Carmina Burana, a Grand Finale
From John Cooper, Erie Philharmonic Chorus Member
The wheel of fortune favors the bold in Carl Orff’s magnificent work.
I remember hearing the Erie Phil Chorus perform this work several years ago. I am mostly familiar with what I now know is the first and last movement of the piece titled “O Fortuna” (O Fortune). I remember this movement from the 1981 movie Excalibur. The one part in the movie that I most remember is when King Arthur drinks from the Holy Grail and is revitalized, along with the land. He and his knight ride out to fight the final battle with Mordred. As they ride out, the land which had become desolate comes back to life as they pass by the trees and grasses to the music of “O Fortuna”. It is truly inspiring to hear and see what transpires as they ride out. Every time I hear and sing this movement, I see in my mind that portion of Excalibur.
History of the piece
Carmina Burana is a cantata composed in 1935 and 1936 by Carl Orff (1985-1982), based on 24 poems from the medieval collection Carmina Burana. The poems and dramatic texts are mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent, and satirical.
Orff's Carmina Burana is divided into three sections called “Springtime,” “In the Tavern,” and “The Court Of Love.”
It is comprised of 25 movements beginning and ending with “O Fortuna” (O Fortune). The languages performed in this piece cover Medieval Latin, Middle High German and a bit of Old French.
The piece uses several soloists which are tenor, baritone & soprano. It will also include the full Erie Philharmonic Chorus, Erie Philharmonic Junior Chorus, and Erie Philharmonic Youth Chorale.
Note: Information taken from Wikipedia & Music Magazine
Perspective of the piece from the singer
I was excited to hear that this piece was going to be performed this season.
This is my first time performing this work. This work is a challenge in several ways: first, the length of the piece being 25 movements. The chorus sings all but seven of the movements in the work. Several movements are sung by just the women or the men.
Second, the language. We do not have anyone from the time period of these poems to actually know how we are to pronounce them; thus you can hear several different pronunciations when you listen to recordings. It is crucial to mark your music, so you know exactly how to sing the lyrics the way the music director wants them sung.
Third, the necessity of being able to transition from one movement to the other and one style to another quickly. In some movements, we do not have any accompaniment leading us into it. We have to be able to hear what is coming up before we sing it.
The Erie Philharmonic Chorus
How people know the work
As mentioned earlier, some might have heard the opening and closing movement in the 1981 movie Excalibur. You can watch it here.
“O Fortuna” was also used in an Old Spice commercial.
You can also find this movement used in Jackass movie intro.
“O Fortuna” has also been covered, remixed, and sampled by various musical acts like Therion and Nas.
Additional thoughts
I have enjoyed the challenges of this piece and look forward to performing it in its entirety. This is where all of your preparation comes into play. You can rehearse all you want. You can stop and start each piece until you get it right. The real challenge is to perform it, non-stop from beginning to end. It’s kind of like a musical marathon, with several breaks scattered throughout.
Music, Theatre, and More Make Erie Special
From Casey Conrad-Medvis, Broadway in Concert Cast Member
Casey Conrad-Medvis, Broadway in Concert Cast Member
I’ve been obsessed with Broadway for as long as I can remember. For most of my childhood, my most-requested birthday and Christmas presents were Broadway cast albums—Les Misérables, Into the Woods, Wicked, Ragtime, the list goes on. Every CD felt like its own little world, a world filled with captivating stories, passionate characters, and the most beautiful music I’d ever heard. I listened for hours at a time. I couldn’t get enough.
My name is Casey, and I’m a theatre “supernerd”. I’m also an Erie native, a middle school teacher, and a performer. I’ve loved doing theatre since I made my ninth-grade debut as a menu in my high school’s production of Beauty and the Beast, and since then I’ve had the privilege to work with so many different theatres in and around Erie. I’ve performed at the Erie Playhouse, Dramashop, the Schuster Theatre, and more. I’m a musician, too, and in 2022 I became a part of the Erie Philharmonic family when I joined the Erie Philharmonic Chorus.
