August 13: Pergolesi – Suscepit Israel, 2000

Thursday evening the women get a break while Allan works to finesse the men’s parts.

It was a bit tricky finding a recording that would fit well into today’s email.  Neither Consort Chorale nor the Allan Petker Chorale tours have ever done a piece sung only by the men.  Consort once started a tenor and bass piece in one of its earlier seasons, but abandoned the song before the performance.  Instead, what we have today is a movement in Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s “Magnificat” which is a tenor and bass duet.  It is movement IV, “Suscepit Israel,” sung by Michael Petersen and Marty Eschoff in 2000, Opus 7.

Persons of the Day: Reception Coordinators One of the highlights of our concerts from the very beginning has been the reception that follows.  In some of the early years, we even attempted to pair the wine with the countries where our music was written.  A tremendous amount of thought, planning, shopping, and work goes into every reception.  We now keep a permanent supply of materials that are stored from year-to-year.  Managing the reception is a job that cannot be done by a singer.  The final preparations take place while we are still singing, so the coordinator sometimes misses the end of the concert.  Annie Petker coordinated the receptions from 1994 to 2001, except for 1998 when Deirdre Cobb, wife of the former minister at Novato Presbyterian Church, filled in. In 2002 Kimberly Ayers took over as coordinator and has been doing it for the past 18 years!  We are currently looking for someone to take over this position for the 2021 season.  If you are interested, please contact Board President Ruthann Lovetang. The coordinator also helps with recruiting a dedicated team to assist with shopping, providing wine, set up, serving, and cleanup.  Some of the people who have helped out over the years include: Terry Scott, Tim Proctor, MC Winkler, Clark Smith, Allan McAllister, Will Toft, Marcia DeZwarte, Livia Camperi, and RuthE Wells.

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