Release date: Dec. 7, 2004

Emory to Present Rare Jewish Cantata

Contact:
Elaine Justice, 404-727-0643, elaine.justice@emory.edu
Sally Corbett, 404-727-6678, sally.corbett@emory.edu

The Emory Early Music Ensemble will team with Matthew Peaceman of Mainz, Germany, for a performance of a rare cantata written for the Jewish celebration of Hoschan'ah Rabbah in 1733. The work will be performed by solo male singers with the Emory Baroque Orchestra at 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27 at Cannon Chapel, 515 Kilgo Circle on the Emory University campus.

A preview of the concert will be performed at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 26 at The Temple, 1589 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta. Both concerts are free and open to the public.

The work is rare in that the majority of religious cantatas performed by groups specializing in historical music are Christian works by Bach, Telemann, Handel and their contemporaries. Although the composer of the cantata is unknown, it was written for a Jewish community in northern Italy. As is traditional with religious cantatas, the movements within the work alternate between instrumental and vocal sections. The male singers, who include a countertenor (male alto voice), a tenor and a bass, will perform arias and recitatives with orchestral accompaniment. The orchestra consists of 11 stringed instruments, two oboes and a harpsichord, all tuned at baroque period pitch.

Peaceman, an American-born Jewish musician, reconstructed the cantata from the original manuscript and will serve as guest musical conductor for the performance. The Emory Early Music Ensemble is directed by Jody Miller of the Emory music faculty.

In addition to the cantata, the performance will include Antonio Vivaldi's "Sinfonia in G Major" for string orchestra; his "Concerto in C Major" for recorder, oboe and strings (performed by Peaceman and Miller); and recorder quintets by Salomon Rossi.

For more information, contact Arts@Emory at 404-727-5050 or boxoffice@emory.edu. Directions to Cannon Chapel can be found at www.arts.emory.edu. The concert is sponsored in part by The Institute for Jewish Studies at Emory, the David Goldwasser Lecture for Religion and Arts, Emory Concerts Division, the Atlanta Early Music Alliance and the Atlanta Recorder Society.

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