Contra Costa Chorale Presents “Viennese Influence(r)s” December 6 and 8

RICHMOND, California, October 1, 2024:  The Contra Costa Chorale, led by its new Artistic Director Dr. Brad Schultz, returns with a program representing some of the great composers of Vienna, on Friday, December 6, at 7:30PM at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Road, Kensington; and on Sunday, December 8, at 5:00PM at Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church, 1801 Lacassie Avenue, Walnut Creek. 

Vienna, Austria has been considered one of the most important centers for music since Mozart’s time. Since then, many of the great European composers have spent time in this city, studying their predecessors and setting the tone for future musicians.

“Viennese Influence(r)s” presents the opportunity to feature a woman whose music was highly respected in the late 1700s., but who has been virtually forgotten until recently. Marianna von Martines, whose “Dixit Dominus” the Chorale will perform, studied as a child with Joseph Haydn and grew to heady stature among her musical colleagues, even performing multiple times before Austria’s Empress Maria Theresa. The Chorale will also highlight a performance of “A Silence Haunts Me,” composed by Jake Runestad to a poem by Todd Boss, which represents the dark thoughts of Beethoven as he faced his growing deafness and questioned his strength to continue living.

“Classical music lovers often feel a strong connection to the music centers of Europe–especially Vienna,” says Artistic Director Brad Schultz. “This was certainly the case for my predecessor, Cindy Beitmen, who spent many formative years there. Many composers in this concert will likely be quite familiar, but even in a city so rooted in the Classical canon as Vienna, there are still some surprises to be found. In this, the Contra Costa Chorale’s next chapter, I look forward to exploring that blend of the familiar and surprising, with singers and audience alike.” 

“Viennese Influence(r)s” looks at some of the greatest of these composers, examining the connections that stretch both backward and into the future. Today, Vienna and music are inseparable, thanks to the heritage established in the 1700s and new music that thrives today. From Mozart to Martines, Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, the Contra Costa Chorale will celebrate a city that has inspired musicians all over the world.

Friday, December 6 at 7:30PM – Live performance and Livestream
Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley
1 Lawson Road, Kensington
For tickets (both live and livestream): https://ticketstripe.com/cocochorale

Sunday, December 8 at 5:00PM – Live performance
Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church
1801 Lacassie Avenue, Walnut Creek
For tickets (live performance only): https://ticketstripe.com/cocochorale

For further information, please contact cocochorale@gmail.com, or call at 510-730-0202.