Next weekend, I will be one of the many musicians working to bring the magic of Broadway to Erie in Broadway in Concert, the Erie Philharmonic’s final Pops concert of the 2023–24 season. I’ll join a cast of local performers, the Erie Philharmonic Chamber Choir, and—of course—the incomparable Erie Philharmonic. Together, we’ll bring the beautiful music of Broadway to life, right here on the Warner Theater stage. To say I am honored and thrilled to be a part of this collaboration just doesn’t seem to convey the full depth of what I’m feeling. It is an excitement beyond words.
The Erie Philharmonic at the Warner Theatre
One of the things that I find most remarkable about Erie is our arts and culture—specifically the performing arts. How many other towns our size have so many community theatres, dance companies, instrumental ensembles? How many other towns our size can boast a regional symphony orchestra? Our performing arts community is unbelievably vibrant and diverse—not to mention talented! We are blessed to live in a city where we have so many opportunities to experience powerful, moving, transformative works of music, theatre, and art. We should not take that blessing for granted.
If you come to Broadway in Concert next weekend, you’ll see exactly what I mean. What makes this event so special is that it will be performed by a full cast of Erie locals. They’re not out-of-town professionals; they’re your neighbors and friends. They teach at your schools, nurse in your hospitals, and minister to your congregations. And they’re joined together by their love for theatre and their love for Erie. This concert will offer the best of Broadway, but it will also showcase the best of our city: an ensemble of outstanding performers and musicians, a spirit of collaboration and community, and a dedication to enriching our community through the arts. Trust me when I tell you you don’t want to miss it.
At the Erie Playhouse, right before every single performance, we say, “Give ’em love, and they’ll give it back.” This mantra has become my mission statement for theatre and for life, and I know the rest of the cast feels the same way. Thinking about this concert, my heart fills with love: love for Broadway, love for performing, love for the Phil and the Playhouse and for this wonderful city we get to call home. That’s what we’ll be giving next weekend, up on that stage. I hope you’re there to receive it.
Musicals That Shaped Me
From Kate Thiem, Broadway in Concert Cast Director
Do you remember the first time you saw a musical? No, not the annual Sunday night viewing of The Sound of Music on NBC. I’m talking about the first time you ever saw a real, honest-to-goodness musical live on stage with costumes, sets, lighting, actors, and an orchestra.
Chances are, that moment is indelibly etched into your memory — a “core memory” for the Disney/Pixar Inside Out fans. A moment so unforgettable and impactful that it shapes the course of our lives. That might seem like a bit of hyperbolic language — really, can a musical change your life? — but I believe it can. And it has.
The time? 1993…or was it 1994? Let’s split the difference and say it was halfway through 1993. The place? Toronto, Canada. The venue? The Pantages Theatre. The show?
The Phantom of the Opera.
I was eight years old…or was I nine? Fine, I was eight and a half years old, and my mother was taking me to see my first professional musical in a magical foreign land called Ontario. I had seen musicals before on TV and the silver screen, but this was a landmark event: a professional production with professional actors and professional musicians in a country that referred to its one-dollar bill as a “looney.”
I think it’s important to note that this was also a country that placed a lot of emphasis on gourmet French fries (poutine, anyone?), and to an eight-and-a-half-year-old, that’s mind-blowing.
I remember so many things about that trip. I remember crossing the border with strict instructions not to misbehave. I remember my mother telling me she had seen this show once before, with a remarkable actor named Colm Wilkinson. I remember entering the Pantages Theatre lobby for the first time. I remember gazing upon the elaborate dome of the theatre as I looked up from my balcony seat.
Oh, and I also remember being very, very, very, very sick: a last-minute flu with body aches, chills, and an incredibly sore throat.
But none of that mattered when someone uttered the words “Sold! Your number, sir? Thank you. Lot 663, then, ladies and gentlemen…” Onstage, there were boxes and crates covered in cloth with figures cloaked in darkness. A stern-looking man held a gavel, conducting an auction with a musical monkey, an opera poster, and a set of skulls. I was enthralled. I was riveted. And I was utterly terrified when the auctioneer lit a grand chandelier moments later.
