Come enjoy a wonderful, relaxing afternoon of the best in choral music.

Portland, Ore. – Northwest Vocal Arts (NWVA) – celebrates its second season with a fall concert at 3 p.m. on Sunday, October 19, at Rose City Park United Methodist Church, located at 5830 NE Alameda St. in Portland.

Titled Autumn Celebration, this concert will feature the NWVA professional chamber choir and the NWVA youth choir performing works by Antonio Vivaldi, Jack Runestad, Aaron Copland, and more. Thanks to generous donations from the public and a substantial grant from San Francisco-based non-profit Chance to Excel, all members of the youth choir receive a full tuition scholarship.

The centerpiece of the concert will be Gloria, RV 589 by Antonio Vivaldi. Gloria was composed in 1715, during his residency at a convent and orphanage for girls in Venice. Vivaldi’s orchestras and choirs were famous throughout Europe. Although his secular music, such as The Four Seasons, is better known today, he composed truly stunning and profound sacred works. Gloria is a shining example of Baroque sacred music at its finest.

Other highlights include the Grammy-nominated The Hope of Loving by  contemporary composer Jack Runestad. The piece explores themes of love, spirituality and the natural world in mesmerizing settings of verses by poets ranging from medieval mystics to more contemporary masters. On composing, Runestad said “I write because it’s not about music for the sake of music — it’s music for the sake of helping someone grieve, inspiring positive change in the world, telling someone else’s story that maybe we don’t know about in order to foster compassion. It’s really music with purpose.”

General admission is $35 ($15 for students). Season tickets ($80) can be purchased at nwvocalarts.org/tickets.

More Concerts this Season

Voices of Winter – New Light, featuring Three Nativity Carols by Stephen Paulus, A Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten and more, Saturday, December 20, 2:00 pm and Sunday, December 21, 7:00 p.m.

Cordillera: Range of the Americas-Music of Brazil, Featuring Bendita Sabedoria by Villa-Lobos, a pre-concert reception and more, Sunday, March 15, 3:00 p.m.

About Northwest Vocal Arts

Northwest Vocal Arts is a non-profit organization based in Portland, Ore., that strives to foster human connection, inspire the next generation of professional and amateur musicians, and positively impact individuals and audiences in the Pacific Northwest and beyond through the universal language of vocal music and innovative community-focused initiatives.

NWVA currently has two ensembles – a professional chamber choir featuring some of the region’s finest vocal musicians, and a youth choir that is open to high school students of all ages.

Thanks to generous donors, every member of our youth choir is provided with a 100% tuition scholarship, regardless of prior experience and without an audition.

With this groundbreaking approach, NWVA removes a significant barrier of entry for young singers and their families.

Learn more at www.nwvocalarts.org.

Artistic Team and Leadership

Portland native Samuel Barbara is Northwest Vocal Arts’ founder and executive artistic director. He has a doctorate in choral music from the University of Southern California and is currently Director of Choral and Vocal Studies at Portland Community College, Rock Creek Campus. He previously served as Director of Choral Activities at Westminster College and as Director of Choirs at Cleveland High School in Portland, where his choirs won the 5A Oregon State choir championships three times.

Karen Bohart directs the NWVA Youth Choir. She is Director of Choirs at Wilsonville High School and is past-President of the Oregon American Choral Director Association (ACDA). She has served on the Oregon Music Educators Association (OMEA) Board and previously served on the Oregon ACDA Board as the Treble Choir Repertoire and Standards Chair.