Houston, TX (March 29, 2004) The United Nations Association International Choir will present an evening of international music on Saturday, April 24, 2004, 7:30 p.m., at The Centrum at Cypress Creek Christian Community Center, 6823 Cypresswood Drive in Spring. The program includes music by Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Felix Mendelssohn, Joseph Gabriel Rheinberger, Josquin des Prez, Giuseppe Verdi, UNAIC choir-member composers Flavia Companys and Stephane de Mahieu, and several folksongs from Israel, the Netherlands, and Ireland. The selected pieces will be sung in English, Italian, Latin, German, French, Spanish, Hebrew, Greek and Dutch.

The UNA International Choir performs all styles and genres of music from all historical periods around the world. Pieces are generally performed in the language for which they were originally composed. A principal goal of the choir is to provide concerts of the highest artistic quality while promoting understanding and mutual respect among all the peoples of the world. "The fifth season of the UNA International Choir is distinguished by increasing diversity.  We can now count twenty-two countries of origin represented by current members of the choir.  We are also pleased to be collaborating with the young singing sensation soprano Paulette Labbe-Chiasson.  Taken together, these exciting elements make our spring concerts the most compelling in the history of the ensemble," remarks Phillip Kloeckner, director of the UNA International Choir as of fall 2003.

Sung in Latin, the evening’s focal piece, Te Deum (We Praise You) by Johann Nepomuk Hummel, will be performed with a twenty-two-piece chamber orchestra. The ancient text was established more than fifteen hundred years ago as a hymn for the Roman Catholic Church and continues to be used by composers to this day. This performance of Hummel’s setting is a Texas premiere as the complete manuscript of this music was discovered only nine years ago in Düsseldorf, Germany.

A child prodigy, Hummel was a student of W. A. Mozart, F. J. Haydn, and A. Salieri for several years before touring Western Europe as a concert pianist in his early teens. Throughout his life, Hummel had an admiration for and amicable rivalry with Beethoven, whose career generally overshadowed his own. Upon retirement as concertmaster of the Esterházy Court, Franz Joseph Haydn selected Hummel as his replacement. After several years at court, he returned to a public career as a pianist and composer.

Also of exceptional note are original pieces composed by two members of the UNA International Choir. Belgian-born Stéphane de Mahieu has composed a suite of pieces, also accompanied by chamber orchestra, based on poems by French poets Paul Verlaine, Charles Baudelaire and Pierre Ronsard. Each of the five poems focus on a different stage in human life, from youth through adolescence, love, the challenges of life and finally old age. "The suite was written to enhance the feelings of the poets, whose work I have admired since I was young. The music reflects the mood and tone of the life experiences set forth in the poems," remarks de Mahieu, who also performs leading roles with Opera in the Heights. "I am so pleased that the UNA International Choir has chosen to perform this very personal composition."

Peruvian-born Flavia Companys has created an homage to a folk music icon, Chabuca Granda. Companys was greatly influenced by meeting her idol at a young age and was inspired to honor her with a piece for piano, percussion, violin and folk guitars. The Spanish lyrics of this work also contain titles of Granda’s most famous works. "She deeply believed that music was the international language which creates bridges between countries and continents. Her talent is amazing and her work is a legacy for the world," explains Companys.

Chabuca Granda established worldwide recognition, not only in her native Perú. She frequently performed on the radio and was one of the first Peruvians to make an appearance on television. After living all over the world, she died in 1983 in the United States from complications following heart surgery. Chabuca’s grandson, Gustavo Becerra, who resides in Houston, will attend the performance.

The remainder of the program will be delivered in the form of unaccompanied choral music. Featured pieces will include The Cricket by Josquin des Prez, one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music and pivotal in the Renaissance movement. His unique vocal arrangements became his trademark thus greatly influencing the Baroque and Classical periods. Rheinisches Tanzlied or Rhine Dance Song is a secular piece by late nineteenth-century German composer Joseph Gabriel Rheinberger. This proud, up-tempo song – a tribute to the countryside and people found along the banks of southern Germany – will be sung in its original German language. Israeli folksong Erev Shel Shoshanim (Evening of Roses), arranged by Jack Klebenow, will be presented in Hebrew. Performed in it’s original language, the Dutch children’s song, Ik Heb Mijn Wagen Volgeladen, is a playful folk song about the joys of being a young girl and pokes fun at the actions of older men and women. The choir will also be presenting Nicolas Karloff's setting of The Cherubic Hymn. The text comes from the Greek Orthodox Church and is sung at every communion service at the beginning of the prayer of consecration, the most solemn portion of that liturgy.

A standard for every UNA International Choir performance, I am a Small Part of the World by Sally K. Albrecht and JayAlthouse, along with Single Voice Solitary Flame by Jerry Estes, speak about the need to join together as one human race and the power to change the world that can be achieved when each individual joins with others for the common good. English is the common language shared by all members of the choir, as many members speak several languages.

The United Nations Association is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that supports the work of the United Nations and encourages active civic participation in the most important social and economic issues facing the world today. The local chapter, UNA-Houston, offers Houstonians the opportunity to connect with issues confronted by the UN, from global health and human rights to equitable development and international justice. Also, one of our goals is to encourage US engagement in the UN through educating the public about the value of the system.

Call 281-550-3208 for tickets ($15 general admission; $10 seniors -- 65+; $7 students – high school).

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