Music at St. James Cathedral: New Year’s Eve Gala Concert
$30 suggested donation
Marc-Antoine Charpentier — Messe de minuit pour Noël
Marc-Antoine Charpentier – Te Deum in D major, H. 146
Marc-Antoine Charpentier – Messe de minuit pour Noël ("Midnight Mass for Christmas")
Music at St. James Cathedral presents our 38th annual New Year’s Eve Gala Concert featuring Baroque music from Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704) performed by St. James Cathedral Cantorei and Seattle Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Joseph Adam.
Seattle’s oldest classical music New Year’s Eve concert – 2019 marks our 38th consecutive year! We join with another long-established Seattle entity, Early Music Seattle’s Seattle Baroque Orchestra, with festive music from Baroque France by Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Te Deum and Messe de minuit pour Noël (Midnight Mass for Christmas). At midnight, we toll in the New Year with bells and a “midnight surprise!”
Passes to reserved seating are ONLY available by advance donation: order online for delivery by mail or pickup at will-call, or call 206-382-4874. General admission passes are available at the door.
Concerts with reserved seating at St. James Cathedral are "Festival Seating," which guarantees you a seat, but not a specific seat, in the reserved section. Reserved seats are opened to general seating a few minutes before each concert.
Online sales of advance passes to reserved seating will end at 7:00pm on Monday, December 31. General admission passes will be sold at the door ($30 suggested donation; pay what you can).
Box Office/Will Call will open at approximately 9:30 pm. The doors will open at 10:00.
About the Performers
The St. James Cathedral Cantorei is comprised of twenty of Seattle’s highest-caliber professional choral artists and vocal soloists, who serve as section leaders for the larger Cathedral Choir and the Women of St. James Schola. The individual members of the Cantorei minister as cantors, soloists, and psalmists at all sung liturgies at St. James – nearly 600 services a year. As a choral ensemble they have performed such works as Bach’s Magnificat, Handel's Dixit Dominus, Tallis’ Lamentations of Jeremiah, Mozart's Solemn Vespers, Parry’s Songs of Farewell, and Charpentier’s Messe de minuit pour Noël. Joseph Adam, Director of Music.
Early Music Seattle is the area’s largest presenter of early music and related educational programs. Its mainstage events include Seattle Baroque Orchestra and internationally-renowned touring artists at venues around the Puget Sound region including Nordstrom Recital Hall, Seattle First Baptist Church, St. James Cathedral, and Bastyr University Chapel. Seattle Baroque Orchestra was founded in 1994 by violinist Ingrid Matthews and harpsichordist Byron Schenkman, and it quickly established itself as one of the most vibrant of the American early music ensembles. Now under the direction of Alexander Weimann, they perform four programs each season with Early Music Seattle. The Orchestra has toured North America, been featured extensively on National Public Radio, and garnered rave reviews for its six recordings, while winning loyal fans in Seattle for the excitement and intimacy of their live performances.
Joseph Adam has been Cathedral Organist at St. James Cathedral since 1993; he became Associate Director of Music in 2015, and was named Director of Music in 2018. In this capacity, he is responsible for direction of the music program at St. James Cathedral, directs the Cathedral Choir of St. James, the Women of St. James Schola, Cathedral Cantorei, Cathedral Brass, and the Cathedral Chamber Orchestra. He oversees the growing Youth Music Program at the Cathedral, which consists of three choirs of young singers from grades two through high school.
An experienced educator, he was a member of the faculty at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma for twenty years, where he taught organ and harpsichord. As Resident Organist at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall for the past fifteen seasons, he performs regularly with the Seattle Symphony; he is featured in the SSO’s recording of the Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 “Organ Symphony,” and can be heard of other recordings by the SSO of works by Adams, Berio, Debussy, Dutilleux, Ives, Kernis, and Ravel. He received First Prize at the 1991 St. Albans International Organ Competition, the most recent American to take top honors in this prestigious competition. Since then, he has presented recitals in numerous cathedrals, universities and concert halls throughout the United States and Europe. He received undergraduate and graduate degrees in piano from The University of Iowa before beginning doctoral studies in organ at the Eastman School of Music, which awarded him the Performer’s Certificate in Organ. He is a Candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Washington.
Parking
– Paid parking is available for this event in the Cabrini Tower Garage, which will be open from 9:00pm-1:15am. Garage entrance is on Marion Street between Terry and Boren Avenues.
– Limited free parking is available in the O'Dea High School parking lot, entrances on Marion and Columbia Streets between Terry and Boren Avenues.
– Paid street parking is enforced until 8:00pm.
– Handicapped parking is available on the west side of Terry Avenue, between Marion and Columbia.
Public Transportation
– St. James Cathedral is within a few blocks of a number of bus lines and the First Hill Streetcar. The #60 bus stops directly in front on 9th Ave. To plan your trip, visit tripplanner.kingcounty.gov (or 206-553-3000), or maps.google.com and search for 804 9th Avenue, Seattle, 98104.