Press Release - October 15, 2007, Boston, MA

Back Bay Chorale Begins 35th Season

Embarking on its 35th season, the 90-member Back Bay Chorale, conducted by Music Director Scott Allen Jarrett, explores several choral masterpieces. According to Robert Shaw, “It is the nature of music, unlike painting and most of literature, that its final creation is not its original creation . . . . In this sense, the composer literally must leave his work to be finished by others.” In the 2007-2008 season, the Chorale will present four unique musical evenings where masterworks will be created anew.

The season opens on November 3 with Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, composed at the peak of his creative powers. Haydn titled this work Missa in Angustiis—Mass in Time of Distress. Despite the foreboding, the work proclaims the presence of hope and joy, even in the darkest times. On December 15 and 17, the Chorale will hold its annual holiday musical celebration. Performing Daniel Pinkham’s’ popular Christmas Cantata as well as traditional carols, the Chorale will be joined by Majestic Brass—a celebratory event for the entire family. The third concert on March 15 features works by Frank Martin and Olivier Messiaen, two French composers whose music celebrates the inner beauty of the Catholic faith. The final concert on May 30 presents Mendelssohn’s colossal Elijah with Metropolitan Opera Baritone Richard Zeller in the title role.

According to Music Director Jarrett, “The season is an emotional and creative journey, bringing together the Chorale with nationally-renowned soloists and musicians.”

About Scott Allen Jarrett

In addition to his appointments as Music Director of the Back Bay Chorale, Musical Director and Conductor of the Oratorio Singers of Charlotte, and Director of Music and University Organist and Choirmaster at Boston University’s Marsh Chapel, Scott Allen Jarrett serves as the Assistant Conductor of Choirs at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute where he assists Dr. Ann Howard Jones. Also at Tanglewood, Jarrett teaches advanced music theory and history to the students in the Young Artist Vocal Program.

In Summer 2004, Jarrett was a guest conductor at St. Matthias Cathedral in Budapest and also gave an organ recital there. Later in the summer, he was guest conductor for New Hampshire’s White Mountain Musical Arts Bach Festival.

As a pianist, Mr. Jarrett frequently serves as rehearsal pianist and assistant for Ann Howard Jones. He also accompanied rehearsals for the late Robert Shaw during his Boston visits. As the rehearsal pianist for the Carnegie Hall Choral Workshop, Jarrett played rehearsals for Charles Dutoit. As a baritone, Jarrett has been a member of the Robert Shaw Festival Singers, the Boston Bach Ensemble, and Schola Cantorum of Boston.

About the Back Bay Chorale

The Back Bay Chorale is a 90-member chorus with a diverse membership drawn from communities throughout the Greater Boston area. Performing a repertoire of classical and contemporary choral music, the Back Bay Chorale strives to build community through musicality - fostering connection between choral and audience members.

Since its founding in 1973 by Larry Hill, the Back Bay Chorale has performed over a hundred concerts in such venues as Symphony Hall, Sanders Theatre at Harvard University, Emmanuel Church, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Church of the Covenant, the Hatch Shell on the Charles River Esplanade, New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and Providence's Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul. In addition to performances with its past music directors, Larry Hill, Beverly Taylor, Julian Wachner, and James Olesen, the Chorale has appeared with the Boston Pops under John Williams and Keith Lockhart, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra under Gunther Schuller and Gisele Ben-Dor, the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra under David Commanday, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project under Gil Rose. The Chorale has also collaborated with the Providence Singers, the Charles Street A.M.E. Church, and the National Center of Afro-American Artists.

The Back Bay Chorale's repertoire spans the full range of choral literature, from the masterworks of the Renaissance, baroque, classical, and modern periods to the most contemporary of compositions. In recent years, the Chorale has premiered several works written especially for it, including Marjorie Merryman's Three Ballads, James Russell Smith's Canto V: The Second Circle, Robert Kyr's Unseen Rain and Passion According to Four Evangelists, and Stephen Paulus's Voices.

The Chorale's discography includes recordings of John Knowles Paine's St. Peter Oratorio with Gunther Schuller conducting; James Yannatos's Trinity Mass with the Harvard Glee Club, the Radcliffe Choral Society, the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, and the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, under the direction of the composer; and, with conductor emerita Beverly Taylor, Robert Kyr's Unseen Rain and Passion. New recordings include Benjamin Britten's Company of Heaven, featuring the Chorale under the direction of Julian Wachner (2002), and Lukas Foss's Griffelkin with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project.