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Bach Choir director looks to put ensemble on the map
Thomas Wesley Douglas
Courtesy Bach Choir of Pittsburgh
Who: The Bach Choir of Pittsburgh.
When and where: 8 p.m. Friday, East Liberty Presbyterian Church; 8 p.m. Saturday at Upper St. Clair High School.
Admission: $20; $14 for senior citizens; $7 for students.
Details: (412) 394-3353
Bob Karlovits can be reached via e-mail or at 412-320-7852.
"I want us to be the 'choir of choice' in Pittsburgh," says the interim director of the ensemble. "I want people to see us as a necessary part of cultural life in the city. But I want us to be known nationally, too, for the broad, new, unique programming we do."
He is starting his efforts in that direction this weekend as the choir opens a season it titles "Elan Vital" or "Life Force" with "One Life: Songs of the People." The shows start the 71st season of the 106-voice group.
The concerts examine the music of many of the cultures that make up Pittsburgh, he says, and consists of 22 selections including Aaron Copland's look at American tunes and folk songs from a variety of cultures.
"It's a program that I have had in my mind for years," Douglas says. "So many of the neighborhoods in Pittsburgh have maintained this great feeling of cultural diversity."
He says the program also shows partially the direction he would take the Bach Choir if he were its leader. Douglas, who teaches drama and music at Carnegie Mellon University in Oakland, is serving as interim artistic director and conductor, replacing Brady Allred, who resigned last season after becoming director of choral studies at the University of Utah.
Douglas says this exploration of the city's cultural diversity is simply a part of the musical diversity the choir can offer. He points out the difference between this program and the season's other two, which feature a new presentation of George Frederick Handel's "Messiah" and a work that deals with children of the Holocaust.
"This is just a few of the many ideas I have for this choir," he says. "I would like us to be really visible on our cultural scene here and elsewhere as well."
One way of presenting the choir to its local audience, he says, is through this program that encourages pride in a diverse ethnic past.
"Some people don't realize the wealth we have here," he says. "I really think we have to embrace our cultural heritage and then to embrace something greater as well."
The concerts will include include music that examines varieties of music even within a culture. Part of Pietro Mascagni's "Cavalleria rusticana" will be performed as well as Italian street songs played by accordionist Thomas Bruno.
The choir also will be joined by Coro LatinoAmericano, a group of singers of a Latin American heritage, and folk drummers from the University of Pittsburgh who will offer African percussion work.
"The program has really been a test for the choir," he says. "There are songs in Russian and Korean that are really challenging. It's been great to see the choir go with me on this. It's tough with there is a change, and they really hung in there."
While he is at the podium, it might not get any easier.
"I'd like to be able to stretch them in every direction," he says of the group.
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