FULL PROGRAM:
Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms
Felix Mendelssohn’s Psalm 100
Bobbi McFerrin’s Psalm 23
Ben Ellerin’s (World Premiere) Psalm Work
Giovanni Gabrieli’s In Ecclesiis
Franz Schubert’s Tov L’hodot, Psalm 92 (edited by Ben Ellerin)
Heinrich Schütz’s Psalm 150
Heinrich Schütz’s Psalm 137
FEATURED SOLOIST:
TBA
The poetry of the Psalms evokes beauty, contemplation, and affirmation. For our Holiday Concert, we invite you to discover and delight in a selection of psalms by eight distinguished composers spanning 500 years of history. The oldest work on the program comes from the Renaissance: Giovanni Gabrieli’s most famous work, In Ecclecsiis, is a polychoral wonder. The youngest composer featured is 21st-century composer Cantor Ben Ellerin with a world premiere performance of his newest composition. Enjoy a selection of psalms from the great German Baroque composer and organist Heinrich Schütz; Austrian Romantic era composer Franz Schubert; 19th century German composer Felix Mendelssohn; and American contemporary pop and folk-jazz singer/songwriter Bobby McFerrin. At the center of the program is Leonard Bernstein’s 20th-century polytonal masterpiece Chichester Psalms. Composed in 1963, the work specifically combines text from different cultural and choral traditions to illustrate the power and possibility of peace and brotherhood, a message that resonates deeply no matter the season or reasons for celebrating it!
Ben Ellerin, composer
Cantor Ben Ellerin became the cantor and music director at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation in 2018. He holds a Master of Sacred Music and ordination from Hebrew Union College in New York and completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Vocal Performance and Choral Conducting at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. In addition to his work within the synagogue, Cantor Ellerin has appeared as a guest soloist in concerts throughout the wider Jewish community, featuring repertoire spanning a wide array of classical, Israeli, Jewish, Yiddish, American folk, and contemporary music, as well as his own original works. His compositions have been performed by the Union for Reform Judaism Biennial Choir and in Jewish communities and camps across North America, Europe, and Israel.
Baltimore Hebrew Congregation
7401 Park Heights Avenue, Baltimore
FREE parking on site.
The Baltimore Hebrew Congregation is one of the oldest Reform Jewish communities in America, formed in 1830 above a small grocery store, initially named the Nidche Yisroe, or Scattered of Israel, with only 29 members. This community had been granted the right to worship in Maryland only after a vigorous debate that was only settled by then Governor Thomas Carroll King. It was at this congregation that the very first traditionally ordained rabbi to serve in the United States, Rabbi Abraham Rice, oversaw.
Learn more here.