Flowers for your Valentine?

Our online auction is just in time!

          Art Zorn, premier Vermont painter and musician, created this painting to support Solaris.  We think it is a perfect Valentine’s Day treat that’s sure to bring delight for years to come.

Over the past two seasons Solaris has been thrilled to premier new works by James Stewart, who, in addition to being a gifted composer, a very talented pianist and one of our terrific tenors, is an on-air host for Vermont Public Radio’s classical music station.  This past fall we were privileged to premier his composition, We Will Be Free.  James composed this deeply moving piece that evokes a world where people listen to each other, and fear fades away for Solaris over the summer and we were honored to record it as our first virtual choir project. 

Here We Come A-Wassailing is arranged by Solaris’ Artistic Director, Dr. Dawn Willis. The tradition of “wassailing” which harkens back to the middle ages was an English custom where the lord of the manor would offer peasants food and a drink of wassail (a warm spiced fruit punch usually including spirits) at Christmastime in exchange for their goodwill and blessings. A modern equivalent is the tradition of “caroling” – singing carols from door-to-door with the hope of an invitation to come in for a festive drink or dessert. This arrangement was originally scored for mixed voices with brass quintet. It has been adapted for two trumpets and organ for this video.

Sing We Now of Christmas, is a joyous arrangement of the traditional French carol, Noel Nouvelet by Fred Prentice with an added harp part by Carol Burnett. This delightful carol relates the Christmas story including the glorious songs of the angels to the shepherds and the visit of the magi from afar.

This stunning arrangement of Silent Night, is from a live recording from one of our 2019 Holiday Concerts.  It features Solaris sporano Gail Whitehouse and harpist Rebecca Kauffman and was arranged by Tedd Firth and Judith Clurman.