November 13th at 2 p.m., Founders Chapel, University of San Diego

Hailed as “one of the US’ hottest musical properties” (Gramophone), prodigious young composer Nico Muhly has collaborated with such diverse artists as
Björk and Philip Glass.

SACRA/PROFANA proudly presents the first performance of Muhly’s choral music in San Diego, the multi-movement opus Expecting The Main Things From You, scored for string quartet, percussion, organ & choir. Also on the program is Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s profound meditation on the biblical story of Sarah’s pregnancy, Sarah Was 90 Years Old, and Proverb, a work for two organs, two vibraphones and five solo voices by iconic American composer Steve Reich.

December 8th, 9th & 10th at 7:30 p.m.

In May of 2011, SACRA/PROFANA joined forces with Orchestra Nova to present Arnold Schönberg’s choral masterpiece Friede Auf Erden. Following the success of that collaboration, the two ensembles unite once again to present a unique program of highlights from Handel’s beloved oratorio Messiah.

Tickets and venue information at
www.orchestranova.org.

“I am very happy that SACRA / PROFANA will be singing my piece ‘the little match girl passion.’
I heard a recording of another piece of mine that they sang and it sounded great. I eagerly await!”

Sunday April 1st, 4 p.m.
Torrey Pines Christian Church
8320 La Jolla Scenic Drive North
La Jolla, CA

SACRA / PROFANA is honored to give the San Diego premiere of modern American composer David Lang’s Pulitzer Prize-winning piece. Described by The New Yorker as “one of the most original and moving scores of recent years“, The Little Match Girl Passion is a haunting and evocative narrative based on Hans Christian Andersen’s disturbing tale of a poor young girl who retains her Christian purity of spirit in the face of abuse, neglect and suffering. Based on Bach’sSt. Matthew Passion, Lang’s work is a stark, yet beautiful meditation on the “shocking combination of danger and morality” inherent in the folk tale.

For further information on this important modern work, visit the publisher’s website:www.schirmer.com

This concert is sponsored by Torrey Pines Christian Church, and is free and open to the public.

Raised in Murrieta, CA, Kelsey came to San Diego to study vocal music and theatre at Point Loma Nazarene University. She has been heavily involved in the music department and has sung with the Point Loma Singers, the upper division chamber choir, since her freshman year. She currently serves as the soprano section leader. This last spring, she traveled with the group on a singing tour of England and Scotland. Kelsey also traveled in the summer of 2007 with a small musical group called “Provision” that was hired by PLNU to play worship music at summer camps and churches all over northern California. In her almost four years at PLNU, Kelsey has been heavily involved in the theater department as well, playing leading roles in such musicals as Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Mikado” and plays such as Eugene O’Neill’s “Thirst,” George Bernard Shaw’s “How He Lied to Her Husband” and William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” Kelsey will be graduating from Po in May of 2009 with a B.A. in Music with a focus in Voice and a minor in Theater.

Kelsey is excited to be working with this amazing group of singers. As the student intern for SACRA/PROFANA, she will be singing in the group as well as doing administrative work such as fundraising, publicity, scheduling, general organization, and possibly some conducting. Kelsey hopes that this internship organized by the Point Loma Music Department and SACRA/PROFANA will help her reach her goal of professional music performance.

New York native Krishan Oberoi received his Master’s degree in Choral Conducting from the Yale School of Music in 2006, where he conducted several ensembles in rehearsal & performance, including the Yale Recital Chorus & Orchestra. While at Yale, he also served as Associate Conductor of the Elm City Girls Choir, a premiere treble choir who appeared in 2007 performances of the Britten War Requiem at Boston’s Symphony Hall, and the Mahler Third Symphony with the Yale Philharmonia.

Krishan received his Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance from the New England Conservatory, and has sung professionally under some of the world’s finest conductors, including Gustavo Dudamel, Seiji Ozawa, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Helmuth Rilling. He has performed at the Tanglewood Music Festival, the Bonn Beethoven Festival, and the Newport Jazz Festival in a 2004 performance with Dave Brubeck. Krishan has toured extensively in Europe as a member of various professional choral ensembles, appearing at venues in England, Austria, Germany, Greece and Hungary.

