MKA's Music Director has work performed at Salzburg Festival
To listen to a classical music performance in the church where Mozart once played the organ is the ambition of many music lovers. To have an original composition performed in such a space is the dream of many composers. For Montclair resident and composer Randall Svane that dream recently became reality.
On August 17, Svane’s original composition, a Mass entitled Missa Festiva had its European premiere at the Salzburg Dom Cathedral in front of an audience of 10,000; the first time that an American composer has had both a premiere there and been present for it.
Svane, who is Music Director at The Montclair Kimberley Academy, first attended the Salzburg Festival four years ago. While there, he heard a Dvorak piece that so impressed him, he went backstage to meet and congratulate the Kapellmeister, Herr Janos Czifra. At that time, Svane was already half way through composing a new Mass for a cappella choir, and when he completed the work that fall, he was introduced to the Schola Cantorum on Hudson Choir that performs in the New York and New Jersey area. The choir learnt and performed the Mass for a world premiere in New Jersey the following year, and when Czifra heard the recording, he invited Svane and the choir (which includes an MKA junior and an MKA Upper School teacher among its members) to perform its European premiere in the Festival this year.
“It was,” says Svane, “an experience that was beyond my wildest dreams as a composer. The musical history associated with this Cathedral is absolutely staggering. It is still difficult for me to fully comprehend that my music was sung in the same Cathedral where Mozart performed some of his most famous works.”
And as if a performance in Mozart’s church wasn’t enough, December 2009 will see the world premiere of Svane’s latest composition, a choral work entitled “Antiphons of the Angels” in the St. Niccolaikirche in Leipzig – the very church where J.S. Bach served as organist!
On August 17, Svane’s original composition, a Mass entitled Missa Festiva had its European premiere at the Salzburg Dom Cathedral in front of an audience of 10,000; the first time that an American composer has had both a premiere there and been present for it.
Svane, who is Music Director at The Montclair Kimberley Academy, first attended the Salzburg Festival four years ago. While there, he heard a Dvorak piece that so impressed him, he went backstage to meet and congratulate the Kapellmeister, Herr Janos Czifra. At that time, Svane was already half way through composing a new Mass for a cappella choir, and when he completed the work that fall, he was introduced to the Schola Cantorum on Hudson Choir that performs in the New York and New Jersey area. The choir learnt and performed the Mass for a world premiere in New Jersey the following year, and when Czifra heard the recording, he invited Svane and the choir (which includes an MKA junior and an MKA Upper School teacher among its members) to perform its European premiere in the Festival this year.
“It was,” says Svane, “an experience that was beyond my wildest dreams as a composer. The musical history associated with this Cathedral is absolutely staggering. It is still difficult for me to fully comprehend that my music was sung in the same Cathedral where Mozart performed some of his most famous works.”
And as if a performance in Mozart’s church wasn’t enough, December 2009 will see the world premiere of Svane’s latest composition, a choral work entitled “Antiphons of the Angels” in the St. Niccolaikirche in Leipzig – the very church where J.S. Bach served as organist!