The 2012 Longfellow Choral Festival, March 3, 4 & 5 2012:
Ole Bull, Longfellow & Elgar: Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf
- Made possible through grants from The Maine Arts Commission, The Maine Humanities Council, The American-Scandinavian Foundation, The Elgar Society, The Sons of Norway Foundation, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (UD), the Music Information Centre Norway (MIC) and through the ongoing support of our friends and patrons.
Three days of events featuring Edward Elgar's masterful Longfellow cantata King Olaf, a musical retrospective on the life of Ole Bull presented by two of Norway's top concert violinists, Arve Tellefsen and Henning Kraggerud, two documentary film showings in Portland's Nickelodeon Theater and the winning songs and choruses from the 2012 Longfellow Chorus International Composers Competition.
Purchase tickets and combo passes for all events from the drop-down lists below, or send a check by mail to The Longfellow Chorus, PO Box 5133, Portland, Maine, 04101. (NOTE -- Children under 12 are admitted FREE to all events):
Individual Events
Event I: 12:30 PM, Saturday, March 3, 2012Ole Bull's Fairy Tale (Norwegian Television Corporation, 1982), a documentary film two hours in duration, with English subtitles.
Ole Bull (1810–1880) was Norway's Paganini. In this 1982 documentary, Norwegian violinist Arve Tellefsen narrates Bull's life story, and performs Bull's compositions. One segment was filmed in Bull's Lebanon, Maine, home. Tellefsen will greet the audience before show start.
Event II: 4:00 PM, Saturday, March 3, 2012
Arve Tellefsen Performs Ole Bull and Edvard Grieg Concert Pieces with Elissa Alvarez, soprano, Rachele Schmiege, soprano, and The Longfellow Chorus and Orchestra.Arve Tellefsen "is one of the most highly regarded violinists in Europe." Here he performs Ole Bull's most popular compositions for solo violin and orchestra. Rachele Schmiege sings Edvard Grieg's Solveig's Song and Elissa Alvarez sings Arabian Dance from Peer Gynt.
View the program for Event II
Event III: 8:00 PM, Saturday, March 3, 2012 (7:15 pre-concert talk by Arthur S. Reynolds, Chairman, The Elgar Society, North American Branch)
Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf, a cantata by Edward Elgar, with Arve Tellefsen, violin, Brian Arreola, tenor, Deborah Selig, soprano, Bradford Gleim, baritone and The Longfellow Chorus and Orchestra, Charles Kaufmann, Artisitic Director.A rare performance of Edward Elgar's cantata setting of a portion of Longfellow's Tales of a Wayside Inn. Brian Areola, tenor, Deborah Selig, soprano, Bradford Gleim, baritone with distinguished violinist Arve Tellefsen and The Longfellow Chorus and Orchestra.
View the program for Event III
Event IV: 1:30 PM, Sunday, March 4, 2012
Winning Songs and Choruses from the 5th Annual Longfellow Chorus International Composers Competition, with special guest, Arve Tellefsen, violinOur 5th-annual competition presents songs and choral settings of Longfellow poems. Soprano Vera Savage is joined by pianist Jesse Feinberg, The Longfellow Woodwind Quartet and The Longfellow Chorus. Violinist Arve Tellefsen performs works by Ole Bull with pianist Geoffrey Wieting.
Event V: 3:00 PM, Sunday, March 4, 2012 (2:30 pre-concert talk by Arthur S. Reynolds, Chairman, The Elgar Society, North American Branch)
Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf, a cantata by Edward Elgar, with Arve Tellefsen, violin, Brian Arreola, tenor, Deborah Selig, soprano, Bradford Gleim, baritone and The Longfellow Chorus and Orchestra, Charles Kaufmann, Artistic Director.A rare performance of Edward Elgar's cantata setting of a portion of Longfellow's Tales of a Wayside Inn. Brian Areola, tenor, Deborah Selig, soprano, Bradford Gleim, baritone with distinguished violinist Arve Tellefsen and The Longfellow Chorus and Orchestra.
View the program for Event V
Event VI 4:00 PM, Monday, March 5, 2012
Ole Bull: Conqueror of Heaven (Visions AS, 2006), a documentary film with English subtitles.Henning Kraggerud, who portrays Ole Bull in the film, will make a personal appearance at the theater.
This award-winning 2006 documentary about the life of Ole Bull features the young Norwegian violinist Henning Kraggerud performing music of Ole Bull on Bull's 1744 Guarnerius violin. Henning Kraggerud in person will speak with the audience following the showing
Event VII: 7:30 PM, Monday, March 5, 2012
Henning Kraggerud in recital: Music of Bull and Grieg- Internationally acclaimed violinist Henning Kraggerud "is an artist of exquisite musicianship, who combines an unusually sweet tone and beauty of expression with impressive virtuosity." Here he performs Grieg's Violin Sonata No. 2 and works by Bull, Svendsen and Halvorsen.
View the program for Event VII
The Longfellow 205th Birthday Choral Festival, Ole Bull, Longfellow & Elgar: Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf, is supported in part through grants from The Maine Arts Commission, The Maine Humanities Council, The American-Scandinavian Foundation, The Sons of Norway Foundation, The Elgar Society Elgar in Performance Fund, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Music Information Centre Norway and from on-going contributions from our friends and patrons.
For more information contact The Longfellow Chorus.
Mission Statement of The Longfellow Chorus, Inc.:
The Corporation shall organize and maintain a chorus to perform and
record vocal and choral settings of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poetry, written from 1840 to the present, shall inspire and commission new vocal and choral
settings of Longfellow's poetry, and shall perform choral music of the
Romantic and immediate post-Romantic eras, ca. 1825–1920.
Materials on this website are protected, copyright 2007–2012, The Longfellow Chorus, Inc., Portland, Maine, USA
Contact The Longfellow Chorus:
e-mail: The Longfellow Chorus
The Longfellow Chorus
c/o Charles Kaufmann
P. O. Box 5133
Portland, Maine 04101
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