Master Singers Chorale of Northeast Ohio will feature works by Francis Poulenc, Franz Biebl, Tomás Luis de Victoria, as well as Christmas songs and carols in its 2026 holiday season concert on Sunday, December 6.
Poulenc's 1959 Gloria is a buoyant, joyous interpretation of the liturgical text "Glory to God in the highest" for choir and soprano soloist. This performance features nationally acclaimed coloratura soprano Katherine Jolly. Katherine Jolly has appeared in leading roles with Opera Theatre Saint Louis, Florida Grand Opera, New York City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Virginia Opera, Amarillo Opera, Piedmont Opera, Lyric Opera Cleveland, American Lyric Theatre, and others. Her recent CD Preach Sister Preach has received airtime on radio stations across the world on websites such as Gramophone, Review Graveyard, Take Effect, and others. In the concert arena, she has recently appeared with the Virginia Symphony, Cincinnati Song Initiative, the Orgue en Fété festival, in Bergerac, Chamber Project STL, the Evansville Philharmonic, the Richmond Symphony, the Phoenix Symphony, Sinfonia Gulf Coast, the Northwest Florida Symphony, and the Sacramento Choral Arts Society. She is a frequent collaborator with the esteemed baroque Kingsbury Ensemble and appears in recitals with arts organizations throughout the nation.
Another 20th Century piece on this program, German composer Franz Biebl's Ave Maria juxtaposes early plainchant with lush, lyrical choral textures, and features a trio of soloists.
The program also includes a late 16th Century piece by the Spanish composer Victoria, O Magnum Mysterium. This polyphonic prize of the Late Renaissance imparts a sense of wonder at "O great mystery" for the Christmas scene of animals witnessing the birth of "the newborn Lord, lying in a manger."
Along with other music of the season and a closing audience carol sing, this performance is presented with free admission, thanks to sponsors the Akron Community Foundation and the Ohio Arts Council.
