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Miniature Masterpieces & Rachmaninoff Vespers
Each Offer Two Performances
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Mid-Winter Concerts Offer
Double Dose of MOS
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Dr. Michael O'Neal, founder and artistic director of The Michael O'Neal Singers.
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Dear Friends,
In our next two concerts The Michael O'Neal Singers will perform Miniature Masterpieces and Rachmaninoff's Vespers. Each concert will have two performances in two different venues, which we hope will make
it easier for you to find a convenient time and location.
On February 15 and 20 our fourteen voice professional ensemble, The Michael O'Neal Chamber Singers (MOCS), will present Miniature Masterpieces, a program consisting of small
works of immense value. While the evaluation of art must of necessity include a certain degree of subjectivity, most of us would agree that a
"masterpiece" should have a quality of uniqueness, something which causes it to stand apart from others of its kind. That quality of uniqueness will certainly be found in the music to be performed in
Miniature Masterpieces. Some of our finest choral composers from the past and present will be represented - Victoria, Bruckner, Poulenc, Busto, Lauridsen, Argento and many others. Memorable
versions of folk music, spirituals, and popular music will also be featured in this program. Miniature Masterpieces will remind you why intimate poetic expressions are often most beautifully conveyed
through the choral idiom. Consider this concert to be your Valentine's Day gift to yourself. I hope to see you at Roswell UMC or at Oglethorpe University's Conant Center for the Performing Arts.
The winter winds of March bring choral sonorities from cold and snowy Russia.
However, you will be warmed by the 140 voices of The Michael O'Neal Singers as they sing Sergei Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil, Opus 37, more
commonly known as Vespers, on March 14 and 15. This music was written in 1915 during an intense two week period of compositional creativity, and stands today as the pinnacle of Russian liturgical music
. Sung without accompaniment, the choruses are harmonically rich and satisfying with the wonderful low bass tones so often associated with Russian choral singing. Rarely performed, largely because of its
difficulty, Vespers provides for the listener and performer alike a musical experience that will stay in one's memory for years to come. Come hear it in the newly acoustically renovated Roswell
United Methodist Church or at one of Atlanta's finest choral venues, the Glenn  Memorial United Methodist Church at Emory University.
I look forward to sharing this music with you.
All the best,
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