Skylark Receives 3rd Grammy@ Nomination | New Album Release today: "A Christmas Carol"

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PRESS RELEASE

Media Contacts:

Sue Auclair, Sue Auclair Promotions

For Concert Performances

M: 617.359.5771 | O: 617.522.1394

sue@sueauclair.com

Paula Mlyn, A440 Arts

For Album Release

paula@a440arts.com | O: 212.924.3829

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, December 6, 2021

Skylark Ensemble

Presents

A Christmas Carol

Greater Boston Tour Coming up Dec 16 - 20

Narrated by Sarah Walker, A Christmas Carol features

an innovative “story score” by Benedict Sheehan

which immerses the Charles Dickens classic

in a cinematically rich soundscape

New Album Just Released

Skylark receives 3rd Grammy® nomination!

Best Choral Performance for It's A Long Way

Greater Boston–The Boston area-based, three-time GRAMMY®-nominated vocal ensemble Skylark, led by Artistic Director Matthew Guard, will begin its “A Christmas Carol Tour” on Thursday, December 16.

Concerts include Thursday, December 16 and Friday, December 17 at The Simon Center for the Arts at Falmouth Academy in Falmouth, Saturday, December 18 at the First Parish Church in Weston, Sunday, December 19 at The Larz Anderson Auto Museum and Monday, December 20 at Belleville Congregational Church in Newburyport. Tickets for all five concerts are available now at skylarkensemble.org.

In addition, Skylark has also just released a new album of A Christmas Carol, a “story score” based on the Dickens classic. Acclaimed second-generation professional storyteller Sarah Walker narrates the tale, and the score is composed by Benedict Sheehan—whose 2020 Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom was lauded by Fanfare as “simply beyond praise for excellence.” The music is treated as an integral narrative element and also uses themes from traditional carols and folksongs that weave through and around the story so that story and song become an inseparable whole. The album is available here.

Skylark has also just been nominated for its third Grammy® for Best Choral Performance for their album It's A Long Way which was released September 24, 2021. Skylark’s albums Seven Words from the Cross and Once Upon A Time were also nominated for GRAMMY® Awards in 2019 and 2021.

MEDIA-ONLY DOWNLOAD/PRESS KIT: A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Known for his “musically creative and intellectually rich” (Opera Obsession) programming, Skylark’s Artistic Director Matthew Guard has been exploring the concept of a “story score” for years with Sarah Walker, the daughter of two traditional Appalachian storytellers and a regular collaborator with Skylark. In 2019, they recorded a pairing of the Grimm and Andersen originals of “Snow White” and “The Little Mermaid” for the GRAMMY®-nominated album Once Upon a Time, using preexisting choral music by a variety of composers as a counterpart to the spoken narration. To create a sonic bridge from Walker’s storytelling to Guard’s selection of choral works they enlisted composer Benedict Sheehan, who wrote a score blending melodic and harmonic ideas from the music with elements of the stories, a contribution praised as “evocative” (Gramophone), “quite extraordinary” (Limelight), and “otherworldly” (Boston Musical Intelligencer).

Reuniting for A Christmas Carol, the team collaborated from the outset to make music an equal partner with the well-worn Dickens tale. Stunning new arrangements of Christmas carols and folk songs contribute their own atmosphere and message to the story, making the choir into something between a crowd of bystanders and a Greek chorus. The composer also uses melodic and harmonic fragments from the carols as leitmotifs for characters and narrative elements, giving the entire work a cinematic scope.

Guard explains:

“The idea of a continuous choral story score—combining elements of classical performance, storytelling, film scoring, and theatricality—seemed to be a rich new idiom for choral performance art. [And] the collaborative team of the project seemed like a dream come true—there was a strong sense of mutual respect for everyone’s unique talents, and a rare ability for creative push and pull.”

