MUSIC

Boston, MA--Chorus pro Musica, led by Music Director Betsy Burleigh, performs Ernest Bloch's masterpiece Avodath Hakodesh (Sacred Service) with baritone soloist David Kravitz on Sunday, March 14 at 4 pm in John Hancock Hall, 180 Berkeley Street, Boston. Also featured is the world premiere of Kaddish Prayer, commissioned by the chorus from distinguished composer Andrew Rindfleisch. The chorus is joined on the stage by the Zamir Chorale of Boston, Joshua Jacobson, Artistic Director, and the New England Philharmonic, Richard Pittman, Music Director. The performance is part of the first Boston Jewish Music Festival and commemorates the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death.

Concert tickets for the March 14 performance are $25, $40 and $50, with 10% discounts available on selected seats for groups, students, seniors and WGBH members. Reserved seats may be selected and tickets purchased at www.choruspromusica.org, or by phone (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) at 800-658-4CPM (800-658-4276). For wheelchair-accessible seats, call 617-267-7442.

Bloch’s Sacred Service is a monumental work for chorus, soloists and full orchestra, one of the 20th century’s great expressions of devotion and certainly one of the greatest works of Jewish concert music. Commissioned by Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco and premiered in 1934, it is a grand Jewish Oratorio that has been compared in ambition to Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. It rises from rich ethnic roots to offer a universal vision of peace and unity.

Baritone David Kravitz is widely celebrated for his vocal skill, power and intelligence in a wide variety of roles on both operatic and concert stages. He last delighted Chorus pro Musica audiences as Ping in last year’s Turandot. He has recently appeared with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under James Levine (in Berlioz’s Les Troyens and Damnation of Faust) as well as with Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Cantata Singers, Providence Singers, Boston Baroque and Emmanuel Music, among others, to uniformly high critical praise. He is featured on two recordings scheduled for release this year on the BMOP/sound label: Andy Vores' song cycle "Goback Goback" and John Harbison's Winter's Tale.

Andrew Rindfleisch is an internationally active composer, conductor, and pianist who is currently a Professor of Music and Head of Music Composition Studies at Cleveland State University. His dozens of compositions include solo, chamber, vocal, choral, orchestral, and wind music as well as jazz and related forms of improvisation. Rindfleisch is the 1997–98 recipient of the Rome Prize, and more recently received the Cleveland Arts Prize, the Aaron Copland Award, and the Koussevitzky Foundation Commission from the Library of Congress. He received a Masters of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Debuting March 6–14, 2010, the Boston Jewish Music Festival presents concerts, workshops, lectures and school programs that represent the full range of Jewish music, from Horas to Hip Hop, classic cantorial to contemporary compositions, including rock, Klezmer, and Ladino. Programs take place throughout Greater Boston, including Berklee Performance Center, John Hancock Hall, the Vilna Shul, Leventhal Sidman JCC, North Shore JCC, Solomon Schechter South, Temple Israel Boston, Temple Israel Natick, and Gann Academy.