Description

Portsmouth Pro Musica will perform an exciting and eclectic program of American classics and contemporary, spirituals and folksongs, and European sacred music at their spring concerts in Durham and Portsmouth on April 11th and 12th. Artistic director Priscilla Stevens French conducts the 55 voice mixed chorus singing the original (1814) Star Spangled Banner, a stunning contemporary setting of a John Donne poem, energetic spirituals, and two Scottish folksongs. Make Our Garden Grow from Bernstein's Candide and Irving Berlin's Blue Skies (1926) will top off this energetic concert. Organist Robert Littlefield will also accompany the chorus for Haydn?s charming and complex Missa Brevis. Notably, a group of PPM singers will perform many of these works when touring Vienna, Prague, and Budapest this summer capping the chorus? 30th anniversary season. Concerts are set for Saturday, April 11th, at 8 pm, at Durham Community Church, 17 Main Street, Durham, and Sunday April 12th, 3pm, at St. John?s Episcopal Church, 101 Chapel Street, Portsmouth. Tickets are available at the door ($15 adults, $12 seniors/students) and in advance ($12 adults, $10 seniors/students) in Portsmouth at The Flower Kiosk, 61 Market Street; Philbrick's Fresh Market, 775 Lafayette Road; Napoli Market, 261 South Street. Also, at Water Street Bookstore, 125 Water Street, Exeter, and Ear Craft Music, 432 Central Street, Dover. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.ppmnh.org.