Special Guest: Founder & Director Doug Fullington Tudor England (c1485–1603) was deeply unstable—yet monuments of its Latin sacred music survived, including the Sarum rite chant used before the Reformation. This chant formed the basis of devotional works by Taverner, Sheppard, Fayrfax, and Tye. It appears directly in several pieces on this program—among them Sheppard’s deeply moving Libera nos, whose chant melody is shown here. This music is inseparable too from the stone abbeys and cathedrals it was made to fill. These Stones Remain restores these masterworks to their spiritual home, performed by the Northwest’s own Tudor Choir.
A joyful community sing-along led by Portland’s own Thomas Lauderdale of Pink Martini with many of Portland’s finest musical artists and chorale singers. Portland’s Tree Lighting Ceremony is the highlight of the holiday season in downtown. Join in this holiday tradition as Santa Claus ‘flips the switch’ to illuminate nearly 10,000 colorful lights on our City’s Tree that will shine bright throughout the holiday season.
Conductor: John Michael Boyer Long before gift-giving and reindeer, there was St. Nicholas of Myra—the 4th-century bishop whose deep compassion made him one of Christianity’s most beloved saints. From the medieval West, we’ll sing the remarkable isometric motet O Gemma lux by Guillaume Dufay. From the Byzantine tradition an exquisite Kalophonic (“beautiful sounding”) chant for his feast day by Manuel Chrysaphes (15th c.). We finish with Arvo Pärt’s “O Holy Saint Nicholas,” featured on Cappella Romana’s acclaimed recording Odes of Repentance, a contemporary meditation that bridges ancient tradition and modern spirituality.