L.A. Children's Chorus Launches Scandinavian Tour with Free Concert June 24, 2010

LOS ANGELES CHILDREN’S CHORUS LAUNCHES SCANDINAVIAN TOUR
WITH FREE COMMUNITY “SEND OFF” CONCERT

Thursday, June 24, 2010, 7:00 P.M., at Pasadena Presbyterian Church

Choir to Tour Sweden, Estonia and Finland

Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC) launches a 10-day tour to Scandinavia with a free Community Connections “send off” concert on Thursday, June 24, 2010, 7:00 PM, at Pasadena Presbyterian Church. LACC’s eminent 60-member touring ensemble, conducted by Artistic Director Anne Tomlinson, performs selections from its tour repertoire, a vibrant mix of classical, folk and contemporary works from around the globe. The international tour, the choir’s first to Scandinavia, features performances in some of the leading concert venues in Stockholm, Sweden; Tallinn, Estonia; and Jyväskylä and Helsinki, Finland.

Repertoire highlights include American composer James Mulholland's spirited Come Let's Be Merry on an anonymous 17th Century text, Rachmaninoff's The Angel, set to a poem by Mikhail Lermontov, and John Adams’ haunting lullaby from El Niño entitled "A Palm Tree" with choreography by Peter Sellars. Also featured will be Los Angeles-based composer Paul Gibson’s Dona Nobis Pacem/Grant Us Peace, the Chinese folksong Midnight Stars Make Bright the Sky, Venezuelan composer César Alejandro Carrillo’s Ave Maria, as well as a selection of African-American spirituals and such American classics as Blue Skies by Irving Berlin (arr. Roger Emerson), and It Don’t Mean a Thing by Duke Ellington (arr. Mac Huff). The choir also performs a range of Scandinavian works, among them Kevadkillud Spring Sketches by Veljo Tormis, the Finnish folk song Taivas on sininen, and Three Fiord Sketches by Olli Kortekangas.

The 10-day tour includes a pair of concerts on June 29 in Sweden’s capital, Stockholm, at the United States Embassy, as part of America’s Independence Day celebration, and at the city’s renowned music church, Gusta Vasa Church. The tour continues with a performance on July 1 at St. John’s in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia and the country’s largest city, and concludes in Finland, where the choir will appear in the city of Jyväskylä on July 3 and at the famed Rock Church in Helsinki on July 4.

LACC will also collaborate with several local choirs, including the Estonian TV Girls’ Choir of Tallinn, Vox Aurea of Jyväskylä and Candomino from Espoo, located near Helsinki. The Chorus will also enjoy cultural exchanges and home-stays in Jyväskylä with the local choir.

The concert is free and reservations are not required. Pasadena Presbyterian Church is located at 585 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. For information on Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, please call (626) 793-4231 or visit www.lachildrenschorus.org.

Official Website: http://www.lachildrenschorus.org