Ralph Vaughan Williams, Dona Nobis Pacem, 1936
Using a mix of Biblical texts, Latin Mass texts and the poetry of Walt Whitman, Dona nobis pacem (Grant us peace) is a cantata that pleads for peace by referring to early 20th C. wars as fears grew of yet another in the 1930s. His texts were taken from the Mass, three poems by Walt Whitman, a political speech, and sections of the Bible.
Joseph Haydn, Mass in time of War (Paukenmesse), 1796
Joseph Haydn composed 14 Latin Masses over his lifetime, with the six late masses (1796-1802) standing among the supreme masterpieces of classical sacred music. His works seamlessly blend operatic drama, rich orchestration, and profound spirituality.
Missa in tempore belli, the first of the great, late masses, features dramatic timpani solos in the Agnus Dei evoking the aura of anxiety at the time of the Napoleonic Wars.
Corie Brown, conductor, serves as Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education at San José State University. She leads the SJSU Concert and Treble Choirs and brings diverse teaching experience in both public and community settings. As a mezzo-soprano, Dr. Brown has appeared with the Ad Astra Music Festival and Oregon Bach Festival Choirs, as well as the award-winning University of Oregon Chamber Choir, University of Colorado Boulder University Singers, and the prestigious Chicago Chorale. She has sung under the baton of Helmuth Rilling, Matthew Halls, Sharon Paul, and Andrea Ramsey, amongst others, and has toured internationally throughout Argentina, Colombia, and Europe.
As a conductor, Dr. Brown was a semi-finalist in the Southwest American Choral Directors Association Conducting Competition and enjoys performing everything from early music to contemporary works, especially by marginalized composers. She is active nationally and internationally as a clinician and guest conductor. She most recently served as faculty at the Kula Kākoʻo Virtual Choral Conducting Institute in Hawai’i, adjudicated the Festival Coral de Santander in Colombia, presented at the California State Music Educators Conference, and conducted the Ad Astra Music Festival High School Honor Choir in Kansas.
Tamami Honma, pianist, consistently receives acclaim as a performer and recording artist. A student of Byron Janis, who in turn was a student of Horowitz and both Lhevinnes, Ms. Honma is firmly rooted in the great Romantic tradition. Her appearances have attracted praise, as soloist at Bolshoi Hall with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, at Carnegie Hall — “an eloquent, powerful performance” (New York Times) — and at Wigmore Hall in London — “an interpretation that was probably as transparent and faithful to the Goldberg Variations as it’s possible to be on a modern piano” (Music & Vision).
She has frequently appeared on radio and television in Europe and in the U.S. and participated in major music festivals such as the Aldeburgh Festival and the Warsaw Autumn. Her recordings range from Mozart and Chopin to new composers. She has been featured in BBC Music Magazine, Gramophone, The Guardian, The Independent, International Music Review, Yomiuri Shinbun, and various U.S. newspapers. Her recordings have garnered five-star reviews from BBC Music Magazine and Gramophone. Recently, she released her renditions of the complete 35 Beethoven Piano Sonatas under Divine Art Recordings.