May 20: Composers – Allan, When Morning Breaks, 1997

Jon Curtis Season of the Day, SOTD - May

Introduction to Miniseries: Throughout the summer we plan to have several short miniseries where we present a group of season events around a common topic. Today we begin the first of these.

Introduction to Composers: Consort is greatly blessed with the benefits of having a Director who is also a world-known music Publisher. His connections with the choral music world has enabled us to sing dozens of newly written pieces from today’s composers. One set of our miniseries will focus on the top several composers whose music we have sung, and sometimes their presence we have shared, over the past 26 seasons.

Introduction to Allan Petker: It should not surprise anyone to learn that the composer we have most often gotten to sing, is our own Director/Publisher/Composer Allan. Even with that, some of us cannot get enough, and have been delighted to sing even more of his music at places like the Novato Presbyterian Church, Zephyr Point, and Mendocino.

So, for the next few days our first “Composers” miniseries will feature Allan Robert Petker.

Survey of the Day

Yesterday’s Answer
: How many people have been part of Consort Chorale, all Seasons combined?  Everyone’s estimates were quite short.  Over the years 126 people have been a part of Consort Chorale’s membership!  And that does not include our Orchestras and approximately 15-25 additional volunteers who assist us in the planning, rehearsals, publicity, concerts, and receptions each year.  We will drill down into these numbers as we ask more questions in the weeks ahead.  But first, something a little different …

Today’s Survey:  Tell us about your favorite Allan T-Shirt and/or Socks!  Extra points if you can send a photo!

If you are wondering where a lot of the information for these emails is coming from, we have posted all of our past Concert Programs on our website, under the “Seasons” menu.

From those, we know that the first Allan Petker song we sang was “Kyrie Today” in 1995. 1996 saw the first premiere of “The Feast” and Allan’s “Mass for Today”. In the next few days we will only be able to share some of the recordings of his pieces and a few more will be presented as part of other miniseries later.

Today’s song is the earliest recording we have, “When Morning Breaks” from 1997.