For Release Upon Receipt - December 3, 2019
St. Augustine
ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad and Tobago. December 3, 2019 – The UWI St. Augustine Arts Chorale presents King of Kings: Mozart’s Coronation Mass, to kick off the official start of their twentieth anniversary celebrations. The concert takes place at the spacious St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Harris Promenade, San Fernando this Sunday, December 8 at 6 pm. Senior Lecturer, Jessel Murray, will conduct the combined forces of the UWI Arts Chorale, soloists, and Orchestra in the complete performance of the celebrated Mozart Coronation Mass - one of the masterworks of the choral canon. Instructor in Music, Khion De Las will lead the UWI Arts Steel in Christmas favourites.
The UWI Arts Chorale and Steel takes great delight in performing at the scenic and acoustically brilliant St. Paul’s Anglican Church. The concert, King of Kings: Mozart’s Coronation Mass, is a combination of repertoire selected to celebrate the choral milestone and to bring in the Christmas spirit with music from around the world. The Mozart Coronation Mass is a staple of the classical repertoire and will be performed in its entirety for the first time in Trinidad and Tobago and features nationally acclaimed soloists Turon Nicholas, soprano, Marlon De Bique, tenor, as well as Chorale soloists Vidia Nancoo-Harroo, mezzo-soprano and Wayne Sealey, baritone. The entire concert mass will be accompanied by members of the National Philharmonic Orchestra and advanced student instrumentalists.
In addition to the Mass, the Chorale will bring in the Christmas spirit with contemporary Christmas music including ‘Mary Did You Know’ and ‘This Christmas’ among others, while the UWI Arts Steel will perform the ever popular ‘Carol of the Bells’, ‘Sleigh Ride’, and much more. Special guests on the concert include the Southern all-female Parang group SJC Voix Riches and the UWI Arts African Drumming Ensemble. This performance of the King of Kings: Mozart’s Coronation Mass promises to be an unforgettable Christmas experience for audience of all ages! Join us for an evening of exciting music making.
Tickets are available at the Department of Creative and Festival Arts (DCFA) at Cheesman Avenue, St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Harris Promenade, and from members of participating ensembles. For more information, call 662-2002 ext 85440/85454, 272-DCFA (3232) or email uwi.arts.chorale@gmail.com or uwi.arts.steel@gmail.com.
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Notes to Editor
About The UWI Arts Chorale
Over the last twenty years, the UWI Arts Chorale has gained a large following in Trinidad and Tobago with their eagerly awaited premieres of choral works and their seemingly never-ending combinations of music events. The Chorale is unique among groups in Trinidad and Tobago in presenting full-length classical works in their entirety and original languages on an annual basis. These works include Orff’s Carmina Burana; Bernstein Chichester Psalms; J.S. Bach Magnificat; Britten Ceremony of Carols; Mozart Requiem; Rutter Magnificat; and Schubert Mass in G. These works have been done with a mixture of orchestral or steel accompaniment but always presented in an authentic fashion. Music partners have included the UWI Arts Steel, the National Sinfonia Orchestra, the National Steel Symphony Orchestra, and the Massy Trinidad All Stars among others.
The work of the Chorale has been recognised regionally and internationally as well. The ensemble, many times in tandem with the UWI Arts Steel, has offered multiple concerts in the Caribbean, Belize, Mexico, and the United States. In 2020 the year of celebration will culminate in an eight-day, six-country tour of regional venues, where the combined ensembles will offer the unique branding of choral and steel work. The ensemble has also represented The UWI at every major event of the last twenty years including Matriculation and Graduation ceremonies, the installations of the Chancellor and Principals of the UWI, and the campus anniversary celebrations.
In 2005, the Chorale also branched out in its music theatrical vision and commenced the offering of full-length Broadway music productions under its own company: Music Come See Productions. Since then the company has offered at least ten musicals which have gathered close to twenty Cacique awards for outstanding work including best overall production for Oliver! (2007) and best Musical production for The Sound of Music (2008). Additionally, the company has produced Peter Pan, which introduced theatrical flying to the national community and has also offered other productions including its most recent: West Side Story.
About The UWI
For more than 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider world. The UWI evolved from a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally respected, regional university with near 50,000 students across five campuses: Cave Hill in Barbados; Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda; Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago; and an Open Campus. Times Higher Education has ranked The UWI among the top 1,258 universities in world for 2019, and the 40 best universities in its Latin America Rankings for 2018 and 2019. The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists.
As part of its robust globalization agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, and Africa including the State University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development; the Canada-Caribbean Studies Institute with Brock University; the Strategic Alliance for Hemispheric Development with Universidad de los Andes (UNIANDES); The UWI-China Institute of Information Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies and the Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science & Technology, Social Sciences and Sport. As the region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost objective is driving the growth and development of the regional economy. For more, visit www.uwi.edu.
(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of “The”)
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