SACRA/PROFANA is a California-based chamber choir founded in 2009. [1] They are noted for their eclectic [2] and unorthodox [3] [4] approach to choral repertoire, and for appearing as the onstage choir for fifty consecutive performances of The Hunchback of Notre Dame during its American premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2014. [5]
SACRA/PROFANA was founded in 2009 by Krishan Oberoi, a graduate of Yale University. During the choir's first season, the ensemble performed exclusively at the University of San Diego and the San Diego Museum of Art. In 2011, the ensemble began exploring new venues such as San Diego's club Anthology. [6] In May 2011, they were invited by conductor Jung-Ho Pak to perform Friede Auf Erden by Arnold Schoenberg with San Diego's Orchestra Nova. [7] Later in 2011, Pak invited SACRA/PROFANA to perform Messiah by Georg Frideric Handel with the same orchestra. When Orchestra Nova folded in 2012, [8] SACRA/PROFANA stepped in to complete that orchestra's scheduled performance of Messiah. [9]
In March 2012, SACRA/PROFANA received critical acclaim [10] for their performance of the little match girl passion [11] by composer David Lang. The choir released their first CD in the spring of 2012, [12] and was subsequently invited to appear in multiple performances with the San Diego Symphony. [13] In September of that same year, producer Carlton Cuse and author Rob Bell asked SACRA/PROFANA to be the featured musical act at a live event on September 11, 2012 in Los Angeles.
SACRA/PROFANA extended its performance schedule in 2013, [14] appearing with San Diego Dance Theater in multiple performances of music by Ola Gjeilo with choreography by Jean Isaacs. [15] These performances took place at San Diego's Monarch School, an institute for children impacted by homelessness.
During 2013, Artistic Director Krishan Oberoi developed a close relationship with Palm Springs resident Gladys Nordenstrom, the widow of composer Ernst Krenek. SACRA/PROFANA consequently gave several performances of choral works by Krenek in Palm Springs, San Diego and La Jolla. [16]
In the summer of 2013, the ensemble was invited to perform with the La Jolla Music Society in a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. The performance, conducted by Michael Beattie, received substantial critical praise. [17] [18]
SACRA/PROFANA performed at the Carlsbad Music Festival for the first time in September 2012, earning positive reviews for their renditions of works by Michael Gordon and György Ligeti. [19] The ensemble would again perform in Carlsbad in 2014, [20] this time in a program featuring the United States premiere of when we were children by David Lang. [21] Shortly thereafter, SACRA/PROFANA produced the first recording of when we were children in collaboration with Lang.
In 2014, SACRA/PROFANA was asked to by Disney Theatrical Productions to perform as the onstage choir for the inaugural performances of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame , [22] a new musical based on the 1996 Disney film. SACRA/PROFANA's Artistic Director Krishan Oberoi served as Choir Master for the production, working with Music Director Brent-Alan Huffman, Director Scott Schwartz, composer Alan Mencken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz in bringing the Oscar-nominated score to the stage. Although the show was met with mixed reviews, SACRA/PROFANA's performance was well received, earning critical praise from many press outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, [23] San Diego Gay & Lesbian News, [24] and Stage Scene L.A. [25]
In March 2014, SACRA/PROFANA performed with the Irish band the Chieftains at San Diego's Copley Symphony Hall. [26] In May 2015, SACRA/PROFANA premiered SNAKESKIN, [27] an evening-length dance drama composed by Krishan Oberoi, [28] and commissioned by choreographer John Malashock. [29] SNAKESKIN, loosely inspired by a Tennessee Williams play, was performed over three consecutive evenings at the La Jolla Playhouse, with eight members of SACRA/PROFANA doubling as singers and instrumentalists. The work received mixed reviews, [30] with one critic writing, "I’m not ready to crown Oberoi as the next Mahler or Bernstein." [31]
In the spring of 2015, Founding Artistic Director Krishan Oberoi announced that he would leave San Diego in order to pursue doctoral studies in conducting at Boston University. [32] Conductor Juan Carlos Acosta was brought on as Associate Artistic Director, assuming the role of artistic leader in Oberoi's absence (although Oberoi would retain the title of Artistic Director). Acosta quickly earned critical praise for his work with SACRA/PROFANA; critic Ken Herman hailed Oberoi's "visionary direction", while also crediting Acosta with rectifying shortcomings of Oberoi's approach. [33]
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story of Quasimodo, the Gypsy street dancer Esmeralda and Quasimodo's guardian the Archdeacon Claude Frollo in 15th-century Paris. All its elements —Renaissance setting, impossible love affairs, marginalized characters— make the work a model of the literary themes of Romanticism.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1996 American animated musical drama film directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise; produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 34th Disney animated feature film and the seventh produced during the Disney Renaissance. The film is loosely based on the 1831 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. The plot centers on Quasimodo, the deformed and confined bell-ringer of Notre Dame, and his yearning to explore the outside world and be accepted by society, against the wishes of his cruel, puritanical foster father Claude Frollo, who also wants to exterminate Paris' Romani population. The film's voice cast features Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, Tony Jay and Kevin Kline.
