Is nothing sacred? Actually, it turns out a good deal is sacred, as two area choral groups offer intriguing programs for this Lenten season. Both will strive to present “authentic” experiences in Gothic Revival structures this weekend.

Princeton Pro Musica (Saturday at 8 p.m.) will offer contrasting works at Princeton University Chapel in the form of Josef Rheinberger’s “Stabat Mater” and Eriks Esenvalds’ “Passion and Resurrection;” and VOICES Chorale (Sunday at 3 p.m.) will present a reconstruction of an event which took place at Trenton’s Trinity Cathedral 45 years ago: a performance under the composer’s direction of Maurice Duruflé’s “Requiem.”

Rheinberger, everyone’s favorite composer from Lichtenstein, will also be represented on the Princeton Pro Musica concert by his Organ Concerto No. 2, with Princeton University organist Eric Plutz as the soloist. PPM artistic director Ryan James Brandau will conduct.

A recreation of Duruflé’s 1971 Requiem performance in Trenton will feature VOICES Chorale, under the direction of its founder, Lyn Ransom, along with members of Princeton High School Choir and the Trinity Cathedral Absalom Jones Inspirational Choir. Barbara Rearick will be the mezzo-soprano soloist. The organist, David Enlow, will perform a solo recital on the concert’s first half, with music by Bach and Louis Vierne, as well as Duruflé’s own “Prélude et Fugue sur le nom d’Alain.”

Details in my article in today’s Trenton Times.

http://www.nj.com/times-entertainment/index.ssf/2016/03/classical_music_ppm_voices_cho.html

PHOTOS: Rheinberger (left) in Princeton and Duruflé in Trenton – two compelling reasons to get you to church this weekend