Since moving to Southern California in October of 2007, Krishan has sung professionally with the San Diego Opera, Bach Collegium of San Diego, the Los Angeles Choral Artists, and the Grammy-nominated Los Angeles Master Chorale. He continues an active career as a performer, recently appearing as the tenor soloist in Benjamin Britten’s Serenade at Club Anthology, alongside Benjamin Jaber, principal hornist with the San Diego Symphony.

A native of Phoenix, AZ, Matt Whiffen moved to San Diego in the fall of 2000 to attend the University of San Diego. At USD Matt was a member of the esteemed USD Choral Scholars where he was a four-year tenor section leader. In the spring of 2004 Matt received his B.A. in Business Administration with an emphasis in finance and real estate along with a music minor. Since graduation Matt has worked as Development Assistant at the San Diego Symphony and Development Associate at the San Diego Repertory Theatre. In 2007 Matt played piano and sang regularly for a raucous, inebriated crowd of college students and tourists at The Shout House: Duelling Rock & Roll Pianos. Currently, he is a Student Counselor and Partner at TakeLessons.com, which is the largest provider of music and voice lessons in the U.S. with instructors in over 400 cites.
Matt’s music career has taken him many places and allowed him to experience many different types of music: from Blackpool, England to San Diego, California, from Mozart to Bon Jovi. He has been a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society since the age of 13 and has won several medals in that time, most notably as a member of the 2007 International Champion Westminster Chorus. Matt has also been active in the San Diego theater community; previous roles include Jesus in Godspell at OnStage Playhouse, for which he received an Aubrey nomination for Best Lead Actor in a Musical; Hair at the Lyceum; and a player for the Mystery Cafe Dinner Theater. Matt is excited for the challenges that lie ahead and is honored to sing next to the very talented members of San Diego’s innovative new ensemble, Sacra/Profana.

Soprano Becca Tang was born and raised in San Diego. She is a recent graduate of UCLA, and received her Bachelor’s in Music Education, specializing in Voice. She also has her teaching credential and is currently teaching private voice and piano lessons in San Diego. She sang for four years in the UCLA Chorale and was also a member of the UCLA Chamber Singers. Becca also had the privilege of participating in the UCLA Opera Studio, performing in several productions, including Benjamin Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and a world premier of “Lorca, Child of the Moon” by UCLA faculty Ian Krause.

Richard Stanford is a member of the San Diego Opera chorus and a longtime member of the Barbershop Harmony Society. He is a current International Champion just crowned in July 2008 in Nashville with his chorus, the ‘Masters of Harmony’, garnering a gold medal as the best male chorus in the world. Other highlights include singing with Opera Ala Carte, a touring Gilbert and Sullivan company, soloing and performing with his quartet at a weekend of Gershwin backed by John Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and a nationwide tour with the ‘Cornerstone Chorale and Brass’ who performed daily all over the United States in the days after Sept. 11. He also performed John Rutter’s ‘Requiem’ at Carnegie Hall with the composer directing. Richard currently solos at the Christian Science Church of Chula Vista, and directs the Heimatklang Choir, a German language choral group based in San Diego.

Lindsay Marie Sablan is returning to music and San Diego after two years of AmeriCorps service work. As a child of the theatre and a native of San Diego , Lindsay performed with Christian Community Theater, La Jolla Playhouse (dir. Michael Grief, music of Randy Newman), Starlight Theatre, and SeaWorld and spent her middle and high school years competing in dance, solo and choral vocal, and show choir competitions. While studying at the University of San Diego (B.A. Urban Studies) she was active in liturgical music as a student director and cantor for Founders Chapel Choir and as a soloist for Community Congregational Church in Chula Vista . Though she still sings as a soloist for weddings, she is eager to make music with a harmonious group!
Dr. St. Clair had the privilege of singing the tenor solos in the first-ever peformance of Handel’s Messiah in the new Walt Disney Concert Hall for the Los Angeles Master Chorale, with whom he frequently appears as a concert soloist. Dr. St. Clair appeared in acclaimed film director Baz Luhrmann’s production of La Bohème at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, for which he won an Ovation Award. Onscreen, Dr. St. Clair was featured on the hit CBS television series How I Met Your Mother and appears in the recent Robin Williams feature film License to Wed. He is also featured on the accompanying CDs for the current edition of Basics of Singing, the most widely used classical voice textbook in the United States.