Skylark’s outstanding roster of choral singers who are equally adept at stepping into solo roles creates a wide-ranging sonic palette that the composer exploits to the fullest. Textures reminiscent of Arvo Pärt and John Tavener alternate with moments of choral euphoria that would not sound out of place in an MGM Christmas spectacular. Sheehan handles the variety of styles with aplomb, never losing sight of the fundamental task of enriching the story. Dramatic highlights include a Middle Eastern chant-inspired “Coventry Carol,” seemingly custom-made to mourn Tiny Tim, and a setting of “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” which rises perfectly to the occasion of summing up the collective joy after Scrooge’s epiphany. Sheehan’s expressive settings of “The Truth from Above,” “God Rest You Merry Gentlemen,” “Remember O Thou Man” and many others, including the little-known Welsh carol “Poverty,” round out the thoughtfully curated score.

ABOUT SKYLARK:

GRAMMY®-nominated Skylark, “the cream of the American crop” (BBC Radio 3), is a premier vocal ensemble of leading American vocal soloists, chamber musicians, and music educators. Skylark’s dramatic performances have been described as “gripping” (The Times of London), “exquisite…thrilling” (Gramophone), and “awe-inspiring” (Boston Music Intelligencer). With “some of Boston’s best singers” (Boston Globe), the voices of Skylark “can sway you softly into calm and then all but throw you across the room with sheer harmonic force” (Thought Catalog). Skylark’s albums Seven Words from the Cross and Once Upon A Time were nominated for GRAMMY® Awards in 2019 and 2021. Skylark strives to set the standard for innovative and engaging programs that re-define the choral experience for audiences and singers alike.

COVID PROTOCOL:

As Skylark returns to live performances, the chorus's top priority is the safety of its communities, as well as its audiences, performers and staff.

VACCINATION POLICY:

In consultation with medical and public health experts and at the request of many of our artists, Skylark will be implementing a mandatory vaccine policy for audiences. Beginning with these concerts, proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours prior to performance, as well as matching photo ID, will be required upon arrival at Skylark concerts. Vaccinations will also be required for staff, patron-facing volunteers, and all Skylark artists. Skylark artists will also be taking COVID tests before and during our projects.

MASKS:

All patrons and staff will be required to wear masks. Masks must cover the nose and mouth and must be worn during the duration of the performance. Depending on local guidelines and virus prevalence, some or all Skylark artists may also be masked for performances. If Skylark chooses to perform unmasked, the group will ensure at least 10 feet of distance from the first row of the audience.

Two-time GRAMMY® nominee Matthew Guard is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and thoughtful programmers in American choral music.

Praised for his “catalyzing leadership” (Q2/WQXR) and “musically creative and intellectually rich” programming (Opera Obsession), Matthew is passionate about communicating something unique in each concert and recording. He scours the world of available repertoire for each program, exhaustively researches each piece, and crafts concerts and printed programs that captivate audiences with their hidden connections and seamless artistry.

Sarah Walker is the daughter of two traditional Appalachian storytellers, who instilled in her a love of hearing and telling great tales. She has performed extensively in her home state of West Virginia and throughout New England. Walker made her New York debut as a cast member of Gotham Early Music Scene’s medieval drama The Play of Daniel. She performs regularly with Skylark and was a featured artist during the 2017 Skylark Spotlight Series. She has also been a featured performer with Three Notch’d Road Baroque Ensemble and the Midtown Concert Series. She founded the storytelling and music duo, Chapter House, in 2018 with her husband. Walker holds degrees in Medieval Studies and Art History from Vassar College and Pratt Institute. She is a children’s librarian in Connecticut.

GRAMMY®-nominated conductor and composer Benedict Sheehan is Artistic Director of the Saint Tikhon Choir and the newly founded Artefact Ensemble, as well as Director of Music at St. Tikhon’s Monastery and Seminary in Pennsylvania. His Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (2020), on which he conducts the Saint Tikhon Choir, has garnered critical acclaim as “simply beyond praise for excellence” (Fanfare), “radiant…superb…a masterstroke” (MusicWeb International), and “a new standard for excellence in the American choral landscape” (The Living Church Magazine). Sheehan’s new Vespers was recorded in 2021 by the Saint Tikhon Choir under the composer’s direction and was released in November of 2021. His music is published by Oxford University Press, Artefact Publications, and others. Benedict lives in Pennsylvania with his wife Talia and their seven daughters.