A Winter's Evening Concert
by
THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY
OF AMERICA CHAMBER CHOIR
Leo Nestor, Conductor
William Atwood, Organ
February 18, 2011 / 7:30pm
St. Paul's Memorial Church, 1700 University Ave.
The thunderous and prolonged applause at the end of this spectacular evening of music was the only indicator needed for how much the audience appreciated what they just had been given. Led by Dr. Leo Nestor, Justine Bayard Ward Professor of Music and Director of the Sacred Music Institute, the Catholic University of America Chamber Choir performed works of William Byrd, Thomas Tallis, Herbert Howells, Edward Elgar and several other composers. Organist William Atwood accompanied the choir on several songs, including an impressionable rendition of George Handel's With Thunder Arm'd. The Choir concluded with Leo Nestor's This is the Hour of Banquet and Song, which included these memorable lyrics:
This is the hour of banquet and of song;
This is the heavenly table for us spread;
Here let us feast and, feasting, still prolong
The fellowship of living wine and bread.
This is the heavenly table for us spread;
Here let us feast and, feasting, still prolong
The fellowship of living wine and bread.
The St. Anselm Institute for Catholic Thought, the University of Virginia McIntire Department of Music, the Alonzo McDonald Foundation, and the Our Sunday Visitor Institute were cosponsors of this free concert, which was graciously hosted at St. Paul's Memorial Church, located at 1700 University Avenue.