Clopin Trouillefou is a fictional character first created in the 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by French author Victor Hugo, and subsequently adapted.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1923 American drama film starring Lon Chaney, directed by Wallace Worsley, and produced by Carl Laemmle and Irving Thalberg. The supporting cast includes Patsy Ruth Miller, Norman Kerry, Nigel de Brulier, and Brandon Hurst. The film was Universal's "Super Jewel" of 1923 and was their most successful silent film, grossing $3.5 million. The film premiered on September 2, 1923 at the Astor Theatre in New York, New York, then went into release on September 6.
Margaret Eleanor Hillis was an American conductor. She was the founder and first director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus.
El Niño is an opera-oratorio by the contemporary American composer John Adams. It was premiered on December 15, 2000, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris by soloists Dawn Upshaw, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and Willard White, the vocal ensemble Theatre of Voices, the London Voices, La Maîtrise de Paris, and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, with Kent Nagano conducting. It has been performed on a number of occasions since, and has been broadcast on BBC Television.
"Hellfire" is a song from Disney's 1996 animated feature The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The song is sung by the film's main antagonist, Judge Claude Frollo, who is voiced by Tony Jay.
Carlsbad High School is a public high school in Carlsbad, California. First opened in 1957, the high school underwent major redevelopment from 2009 to 2012. The school is renowned for its high level of academic success and graduation levels, with top students from each year attending many of the most prestigious universities in the United States. In 2010, the API index for the school was 812.
San Diego Men's Chorus (SDMC) provided entertainment for San Diego, California, during the period of 1985 to 2009. A former member of the Gay & Lesbian Association of Choruses, SDMC performed some of the finest choral literature from a variety of genres. The Chorus offered numerous 'outreach performances' each season, and supported local LGBT organizations and HIV/AIDS organizations in the San Diego area.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a musical play based on the 1831 novel of the same name written by Victor Hugo with songs from the 1996 Walt Disney Animation Studios film adaptation.
Gerald Richard Fagan is considered one of Canada's premier choral conductors. He is the former Conductor and Artistic Director of Fanshawe Chorus London, The Gerald Fagan Singers, and the Concert Players Orchestra. He has been married to Marlene Fagan since 1961. They have five children; Leslie, Louise, Judy, Jennifer and Jonathon.
The Choral Arts Society of Washington is a major choral organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1965 by Norman Scribner, it is regarded as one of the premier symphonic choruses in the United States. The Choral Arts Society of Washington consists of three vocal ensembles; the Choral Arts Chorus, the Choral Arts Chamber Singers, and the Choral Arts Youth Choir.
"God Help the Outcasts" is a song written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz for Walt Disney Pictures' 34th animated feature film The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). A pop ballad, the song is performed by American singer Heidi Mollenhauer as the singing voice of Esmeralda on American actress Demi Moore's behalf, who provides the character's speaking voice. A prayer, "God Help the Outcasts" is a somber hymn in which a beset Esmeralda asks God to shield outcasts and Roma like herself against racism and discrimination at the hands of Paris and Judge Claude Frollo. The song also establishes Esmeralda as a selfless, empathetic character with whom Quasimodo falls in love.
In 1983, Marguerite McCormick founded the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio to develop the artistic and personal potential of young people across the city. Today, more than 450 young musicians ages 5–18 gather every week to learn choral music and singing in a healthy, diverse, and inclusive environment. The organization runs eight core ensembles, one of which is in special collaboration with the Boys and Girls Clubs, as well as an extensive early-childhood music and movement program for babies and toddlers called Music Together. Through their specially crafted programming, CCSA continues to cultivate the arts and culture in San Antonio, while transforming the lives of young people through the power of music and friendship.
Esmeralda is an opera in four acts composed by Arthur Goring Thomas to an English-language libretto by Theo Marzials and Alberto Randegger based on Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. It premiered in London on 26 March 1883 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane with Georgina Burns in the title role and Barton McGuckin as her lover, Phoebus.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a Disney media franchise, commencing in 1996 with the release of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The franchise is based on the 1831 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo.
Ciara Renée Harper is an American actress and musician. She is best known for her roles on Broadway as The Witch in Big Fish, the Leading Player in Pippin, and Elsa in Frozen. She played Esmeralda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame at Paper Mill Playhouse and La Jolla Playhouse. She starred as Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl in the CW series DC's Legends of Tomorrow, a spin-off of Arrow and The Flash. Her vocal type is mezzo-soprano.
Kiera Duffy is an American opera singer born in Philadelphia. A soprano, Duffy is also an accomplished pianist. She has earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Westminster Choir College.
The San Diego Jewish Men's Choir is a community choral ensemble based in San Diego, California, founded in 1998 by Rhoda Gaylis and Dr. Basil Abramowitz. The choir performs a diverse repertoire including liturgical, pop, folk, gospel and musical theater, and sings in Hebrew, English, Yiddish, and Ladino. To date, the choir has released two albums under the direction of their current artistic director, Ruth Weber.
Martin Segerstråle , born August 31, 1984 in Turku, Finland, is a Finnish music director, pianist, conductor and composer.
