El Mesías
with the Minnesota Orchestra at Church of the AscensionSun Dec 11, 2022
Church of the Ascension
Border CrosSing, led by artistic director Ahmed Anzaldúa, joins the Minnesota Orchestra with El Mesías, a bilingual Spanish-English cross-cultural combination of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah and Navidad Nuestra, a Christmas cantata by Argentinian composer Ariel Ramírez. Together with the vocal soloists and choir, the unique combination of Andean instruments and the Baroque orchestra blur the lines between Western classical and South American folk traditions.
A Few Things To Know
- El Mesías combines the first part of Handel’s Messiah performed in English and Spanish, along with selections from Ariel Ramirez’s Navidad Nuestra.
- In December 2020, Border CrosSing and the Minnesota Orchestra joined together to film a selection from El Mesías. For a preview of the upcoming concerts, enjoy this performance of For Unto Us a Child is Born.
- After the Second Vatican Council relaxed the Catholic Church’s traditions, Ariel Ramirez, one of Argentina's most well-known composers, composed one of the first Masses (Misa Criolla) not written in Latin.
- While choirs and orchestras in the Western world program Handel's Messiah to celebrate the Christmas season, Ramirez's Navidad Nuestra occupies a similar role in much of the Spanish-speaking world, especially in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.
Artists
Minnesota Orchestra
Ahmed Anzaldúa
conductor
Border CrosSing
chorus and Andean ensemble
The Grammy Award-winning Minnesota Orchestra, founded in 1903 and led since its centennial by Music Director Osmo Vänskä, is recognized for distinguished performances around the world, award-winning recordings, radio broadcasts, educational engagement programs, and commitment to building the orchestral repertoire of the future. The Orchestra tours regularly throughout Minnesota and nationally, and has toured abroad in Australia, Canada, East Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and South Africa. Recording has been an important part of the organization’s mission since the 1920s. During Vänskä’s tenure, the Orchestra has undertaken acclaimed recordings, including complete cycles of symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven, Jean Sibelius and—now underway—Mahler.
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