fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Holiday Gift Subscription
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

Ars Choralis presents its completed work, ten years in the making

by Violet Snow
April 13, 2016
in Art & Music
0
Barbara Pickhardt and Johanna Hall. (photo by Catherine Sebastian)
Barbara Pickhardt and Johanna Hall. (photo by Catherine Sebastian)

It’s by no means a revisionist version of the Nativity, but when Ars Choralis performs Miracle in Bethlehem, an opera composed by Barbara Pickhardt with lyrics by Johanna Hall, audiences may be surprised by the vividness of such characters as Herod, the Magi, the innkeeper, and an invented but entirely appropriate innkeeper’s wife. “The story has taken on a new life, and yet the story that we read in Luke and Matthew is all there,” said Pickhardt.

“It’s a ‘popera,’” said Hall, “written in the style of opera, but the melodies are so accessible.”

The production will premiere at Overlook Methodist Church in Woodstock on Saturday, December 7, at 7 p.m., with another show on Sunday, December 8, at 4 p.m. It’s been ten years in the making, a labor of love for chorus director Pickhardt and pop lyricist Hall, who wrote the words to such hits as “Still the One” and “Dance with Me” by Orleans and “Half Moon,” the B side of Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee.”

The merging of two widely different musical backgrounds makes for a dynamic creative mix that could have been awkward, but Pickhardt said, “Working with Johanna is a pleasure and an honor. It always works between us.”

Hall, known primarily as a songwriter and music critic, has had a theatrical bent since childhood. “I am the daughter of a drama critic,” she said. “I grew up going to theater and knowing all the Broadway shows and standards. At the end of his life, my father only loved opera. He would be so pleased. Having the opportunity to do a long-form story like this is a lifelong dream for me.”

Her career began in the sixties, when, as rock critic for the Village Voice, she was, she reported, “the only critic in America who did not pan Janis Joplin when she left Big Brother.” A friendship with Joplin resulted, and Johanna and her husband, John Hall, wrote “Half Moon” at Joplin’s request.

The Halls moved to Woodstock when Bob Dylan, Todd Rundgren, and other luminaries were generating a strong local rock music community. John put Orleans together, and Johanna became the band’s “word lady,” supplying lyrics for several hits. The couple’s songs were recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, Millie Jackson, Chaka Khan, and other pop stars.

In recent years, Johanna wrote about music for Woodstock Times. She also became a member of Ars Choralis, the Hudson Valley chorus whose repertoire ranges from classical to modern, with a consistently spiritual bent, whether expressed through Christian masterworks or through programs on subjects such as American slavery or the women’s orchestra of Birkenau during the Holocaust. The group has performed throughout the local area and at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in Manhattan, as well as in Europe.

Page 1 of 2
12Next
Tags: Ars Choralisopera
Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher
Previous Post

Minnewaska ramble: Beacon Hill

Next Post

Steve Earle concert to raise funds for Opus 40 repairs

Violet Snow

Violet Snow wrote regularly for the Woodstock Times for 17 years and continues to contribute to Hudson Valley One. She has been published in the New York Times “Disunion” blog, Civil War Times, American Ancestors, Jewish Currents, and many other periodicals. An excerpt from her historical novel, To March or to Marry, has appeared in the feminist journal Minerva Rising. She lives in Phoenicia and is currently working with horses, living out her childhood dream.

Related Posts

Enormous collection of historic Woodstock art opens this Saturday in New Paltz
Art & Music

Enormous collection of historic Woodstock art opens this Saturday in New Paltz

February 2, 2023
All the music events in Ulster County, Feb. 1 – 7
Art & Music

All the music events in Ulster County, Feb. 1 – 7

February 1, 2023
Juliana Nash’s serendipitous musical journey from NYC to Kingston
Art & Music

Juliana Nash’s serendipitous musical journey from NYC to Kingston

January 26, 2023
Historical Society of Woodstock receives locally historic gift
Art & Music

Historical Society of Woodstock receives locally historic gift

January 29, 2023
Current art exhibitions in and around Ulster County: Jan. 25-31
Art & Music

Current art exhibitions in and around Ulster County: Jan. 25-31

January 25, 2023
Every live music event in Ulster County, Jan 25 – Jan 31
Art & Music

Popular Catskill musician Mikaela Davis plays Tubby’s residency

January 24, 2023
Next Post

Steve Earle concert to raise funds for Opus 40 repairs

Trending News

  • One-man crime spree comes to end after Kingston man runs out of luck 3.6k views
  • Saugerties to host inaugural Snow Moon Festival February 3 to 5 1.9k views
  • The Bruynswyck Inn Oyster & Clam Bar offers fresh seafood and Shawangunk views 1.5k views
  • 20-foot, 10-wheel big rig overturns in Saugerties, injuring driver 1.2k views
  • Visit Kingston’s 12,240-square-foot squat, centrally located with wood-burning fireplace 1.1k views
  • Three-story, mixed-use building proposed for Agway property in New Paltz 1k views

Weather

Kingston
◉
14°
Partly Cloudy
7:05 am5:14 pm EST
Feels like: 7°F
Wind: 5mph SSW
Humidity: 29%
Pressure: 30.52"Hg
UV index: 2
SunMonTue
48/30°F
46/23°F
43/34°F
Weather forecast Kingston, New York ▸

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Holiday Gift Subscription

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing