The Boston Modern Orchestra Project and the Maryland-based National Philharmonic are the orchestras that will perform A Melancholy Beauty, a large-scale oratorio by Georgi Andreev that depicts the rescue of 49,000 Bulgarian Jews from the Nazis during World War II. The National Philharmonic will perform the world premiere on June 21 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and again on June 26 at New York City’s Avery Fisher Hall. Joining the National Philharmonic for those performances will be vocal soloists, New York’s Khorikos Choral Ensemble, and Bulgaria’s Philip Kutev National Folklore Ensemble. The Boston premiere, on June 23 at the Wang Theatre, will feature the Boston Modern Orchestra Project performing with the Indianapolis Children’s Choir, Philip Kutev National Folklore Ensemble, Khorikos Choral Ensemble, the Victor Valley College Singers, and California’s Master Arts Chorale. Henry H. Leck, a choral director who teaches at Butler University and founded the Indianapolis Children’s Choir 1986, will conduct all performances. A Melancholy Beauty is being presented by Songs of Life, founded in 2008 as a division of Varna International, which specializes in international choral-orchestral workshops and festivals that aim to facilitate world change by putting history lessons to music.
Posted June 20, 2011
