Seattle Chamber Orchestra features "Stabat Mater"

• Charlene Chi, alto
• Natalie Ingrisano, soprano
• Melissa Plagemann, alto
• Lorenzo Marasso, conductor
• Mary Rose, soprano

Join us on Friday November 17th 2023, at 8pm, for a celebration of the Stabat Mater, a 13th-century Christian hymn, which portrays Mary suffering during Jesus Christ's crucifixion. We will present two works that put into music the Stabat Mater sequence, the first composed in 1736 by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, and the second by Norwegian-American composer Tyler Futrell, who completed his Stabat Mater in 2022, specifically meant to be performed along with the Pergolesi. Both works are scored for soprano and alto soloists, string orchestra, and continuo.

Quoting Tyler Futrell: "My intention in composing the piece was, in a sense, to write a Stabat Mater about the Stabat Mater - what it has, and has not, been over its 600-year musical history. In my reading, what it has largely not been is a humanistic representation of the agony of a mother watching her child brutally killed; neither has it really represented her natural attempts to comfort him, despite her own suffering. I also expand the view, and treat the Stabat Mater as an example of the beautification of suffering more broadly (an allusion to Barber's Adagio, for example, is due to its use in Platoon). A challenge for me while writing the piece was to balance my wish to participate in the tradition of beautiful, melancholic music in Stabat Mater settings – which is what initially drew me to the project – while also looking at what that obscures".

The works on the program will be performed by the Seattle Chamber Orchestra conducted by Music Director Lorenzo Marasso. The soloists will be, for the Stabat Mater by Tyler Futrell, soprano Mary Rose and alto Melissa Plagemann and for the Stabat Mater by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, soprano Natalie Ingrisano, and alto Charlene Chi.

Concert will be held at Tagney Jones Hall at the Seattle Opera (363 Mercer Street, Seattle, 98109). Join us at 7:15pm for a pre-concert talk. Concert begins at 8pm. Admission includes the pre-concert talk, the performance, accompanied by fines wines and appetizers.

About Seattle Chamber Orchestra

Founded in 2021, Seattle Chamber Orchestra seeks to bring music lovers tantalizing combinations of the traditional and modern, performed by world-class professional musicians. Brought to life through thoughtful programming that educates as much as it inspires, SCO seeks to reinvigorate live classical music, which has suffered most of all during the pandemic, by providing opportunities musicians and audiences to explore new music and challenge established boundaries.

About Charlene Chi, alto

http://charlenechi.com/

About Natalie Ingrisano, soprano

https://www.natalieingrisano.com/

About Melissa Plagemann, alto

https://www.melissaplagemann.com/

About Lorenzo Marasso, conductor

Lorenzo Marasso is an impassioned and sympathetic conductor, concert pianist, chamber musician, educator and radio host. Dubbed the "king of repertoire," Lorenzo's creative programming reveals lesser known masterpieces and rarely performed arrangements. Lorenzo's performances have been broadcast in numerous media outlets, including Seattle's 98.1 Classical King FM and NPR. In 2021 Lorenzo founded the Seattle Chamber Orchestra and is serving now as the ensemble's music director. In the same year he also started hosting a weekly radio program called Dress Rehearsal on 107.3FM KBFG Seattle. Equally inspired by contemporary music, Lorenzo has commissioned and performed world premieres of new works by several international composers who have written and dedicated pieces to him. In July 2020 he completed the Invention Project, a commission of new pieces for piano inspired by J.S. Bach's Inventions and Sinfonias. Further commissions included works composed by Michael Finnissy, Edward Cowie and Bernhard Lang.

About Mary Rose, soprano

Coloratura Soprano, Mary Rose recently made her Puget Sound debut with Tacoma Opera as Norina in Don Pasquale. Her previous roles include The Vixen (The Cunning Little Vixen), La Comtesse Adèle (Le Comte Ory), Eliza Doolittle (My Fair Lady), and Morgana (Alcina). Mary was scheduled to sing Ms. Nordstrom (A Little Night Music), Josephine (HMS Pinafore), and Miss Wordsworth (Albert Herring), however they were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mary received her Master of Music degree from Louisiana State University where she studied with Loraine Sims, and Bachelor of Arts from Luther College. Currently, Mary studies dramatic soprano Alexandra Lobianco, as well as tenor Peter Scott Drackley. She is based in Lake Forest Park, Washington.