutte, De Bretigny in Manon and Peter in Hänsel und Gretel, and with the Houston Symphony, with which he sang in the Houston premiere of Ned Rorem's Santa Fe Songs, with the composer conducting. He has since performed in more than 20 operas, including such roles as Marcello in La Bohème, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly and Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, as well as numerous oratorios and concert works with companies across the United States and Canada.

Soprano Megan Reader (“Eve”) is a first year graduate student at Boston University, pursuing a Masters Degree in Vocal Performance, and is a student of Penelope Bitzas. Ms. Reader received her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Furman University. Bass-baritone Ryan Kuster (“Adam”) is in his first year of graduate study at Boston University, and also studies with Professor Bitzas. Mr. Kuster received his BM from Westminster Choir College.

Tickets to the November 21, 2005 Symphony Hall concert are $35, $20, and $10. They can be purchased by calling Symphony Charge at 617-266-1200.

The Boston University College of Fine Arts is a conservatory-style school within a major research university, offering professional training in Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts along with a liberal arts curriculum to 1000 graduate and undergraduate students. Education at the College of Fine Arts begins at Boston University and extends into the city of Boston, a center of cultural, artistic and intellectual activity.

The School of Music, founded in 1873, combines the intimacy and intensity of conservatory training with a broadly based, traditional liberal arts education. The school offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in performance, composition and theory, musicology, music education, collaborative piano, historical performance, as well as a certificate program in its Opera Institute, and artist and performance diplomas. While the emphasis is strongly on music, the school enriches its programs with a range of electives, made available through the other schools and colleges within Boston University. Alumni and faculty are employed in universities, schools, major symphony orchestras, opera companies, prestigious ensembles, and teaching positions throughout the world. Distinguished faculty members include opera singer Phyllis Curtin, composer Lukas Foss and violinist Roman Totenberg. Notable alumni include H. C. Robbins Landon, noted Haydn scholar; Fred Bronstein, president of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra; the opera singer Dominique LaBelle; and Ikuko Mizuno-Spire, violinist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

— 30 —

Note to Editor: Contact Ellen Carr at emcarr@bu.edu or 617-353-8783 for further information or to reserve a ticket to the performance.