Jayne and Ed Pompeian

The Pompeians have been involved with Choral Arts Ensemble on many levels. Jayne was a singer in the Ensemble almost from the start of the group, and over the years, she has contributed countless hours behind the scenes of concerts and benefits. She is now serving on the Board of Directors, continuing her tradition of support. Ed also served as a board member for several terms and for years has been a consistent concert sponsor through his properties Brentwood Inn and Suites and Brentwood on Fifth.

Brian W. Holmes

Brian W. Holmes, a composer and physicist from San Jose, CA, is the winner of our 3rd annual Commissioning Contest. Once again, we had over 70 responses to our call for scores from composers hailing from all over the US and internationally. Those submissions were narrowed down to four finalists by a panel consisting of CAE Artistic Director Michael Culloton and two musical colleagues. The four finalists had their sample scores read by the choir earlier this month, and through a ranking system, they selected Mr. Holmes for this $2000 commission. His new work will be premiered during our 2011-2012 season.

Previous winners are Kentaro Sato, whose commission Misericordias Domini was premiered October of 2009 and Timothy C. Takach, whose commission A Worshipper and A Man will be premiered in March, 2011.

Speaking of commissions and premieres, join us this December for an extra special Christmas with Choral Arts Ensemble as we close out our 10-year commissioning project, the Mary Joyce Frantz Memorial Christmas Carols. The 10th and final carol, Evermore,written by Philip Lawson, will be premiered at these concerts, and we will also be doing a number of earlier commissions from the series, including There is No Rose by Rene' Clausen, What Sweeter Music Can We Bring by Kenneth Jennings, Once in Royal David's City by Daniel Kallman, among others.

We'll fill out the program with a variety of songs of the season, including the premiere of another CAE commission, an arrangment of Bring a Torch Jeannette, Isabella by accomplished jazz pianist and CAE bass Ralph Schornack and the premiere of My Soul Magnifies the Lord: A Song of Mary by Edward David Zeliff, a two-time CAE Commissioning Contest finalist. We are delighted to be joined by guest cellist Eric Kutz of Luther College as well as Mary Schneekloth on harp and Laurie Priniski on flute.

The concert will be presented at 7:30 pm, December 10, 11 in Lourdes Chapel at Assisi Heights and at 4:00 pm December 12, at the Church of St. Pius X. Tickets are available online or by calling the Choral Arts Ensemble office at (507) 252-8427. We are grateful to Think Mutual Bank, Brentwood Inn & Suites, Rodney D. Anderson Law Offices, LLC, and US Bank for their sponsorship of this concert.