Saturday 11 May 2pm
Carmina Burana, an epic scenic cantata composed in 1935 and 1936 by Carl Orff, is based on a medieval collection of 24 poems by the same name. If this title is unfamiliar, see background below for guaranteed familiarity. Portland Choir & Orchestra will present this musical masterpiece in one matinee performance only at the Rolling Hills Community Church in Tualatin on Saturday 11 May at 2pm.
$25 – $40 tickets will be available here and at (971)867-4618 soon.
Tickets are $25 – $40.
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Tickets are $25 – $40…
11/8/2023 1:45pm
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Tickets are $25 – $40…
… or call (971)867-4618 to purchase tickets.
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Tickets will be available in the main lobby of Rolling Hills Church starting at noon on the day of the show.
Online and phone ticket sales are closed.
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A very limited number of printed programs will be sold for $3 each at ticket desk in the lobby. Please view today’s program on your device by touching the image below or to the right, or use the button.
Emily Evelyn Way, Soprano
Emily Evelyn Way is a lyric coloratura soprano based in the Pacific Northwest. In the 2023-2024 season, Ms. Way can be seen as Zina in Dark Sisters with OrpheusPDX, the Soprano in Renegade Opera’s production She Loves You Back, and as Sandman/Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel with Eugene Opera. Other recent performances include Madame Herz in Der Schauspieldirektor (Opera Bend/Central Oregon Symphony), Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore (Opera Bend), Adele in Die Fledermaus (Eugene Opera), Laurie in The Tender Land, Héro in Berlioz’s Béatrice et Benedict (Eugene Opera), Beth in Little Women (Eugene Opera, Astoria Music Festival), Flora in The Turn of the Screw (Eugene Opera, Opera on the Avalon), and Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel (Opera on the Avalon). A frequent presence on concert stages, Ms. Way has performed as the Soprano Soloist in many works including Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Carmina Burana, Mozart’s Requiem, Exsultate, Jubilate, and Bach’s Cantata No. 51, among others.
More can be found on her website.
Stacey Murdock, Baritone
Stacey Murdock has performed extensively throughout the Northwest in opera, oratorio, and musical theater. Stacey’s musical credits include: “Poo-Bah” in The Mikado, “Fredrik Egerman” in A little Night Music, the title role in Man of La Mancha, “Curly” in Oklahoma, and “The Chairman” in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. His theater credits include “Benedick” in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, and “The Ghost of Christmas Present” in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. He performs with Portland Opera, most recently as “Antonio” in Le nozze di Figaro, and has also been a member of the Portland Opera to Go outreach program for 9 seasons. Stacey has appeared frequently with the Astoria Music Festival and Portland Summerfest. He is also a successful concert artist, and has sung with the Sunnyside Symphony Orchestra as the Baritone Soloist in Haydn’s Creation, and with the St. James Lutheran Bach Vespers. Stacey has been featured twice by the Beaverton Symphony, first as “Schaunard” in Puccini’s La Bohème, and then as “Figaro” in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville.
David Gustafson, Tenor
Internationally recognized for his robust, expressive voice, tenor David Gustafson made his San Francisco Opera debut in 2010 as Sentinelle in Cyrano De Bergerac starring Placido Domingo.
Most recently heard as Canio (Leoncavallo, Pagliacci, Rodolfo (Puccini, La Boheme), Marcello (Leoncavallo, La Boheme), Radamés (Aïda), Maurizio (Adriana Lecouvreur), Alfredo (La Traviata), Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, Namahage (Monster), Anthony (Tango of the White Gardenia), Jupiter (Semele), King Herod (Salome), Kagemusha (Nen-Nene-ko), L’Aumonier (Dialogues des Carmélites), Erik (Der Fliegende Holländer) Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Turridu (Cavalleria Rusticana), Otello (Otello), Cavaradossi (Tosca), Tony in the world premier of Heart of the Soldier at San Francisco Opera, Gustafson’s roles range from Calaf (Turandot), Ernesto (Don Pasquale), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Tamino (Magic Flute), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Ramiro (Cenerentola), Lionel (Martha), Beppe (Pagliacci), Alfred (Fledermaus), Nemorino (Elixir of Love), and others.
A frequent oratorio singer, Gustafson has sung masses of Beethoven, Verdi, Mozart, Schubert and Haydn, Messiah (Handel), Magnificat in D and cantatas of J.S. Bach, as well as Carmina Burana (Orff), Rachmaninoff Vespers, Seven Deadly Sins (Weill) and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. In addition he sang the world premiere, presented by Eugene Symphony, of Robert Kyr’s Symphony No. 9 as well as its European premiere, in Denmark.
Heard internationally as Count Almaviva (Barbiere) with the Shanghai Broadcasting Orchestra, the production being the Chinese premier of the Rossini masterpiece. In addition to live London performances Gustafson recorded at Abbey Road Studio, London, Prince Hal/Henry V (Getty’s Plump Jack) with the London Philharmonia. In 2006 Gustafson headlined the Gala Opening Concert of the Cesky Krumlov International Music Festival in the Czech Republic.
Upcoming performances include: Turridu (Cavalleria Rusticana), Canio (Pagliacci), Hoffman (Tales of Hoffman), Paolo (Fraceska da Rimini), several opera concert appearances, Beethoven’s 9th symphony, and the requiems of Verdi and Mozart.
Carmina Burana is a scenic cantata composed in 1937 by German composer Carl Orff (1895-1982). The title is Latin and translates as “Songs Of Beuern,” referring to a collection of 13th-century songs and poems that were discovered in Germany in 1803 at the Beuern Monastery. Carl Orff chose 24 of the poems and set them music in 1937. The result is Carmina Burana, one of the most widely performed oratorios ever written.
The poems of Carmina Burana were written in a mix of Latin, middle high German and medieval French, but they are not sacred texts. They were written and performed by a medieval minstrel group called the Goliards, a band of poet-musicians comprising scholars and clerical students, who wrote satirical poetry that lampooned religious customs using earthy humor to celebrate the joys of the tavern, nature, vagabond life and love.
Carmina Burana is divided into three main sections – Springtime, In the Tavern and Courtly Love – but it begins and ends with an anthem to Lady Luck. ‘O Fortuna’ is perhaps the most widely recognizable choir theme ever written and has been used in countless movies, television shows and commercials.
Latin and English Text
More info about Carmina Burana
Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi on YouTube
Carmina Burana in Film by Royal Winnipeg Ballet
Comments from Phoenix Chorale
PCO promotional video
Rolling Hills Community Church, 3550 SW Borland Road in Tualatin, is located near the Stafford exit of I-205 north of the southern junction with I-5.
Ample parking is available onsite.
