The Capitol Hill Chorale performed Awake the Harp! on December 4 and 5, 2010, at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Washington, DC, under Artistic Director Frederick Binkholder. The concerts marked the Chorale’s 50th program since its first performance in December 1993 and celebrated Binkholder’s tenth anniversary leading the ensemble.
The program explored the interplay of choir and harp, featuring guest harpist Beth Mailand alongside Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols, Leoš Janáček’s Otčenáš, and Salamon Rossi’s Shir Hamma’alot, with vocal solos drawn from the Chorale’s own singers. A shorter set of carols and folk arrangements, including two harp-accompanied Irish and American pieces, filled out the second half following an intermission.
Program
- Weinachten (No. 1 of Sechs Sprüche, Op. 79) — Felix Mendelssohn
- A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28 — Benjamin Britten
- Shir Hamma’alot (Psalm 128) — Salamon Rossi
- Otčenáš — Leoš Janáček
- The Boar’s Head Carol — arr. Robert Shaw
- O Come, O Come, Emmanuel — arr. Andrew Hawryluk
- The Snow Lay on the Ground — David Conte
- Past Three O’Clock — arr. Cary Ratcliff
- Inno a Maria Vergine — Franz Liszt
- The Little Tree — Steve Heitzeg
- Silly Shepherds, Stop Your Sleeping — Bern Herbolsheimer
- My Gentle Harp — arr. Alice Parker
- Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal — arr. Alice Parker
Frederick Binkholder conducted, with Jinsun Cho as accompanist and Beth Mailand performing harp throughout the program.
