Call for Singers – Ola Gjeilo Concert May 5

Auditions are now open for a concert featuring the music of Ola Gjeilo, contemporary Norwegian-American composer. This concert will include 16 singers, string quartet, piano and guitar. The planned program is copied for you at the end of this announcement.

The concert date is tentatively scheduled for May 5 in Mulino, Oregon (Michael Lemmers has a home with a great room that can acommodate about 150 people). Concert would not be advertised to the public, but by invitation.

Combined vocalist/instrumentalist rehearsals will be held in SW Portland on Friday evenings in April.

Approximately 3-4 vocalist-only rehearsals will be in NE Portland on 3/8, 3/22, 3/29, and 4/12 (or 4/13)

This is not a paid gig. Interested singers should be comfortable learning parts on their own and being ready to rehearse style, ensemble and interpretation. The rehearsals will not be note-reading rehearsals.

The group is high-quality and very serious, but also quite collegial and collaborative. It is an ideal setting for someone who is a good choral singer or student, who is looking for something more challenging than a community choir.

Anyone interested, please contact Matt Smith at or 503-593-7006.

TRANSFIGURED NIGHT

Program Concept

This proposal arises from the notion of featuring selected works of composer Ola Gjeilo,utilizing a small choir (SSAATTBB format), string quartet, and piano. With a title alluding to Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, the program takes each listener on a transformative, metaphysical
journey from sunset, through an introspective night, reaching dawn with a renewed spirit in the universal sense (as well as whatever spiritual meaning invoked for the individual listeners).

[1] 8:50 Instrumental introductory piece, mood-setting for “late afternoon,
sunset approaching, getting tired, mixed emotions, anxious, unfulfilled”.
Suggestion: Brahms: Andante from Piano Quintet Op. 34
[2] 4:40 Ola Gjeilo: Across the Vast, Eternal Sky
[3] 14:00 Ola Gjeilo: Dark Night of the Soul
[4] 7:20 Instrumental piece, mood reflective of dark, tortured, conflicted,
lost, uncertain emotions (to give voices a little rest).
Suggestion: Shostakovich: Intermezzo from Piano Quintet Op. 57
[5] 9:00 Ola Gjeilo: Luminous Night of the Soul
[6] 6:15 Ola Gjeilo: The Lake Isle
[7] 3:30 Ola Gjeilo: The Ground

53 minutes total