(Side Note: For years, while listening to the cast recording, I would have to skip the Overture to The Phantom of the Opera because it scared the living daylights out of me. The same thing happened to me when I first saw the tornado in The Wizard of Oz, but that’s another story — never mind. Anyways…)
I watched most of the show with my head on my mother’s shoulder, vacillating between enjoying the show and just being a sick kid. How did Christine and The Phantom get down from the catwalk and into a boat? How did Carlotta sing so high? Why was the Phantom dressed like a red skeleton? And, most importantly, where are earth are there cemeteries with fireballs and pyrotechnics?
Not long after this fated trip, I memorized the entire original Broadway cast album with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman, which was followed in quick succession by the Broadway cast recording of Beauty and the Beast. Which was followed by so many other musical albums across the years (most recently: Six, the Broadway cast recording).
Kate Thiem, Broadway in Concert
That trip sparked a love for musical theatre that has continued throughout my entire life. I can pinpoint shows or songs that are forever attached to important moments and phases. Jekyll & Hyde was the show that made me want to pursue a degree in music, while “Gimme, Gimme” from Thoroughly Modern Millie played throughout much of my senior year in high school. Legally Blonde was a constant companion during my years living in New York City, and “Time Warp” from Rocky Horror Picture Show was played at my wedding reception. My life has been fuller from the soundtracks which have shaped it.
What do musicals offer us? The chance to escape? To live as someone else for 120 minutes? To seriously reconsider whether or not we should ever venture into the Parisian catacombs alone? This answer is different for everyone. For me, I would be hard-pressed to follow a masked man I’ve been listening to inside my mirror across a lake and into a secret lair, but he has candles and I love Home Goods, so…I’m undecided, I guess.
In all seriousness, musicals have enriched my life in such a way I can’t imagine a world without them. While rehearsing for the Erie Philharmonic’s Broadway in Concert event, I’ve been able to revisit old favorites from The Phantom of the Opera, Ragtime, Les Misérables, and other shows I’m sure have also left an indelible mark on the lives of those who have been lucky enough to see them. It’s fascinating to think a musical has been part of your life for 30 years, but here we are: almost 30 years to the month I first saw The Phantom of the Opera with a stuffy nose. Thirty years with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music. And I still get goosebumps whenever I hear the overture.
My Orchestra
From Beth Etter, Erie Philharmonic Keyboardist
“My orchestra.” That’s what I say. I explain that the Erie Philharmonic is a regional symphony orchestra whose players come from Erie, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Akron, Buffalo and sometimes further. Then I report that we often sell out our concerts held in an historic theater in downtown Erie with 2400 seats. By this time, I’ve usual got their interest.
“Really? Isn’t that kind of unusual,” is usually the way the conversation goes. “Very,” I say. Many orchestras like the Erie Phil shut their doors during Covid, or declined in ticket sales causing a crawling comeback. “So, why is that…what do they do?” comes next.
Beth Etter, Erie Philharmonic Keyboardist
As a long-time member of the orchestra, I’ve tried to figure it out. During Covid some very creative thinking happened and a whole lot of perseverance. We gathered, spaced, and masked, with no winds and made some recordings to keep the memory of us alive in our audience. Like the rest of the country (and world) we felt it deeply. We wrote stories, interviewed musicians, posted blogs and stayed the course.
But the real answer is so much more than that. It begins with our maestro Daniel Meyer who oozes pride for us and shares that with our audience. Our rehearsals are a tightly run ship working over minute details against the ticking clock. We all want to work hard: to use our lifelong technique and musicianship to contribute to “our” sound. We work with inspiration rather than fear.
Then there is our Executive Director Steve Weiser (a musician himself) who seems to wave a magic wand and gather the crowds as well as the critical support to run the show. We love it when he shows up pre-concert and makes us laugh a bit, easing the pre-performance jitters. He exudes ambition, devotion, and commitment and happens to know what he’s doing - in spades. Put that together with our Operations Director Chris Newlun who with undying respect communicates and organizes the whole shebang giving us the tools to make the logistics work like a well-oiled machine. If there’s a problem, Chris will fix it.
The three of them work some kind of magic. And it shows. During pizza night with the musicians, I sat next to an elderly couple who had never gone to a symphony until a couple of years ago. They tell me they started out with Star Wars and Mary Poppins from the Pops series, and that caused them to try a symphonic concert. Now they’re more than hooked—and working on hooking others.
