Classic Ross Amico

Tag: American Boychoir

James Litton American Boychoir Director Dies

I only just learned late last night that James Litton died on November 1.

Litton was well-known in Princeton and abroad for his long association with the American Boychoir, of which he served as music director from 1985 to 2001. Under his leadership, the choir performed more than 2,000 concerts in 12 countries and 49 states. He also broadened the choir’s palette by allowing singers with changing voices to remain.

Litton prepared the ensemble for performances with a number of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Boston Pops, the Chicago Symphony, the Israel Philharmonic, the National Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Vienna Philharmonic. In addition, he made many recordings with the group, and oversaw its participation in television commercials, television shows, and movies.

After stepping down in Princeton, he became choirmaster at Washington National Cathedral. He was regarded as one of the country’s finest choral music directors, and his influence was wide, but close to home, he will always be associated in people’s memories with the American Boychoir.

At the time of his death, Litton was 87 years-old.

https://obits.nj.com/us/obituaries/trenton/name/james-litton-obituary?id=36990061

November 4, 2022
Bernstein’s Ecstasy Aired on WPRB

Making music threw Leonard Bernstein into ecstasies. And he wasn’t ashamed to let you know it.

Join me this Thursday morning on WPRB as we anticipate the 99th anniversary of Bernstein’s birth (on August 25, 1918) with highly charged performances of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 4 and Jean Sibelius’ “Pohjola’s Daughter,” alongside Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat major, with Bernstein at the keyboard, playing with joyful abandon.

Along the way, we’ll salute The American Boychoir, the Princeton-based organization that closed its doors on August 15th after 79 years, with a recording of Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms.” Bernstein’s last major work, “Arias and Barcarolles,” will be heard in its original (and better) version for mezzo-soprano, baritone and piano four hands. The world premiere recording features Judy Kaye and William Sharp, the latter no stranger to Princeton audiences, thanks to frequent guest appearances singing Bach with The Dryden Ensemble. We’ll also appreciate the talent of the late Barbara Cook with selections from “Candide.”

In addition, there will be some real rarities along the way (Nikolai Lopatnikoff’s Concertino for Orchestra, David Diamond’s Symphony No. 4). We’ll hear Bernstein the conductor, the pianist and the chamber musician, the composer of concert works and musical theater pieces.

Celebrate the genius of this musical hydra, this Thursday morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. Lenny goes for broke, on Classic Ross Amico.

August 24, 2017
Bernstein’s 99th Birthday Celebration on WPRB

August 25th (Friday) marks the 99th anniversary of the birth of Leonard Bernstein. Join me this Thursday morning on WPRB as we hop aboard the Bernstein Centenary Bandwagon, kicking off an inevitable two-year celebration of his genius as composer, pianist and, of course, conductor.

Along the way, we’ll salute The American Boychoir, the Princeton-based organization that stunned everyone on August 15th by shutting down its school, effective immediately, after 79 years. The choir will perform Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms.” We’ll also hear Bernstein’s last major work, “Arias and Barcarolles,” in its original (and better) version for mezzo-soprano, baritone and piano four hands. The late Barbara Cook will sing selections from “Candide.” In addition, there will be a full roster of great orchestral recordings from all across the repertoire.

I hope you’ll join me in raising a stein to Leonard Bernstein – surveying 40 years worth of his recordings – this Thursday morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. We’ll get all liquored up for Lenny, on Classic Ross Amico.

PHOTO: “I never drink… beer.”

August 23, 2017
Westminster Choir College Sale Hopeful But Uncertain

This news broke late yesterday afternoon, but I am only just getting around to posting about it. In the same week that the American Boychoir stunned everyone with the announcement that the organization would be folding, effective immediately, after 79 years, cautious optimism is about the best I can muster for an unknown buyer of Westminster Choir College, particularly since contracts have yet to be signed. Let’s everyone keep our fingers crossed. Princeton can’t afford to lose another cultural institution, especially one of this magnitude.

http://wwfm.org/post/rider-begin-negotiations-international-buyer-westminster-choir-college

August 18, 2017
Casals’ Christmas Oratorio El Pesebre

Pablo Casals is remembered primarily as one of the great cellists. But did you know he was also a composer? Casals’ most ambitious piece must be his Christmas oratorio “El Pesebre,” or “The Crib” (once commonly translated as “The Manger”).

The text, by Catalan poet Joan Alavedra, was conceived in response to questions posed by his five year-old daughter. She asked him, as he was setting up his crèche, what each of the figures at the Nativity – including the animals – said.

The project provided something of an escape for both artists. The work was begun while they were under house arrest in 1943. The folk-like simplicity of the oratorio is disturbed only occasionally by intimations of a troubled world. Casals added a prayer for peace to the concluding “Gloria” and refused to allow the work to be performed in Franco’s Spain. Instead, it was given its premiere in Acapulco, Mexico, in 1960.

As long as you don’t go into it expecting Christmas music of the caliber of that written by Casals’ idol, Johann Sebastian Bach, the oratorio makes for a charming and disarming musical experience. Said Casals, “The figures in a crèche are folk figures; why, they can’t sing twelve-tone music!” You can hear “El Pesebre” this afternoon around 2:00, following today’s noontime concert.

At 12:00, we offer a rebroadcast of an event which took place at Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton on December 5. The American Boychoir and its music director, Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, join host Rob Kapilow for a special “What Makes It Great?” Performers and presenter parse out Benjamin Britten’s beloved “A Ceremony of Carols,” followed by a complete performance of the piece. The absorbing analysis-with-concert is emceed by WWFM’s David Osenberg.

Christmas is for the young this afternoon, from noon to 4 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

December 20, 2016

Tag Cloud

RECENT POSTS