Carmina Burana Concert

The Andover Choral Society, directed by Michael Driscoll, celebrates its 85th season with Carl Orff’s dramatic Carmina Burana on Sunday, January 25, 2015 at 3 p.m. at the Rogers Center for the Arts.

Even if one doesn’t recognize the title, almost everyone has heard music from Carmina Burana, which is popular in television advertisements and movies. The piece is based on a set of provocative medieval texts that were discovered in a Bavarian monastery in 1803. Over a century later, German composer Carl Orff selected twenty-four of the poems which he set to music. These poems are at times tender, bawdy, amorous, irreverent and satirical. Orff’s musical setting of the poems features memorable melodies and colorful harmonies combined with heavy percussion to create music with a primal, visceral character. Director Michael Driscoll notes, “This concert promises to be a memorable experience. Twentieth century German composer Carl Orff’s setting of the often outlandish poems by anonymous Middle Age poets has become a modern day ‘pop classic.’”

The chorus will be accompanied by two pianos and percussion. Soloists include soprano Alecia Batson, tenor Christopher MacRae, and baritone Bradford Gleim. The performance also features young singers from the Andover Middle School Chamber Choir directed by Katie Simko.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $5 for students. Group rates are available. For tickets and information, please call (978) 682-4050 or visit andoverchoralsociety.org. The Rogers Center for the Arts is located at Merrimack College, 315 Turnpike St., North Andover, MA and is handicapped accessible. The concert is sponsored, in part, by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.