I will be performing Handel’s Messiah with the Elmhurst Choral Union this Sunday (12/3/06) at 3 p.m. The concert will be held in Elmhurst’s Hammderschmidt Chapel on the campus of Elmhurst College. You can find out more information about this concert here.

I have played in Hammerschmidt Chapel many times, and it may be a tight fit for the orchestra plus chorus. This may be my only Messiah performance this fall, which is unusual.

I will be performing a concert with the William Ferris Chorale this Friday evening (12/1/06) at 8 p.m. at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Chicago, Illinois. Music Director Paul French will be conducting the concert. Call 773-325-2000 for tickets. The church near the corner of Belmont Ave. and Halstead St. in Chicago. We are also recording this work this week for Cedille Records.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a beautiful structure with a very resonant (”churchy”) acoustic. It is a good setting for Snowcarols, the piece we are playing. Snowcaols was written by William Ferris in 1979.

Here is some biographical information about William Ferris:

William Ferris, who was Chicago-born and -trained, has had his music performed by major American orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony, premiered at Britain’s prestigious Aldeburgh Festival in 1986 and broadcast world-wide by the BBC. He was the founder and conductor of the internationally acclaimed William Ferris Chorale, an ensemble that specializes in 20th century choral music until his sudden death on May 16, 2000 as he conducted a rehearsal of the Verdi Requiem. Snowcarols, a work he wrote for the Chorale in 1980, was nominated for a Pulitzer prize.

YOu can read more about William Ferris here.

There is a new blog called the Sioux Falls Times that my friend Aaron Burman just pointed out to me. I grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and I will be checking in with this blog from time to time. I am also adding it to my blogroll.

I’d like to share this video of Stefano Sciascia performing Cancion de Amor. This is top-notch, world-class double bass playing. Check out his website here (I’m also adding it to my blogroll).