Yes, folks, this is OUR orchestra. So much to love.
My Lifetime Journey with Classical Music
From Wally Knox, Erie Philharmonic Board of Director Emeritus
From Wally Knox, Erie Philharmonic Board of Governor Emeritus
The quality of the nearly 83 years of my life have been greatly enhanced by classical music. By classical music I mean it in the broadest sense to include symphonic music, opera and ballet and even Broadway musicals.
I was fortunate to grow up in a home where classical music was frequently being played on a record player. Initially, in the 1940s, 78 rpm records were the medium. Later, in the 1950s, the records and players became 33 1/3 rpm on vinyl. Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Mozart often filled our house with music. I loved it for as long as I have a memory. Childrens music, such as Tubby the Tuba and Peter and the Wolf were also favorites of mine. Broadway showtunes such as those from Oklahoma and South Pacific were also often played.
My parents sometimes took me to concerts of the Erie Philharmonic Orchestra when it was conducted by Fritz Mahler in the auditorium of Strong Vincent High School in the late 1940s and early 1950s. About 1955, the Erie Philharmonic moved its performance venue to Tech Memorial High School. I attended Strong Vincent High School between 1956 and 1959. I then had the honor and privilege to be one of the 85 members of the Strong Vincent Concert Choir under the direction of the legendary Alice Simpson. Our repertoire included most of the Messiah choruses, masses and medleys of Broadway show tunes. The Battle Hymn of the Republic was a staple. In 1959 the Strong Vincent choir was the only Pennsylvania choir invited to perform at the Music Educators’ National Conference in Buffalo, New York, along with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the New York All-State Chorus and the Eastman School of Music Orchestra. My high school choir experience further opened my eyes to the wonders of classical music.
After high school, I attended the University of Michigan where I met my wife to be, Gloria. The university had a wonderful classical music program known as the May Festival which was performed in the 3,500 seat Hill Auditorium. The Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Eugene Ormandy came to Ann Arbor to perform for a week in May for many years. My future wife and I attended a performance in 1963 of Camille Saint-Saen’s Organ Symphony with E. Power Biggs playing on the 7599 pipe Frieze Memorial Organ in Hill Auditorium. To this day, it is her favorite piece of classical music.
I attended law school at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law from 1963 to 1966. While there my wife and I were treated to a performance of Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake by Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet Company in Pittsburgh’s Civic Arena.
Upon returning to Erie in 1966, we obtained season tickets to the concerts of the Erie Philharmonic Orchestra. We have had them continuously since then. In 1976, the orchestra moved its performance venue to the Warner Theatre and it has remained there since.
Knowing of my love for classical music, friends of mine purchased the “baton” for me in 1989. I conducted the Overture to Carmen, and it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I then became involved in the governance of the Erie Philharmonic Orchestra, going onto the Board as Treasurer in 1989 and then serving as President from 1991 to 1994, during the tenure of Eiji Oue as Music Director. I remain on the Board of Governors to this day as an Emeritus Member.
During our almost 60 years of marriage, my wife Gloria and I have traveled a lot. We often make attending music performance a part of our travels. In 1983, we attended a performance of Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet at the La Scala Opera House in Milan, Italy. We attended a performance of the opera Carmen at the Opera Bastille in Paris in 1994 and Verdi’s Don Carlo at the Opera di Firenze in Florence Italy. We went to Sapporo Japan in 1992 for performances of the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra conducted by then Erie Philharmonic Music Director Eiji Oue. We also traveled to Bayreuth, Germany, in 2005, to attend the Bayreuth Wagner Opera Festival’s performance of Tristan und Isolde conducted by then former Erie Philharmonic Music Director Oue. We have been to performances of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Opera and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. We often attend performances of the Chautauqua Symphony in the summer time.
I am so grateful for our Erie Philharmonic Orchestra and all those who make its success possible, from Daniel Meyer and Steve Weiser to the staff and all of the others in the community who make the Orchestra what it is today. We are truly fortunate to have this treasure here. I cannot imagine living in a community without a first-class symphony orchestra like the one we have.