2011 - 2012 Season Performances

Spring Concert

The Choir's Spring Concerts will be Friday and Saturday, May 4 and 5 at 7:30 PM in the First Presbyterian Church (South Temple and C Street). The program will include the famous "Thanks Be to Thee" by Handel and "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" by Bach, works by the great Venetian master, Giovanni da Palestrina and art songs by Brahms, Grieg, and Hugo Wolf. Also, in keeping with its long tradition of exploring various cultures, the choir will sing music from Scotland, Venezuela, Slovakia, Japan, Italy, Portugal and Brazil -- as well as "Brisa a beira-mar" (a bossa nova) and "Calypso loco' by the choir's director. The evening will conclude with the choir's traditional "A Day in Spring."

Tickets: $8.00 ($6.00 students)--available at Day Murray Music, at the door or by calling 801-537-1412.

Admission is open to those over 6 years of age.

Upcoming Events

On April 26 the choir will do a live taping in the new state-of-the-art BYU Broadcast Building for the exciting new program, "Highway 89." The music (to be broadcast locally and streamed internationally) will be drawn from material to be performed at the choir's major spring concerts on May 4th and 5th.

On May 9th the choir will travel to Helena Montana where it will join with the Helena Symphony, the Helena Symphony Chorus, the Choral Arts Society of Utah, the Pocatello Camerata Singers and eight world-class soloists for a May 12 performance of of Gustav Mahler's monumental Eighth Symphony ("Symphony of a Thousand").

Christmas Concert

The Salt Lake Children's Choir, Ralph B. Woodward, director, presented its traditional Christmas concerts Friday December 2nd and Sunday December 4th at 8:00 PM in the Cathedral of the Madeleine  . The cathedral is located at 331 E. South Temple  in Salt Lake City. This is a wonderful tradition that began in 1984.

The program included music of Palestrina, Bach, Mozart and other masters as well as "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming", "Il est né le divin Enfant", "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella", the Chilean "Ha nacido en un portal", and other familiar and less well-known carols from many lands. Also heard were "O Lovely Voices", newly-composed "Alleluia al Rey", by the choir's director, and "There is no Rose" by English composer, Ronald Center. The evening concluded with the stirring "Sleep of the Child Jesus" by Henri Büsser -- followed by choir, audience and organ combining in four carol favorites. Accompaniment was by harpist Janet Peterson and organist, Craig Jorgensen.

2010 - 2011 Season Performances

Spring Concert

The Salt Lake Children's Choir, Ralph B. Woodward, director, presented concerts Friday and Saturday, May 13 and 14 at 7:30 in the beautiful First Baptist Church, 800 S. 1300 E.  in Salt Lake City.

Spanning four centuries and four continents, the program included music of Palestrina, Purcell and Haydn, art songs of Mendelssohn, Schumann and Grieg, and captivating folk and popular music from Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Ukraine, Taiwan, Chile, Mexico and Brazil. Also heard was the mystical "Mountain Nights" by Hungarian master, Zoltán Kodály, the premier of Woodward's "Peasant Dance #2" and American spirituals, "Deep River" and "Let Me Fly."

The evening concluded with "Our Mountain Home So Dear" by early Utah composer and conductor, Evan Stephens and the choir's traditional "A Day in Spring."

Christmas Concert

The Salt Lake Children's Choir, Ralph B. Woodward, director, presented its traditional Christmas concerts Friday December 3rd and Sunday December 5th at 8:00 PM in the Cathedral of the Madeleine  . The cathedral is located at 331 E. South Temple  in Salt Lake City.

The program included works of early masters Orlando di Lasso and G. P. da Palestrina and familiar and lesser-known carols from many lands—including, "Lo, Ho a Rose E'er Blooming," "Still, Still, Still," "O Leave Your Sheep," and "Infant Holy, Infant Lowly,"—along with the Gustaf Holst setting of "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence," and "Come Unto Him" from Handel's Messiah. Also heard will be Woodward's own "Therefore, Be Merry," and "Wondrous Birth,' the Native Peruvian "Nino Diosmi Paccarimun," and the evocative "Jesu, Delightful to the MInd" by British composer, Bill Tamblyn.

Following the choir's traditional singing of "Berceuse" (Lullaby to the Child) by Henri Busser, the audience joined with combined choirs and choir alumni in singing several carol favorites.

Accompaniment for the concerts was by harpist Lisa Rytting and organist Ken Udy.

Salt Lake Children's Choir to hold Christmas concert, Edward Reichel, Deseret News, Sunday, November 27, 2010

For Ralph Woodward, founder and director of the Salt Lake Children's Choir, Christmas concerts are something special and something to be anticipated. “They can be an opportunity for a multitude of musical expressions and experiences,” he said in an interview with the Deseret News. “Concerts can expand the experience of the season.” That's how Woodward perceives his annual holiday concerts, which take place this coming weekend. “I see our concerts as an answer to the predictability and commercialization of Christmas.” Read original 

Kurt Bestor Christmas

The choir sang with Kurt Bestor  in his 22nd Annual Christmas Concert  this year. The performances were December 14th at Austadt Theater in Ogden and December 16th, 17th, and 18th at Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City.

2009 - 2010 Season Performances

Under the direction of founder Ralph B. Woodward, the choir performed its 30th Anniversary Gala Concert in Abravenel Hall on Saturday May 15th. The concert, entitled "Another Spring," took the audience on two excursions—first into the rich classical repertoire which has characterized the choir's concerts over the years and then into the fascinating world of ethnic music, of which the choir has long been a major exponent.

The choir performed several favorite classical pieces with which it has been long been identified, including Schubert's "To Music," and Brahms' "My Heart Is in Bloom". The classical segment also included the hauntingly beautiful but rarely heard "Nightingale"—also by Brahms. The ethnic portion of the program took the audience on a journey through France, Wales, Slovakia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Namibia, Venezuela, and the Andes Region. The choir performed several original compositions by the director, "Laudate Dominum," "Alpine Greeting," "Blue Ridge Fancy," "Alleluia Hispana," "Canto de Zampona" and the calypso, "Down by the Seashore."

Noted accordionist and jazz pianist extraordinaire Steve Keen was featured with the choir in two international songs and also the American standard, "On the Sunny Side of the Street". Outstanding world music performer Dave Peterson accompanied the choir on both the Venezuelan "cuatro" the Andean "charango."

The evening concluded with a combined choir of current members and alumni singing several pieces, including the choir's traditional "A Day in Spring."