8817 S. Broadway
Littleton, CO 80129
Colorado Women's Chorale
The Vivaldi Gloria
Jennifer Ferguson, Conductor
and joined by Douglas County High School Belles
The Vivaldi Gloria is an iconic work featuring soloists and a chamber orchestra; the 12 movements cover all of the styles of the Classical Period. A mix of choral works between the Colorado Women's Chorale and the Douglas County Belles will be presented, including "Fly Singing Bird Fly" by Eglar featuring two violinists, a Czech folk song and a piece honoring the 70th anniversary of the release of the survivors from Auschwitz.
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi composed this Gloria in Venice, probably in 1715, for the choir of the Ospedale della Pietà, an orphanage for girls (or more probably a home, generously endowed by the girls' "anonymous" fathers, for the illegitimate daughters of Venetian noblemen and their mistresses). The Ospedale prided itself on the quality of its musical education and the excellence of its choir and orchestra. Vivaldi, a priest, music teacher and virtuoso violinist, composed many sacred works for the Ospedale, where he spent most of his career, as well as hundreds of instrumental concertos to be played by the girls’ orchestra. This, his most famous choral piece, presents the traditional Gloria from the Latin Mass in twelve varied cantata-like sections.
The Colorado Women's Chorale was founded in 2003 to broaden the exposure of quality women’s choral music in Colorado while providing choral opportunities for adult female musicians. The CWC provides its members with excellence in choral music while focusing on modern works created specifically for the art of women's voices. The CWC was honored to sing as an invited choir in the concert “With Grace: The Music of Gwyneth Walker” under the direction of acclaimed conductor, Nancy Menk at Alice Tully Hall in New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in late November of last year.
Jennifer Ferguson is the Music Director and Conductor of the Colorado Women's Chorale. Ms. Ferguson earned her Bachelor of Music at Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana and her MM in choral conducting from the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music. She is the Executive and Artistic Director of the Mile High Youth Choir and the Associate Director of Music Ministries at St. Luke's UMC in Highlands Ranch, where she directs the church's many instrumental ensembles including the orchestra, brass ensemble, and jazz bands.
Since 1997, Augustana Arts has been serving the community by presenting the artistry of resident performing groups, internationally renowned touring artists and accomplished locally-based ensembles of many genres. The resident groups, Musica Sacra Chamber Orchestra (MSCO) and the Colorado Women's Chorale (CWC) perform at a variety of venues in addition to the majestic Augustana Lutheran Church in Denver. Augustana Arts serves educational outreach through the City Strings program, an inspired vision to provide youngsters with great need access to high quality, small group music instruction free of cost afterschool at several metro locations.
Augustana Arts concerts and programs are made possible in part by generous support from the citizens of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, the Colorado Creative Industries, a state agency which is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, the Augustana Foundation and several other community partners.
