WE STAND TOGETHER

Sunday, June 11, 2023 at 5 PM
Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington
4444 Arlington Blvd, Arlington, VA  22204

Through a collaboration with ReactDC, the Chorale is working to connect with the new Afghan refugees in our region. Featuring Afghan tabla player Hamid Raouf Habib Zada, the Chorale is excited to present a world premiere by Saunder Choi! This piece uses text by Sholeh Wolpé, an Iranian-born poet, playwright, and librettist, to describe the difficulties refugees face in leaving their homes and putting down roots in a new community. Some songs on this concert highlight aspects of the refugee experience making a new life here, while others signify the importance of coming together and listening to one another, helping us stand together as a community.
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Please note that children 12 and under are welcome to attend and do not need tickets.

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PAST PERFORMANCES

CHRISTMAS JOY!

Saturday, December 10, 2022 at 5 PM
Westover Baptist Church
​1125 Patrick Henry Dr, Arlington, VA  22205

Celebrate the holiday season with the Arlington Chorale! Featuring John Rutter’s Magnificat and Kirke Mechem's Seven Joys of Christmas, you'll hear some familiar Christmas carols, as well as beautiful music with hints of tango, musical theatre, and jazz. Let us put you in the holiday spirit with a festive celebration of Christmas Joy! Accompanied by a chamber orchestra of local professional players, the Chorale's concert will also feature the talents of soprano Helena Colindres. Audience members are invited to join us downstairs for a reception with light refreshments after the performance. It's a special community event you won't want to miss!

View the digital program from this concert here.

Meet the Soloist

Helena Colindres (they/them) is a nonbinary versatile vocalist, educator, and activist of Nawataketza ancestry. As a rising opera vocalist, they have performed roles such as the Governess in Britten’s Turn of the Screw, Despina in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte, Therese in Poulenc’s Les Mamelles di Tiresias, and recently made their professional debut as Winnie in Beecher’s Sky on Swings with Opera Saratoga. They have also had the pleasure of winning various voice competitions such as the Camille Coloratura Awards and the Sylvia Green Voice Competition.

Helena graduated from the Peabody Conservatory with their MM in Voice and Pedagogy in May 2022. They also have a BM in Voice and a BA in Comparative American Studies with a concentration in Identity and Diversity from the Oberlin College and Conservatory and an AA in Latin American and Latinx studies as well as an AS in social sciences from City College of San Francisco. They are also a member of the Pi Kappa Lamba Honors Association.
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Born and raised on Yelamu Ohlone land to refugee parents, Helena is passionate about fighting for marginalized people and feels blessed that they get to build community through their art, teaching, and organizing everyday.

SOLACE AND REMEMBRANCE

Saturday, March 18, 2023 at 5 PM
Westover Baptist Church
​1125 Patrick Henry Dr, Arlington, VA  22205

Music can be a healing balm to our souls in times of grief and loss. Remembering all those lost in the pandemic, to gun violence, and in wars that rage across the world, we find new meaning in Maurice Duruflé’s famous Requiem. Based on Gregorian chant, the composer states that his Requiem is “not an ethereal work which sings detached from worldly anxiety. It reflects…the anguish of man facing the mystery of his last ending.” This moving work is presented with Kim André Arnesen’s “Eja Mater” from his Stabat Mater. Arneson intends this piece to be “a prayer of comfort to all parents who have lost a child of their own.” Additionally the Chorale will perform A Quiet Night - Tyhoyi Nochi by Natalia Tsupryk, a work composed as a creative response to the invasion of and ongoing conflict in Ukraine. A Quiet Night sets text by renowned Ukranian poet Serhiy Zhadan and quotations from Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky. All three composers take us on a journey towards peace and light.

View the digital program from this performance here.

MEET OUR SOLOISTS

​Patricia Portillo, mezzo-soprano, is a multidisciplinary artist who began cultivating her love of performing at a very young age. She credits her early exposure and involvement in the arts for accepting music as her vocation. Galvanized by her lifelong commitment to the DC theater arts scene that nurtured her, she continues to teach, perform, and serve the arts community.

Patricia expresses a unique style described by The Washington Post as having “a lovely mezzo timbre.” Her wide vocal range contributes to the variety of roles she has performed. She continues to win praise as a singing actor that can "hold her own in any opera house" (dcmetrotheaterarts). Previous soloist engagements include Westmoreland Festival Choir, The In Series, Teatro Lirico of DC, Opera Camerata of Washington, Studio Theater, and she has been on the roster of The Washington National Opera Chorus at the Kennedy Center since 2008.

Her recorded work can be found on Spotify and YouTube. Patricia wishes to dedicate this requiem to the memory of her loved ones who have passed on, especially her mother. As a proud member of the union AGMA, she performs courtesy of the American Guild of Musical Artists, AFL-CIO.

​​Hailed by the Washington Classical Review as a “bass-baritone of even power from bottom to top,” Ethan Zorack-Greene has established himself on operatic and concert stages alike. He has performed roles and in concert for Washington National Opera, Central City Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Urban Arias, Washington Concert Opera, Annapolis Opera, Princeton Festival, Maryland Lyric Opera, and Bel Cantanti.

He placed first in the Carolina Opera Guild competition and was a prize winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Middle Atlantic District Competition and the National Opera Association. Additionally, Ethan is a member of the U.S. Army Chorus and soloist at The National Presbyterian Church. Ethan received his Bachelors in Vocal Performance from Wingate University and then his Masters in Opera Performance from the Maryland Opera Studio at University of Maryland, College Park.