South Florida Classical Review

Patrick Quigley will open Seraphic Fire’s 2017-18 season with music of Monteverdi.

Seraphic Fire will present an array of old and new music in 2017-18, roving from Bach and Monteverdi to Arvo Pärt and David Lang.

It’s also something of a transitional season with artistic director Patrick Dupré Quigley directing just four of the season’s eight programs, an inevitable byproduct of his increasingly busy guest conducting schedule.

Quigley will open the Miami-based choir’s 16th season October 18-21 with Monteverdi’s Selva Morale et Spirituale, an anthology of the composer’s spiritual music regarded as his greatest sacred inspiration after the 1610 Vespers.

Beth Willer, artistic director of Boston’s Lorelei Ensemble, will lead a program of American hymns November 8-12. Seraphic’s associate conductor James K. Bass will lead the choir’s popular Christmas program December 8-15.

Seraphic Fire’s first concert of 2018 will inaugurate “Parables of Passion,” a three-concert initiative that “delves into stories of anguish and hope that showcase human resilience.” First up is David Lang’s The Little Match Girl Passion, to be led by Quigley January 17-21.

In the same series, Quigley will direct Seraphic Fire’s first performance of Bach’s epic St. Matthew Passion February 15-17.

Scott Allen Jarrett, music director of the Back Bay Chorale in Boston, will conduct the choir in Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes March 14-18. The “Parables of Passion” series will conclude April 13-15 with Quigley leading Arvo Pärt’s Passio.

Seraohic Fire’s season will wrap with a Shakespeare program, with James Bass leading the choir in settings of Shakespeare by various composers May 8-13.

Subscriptions go on sale today. Call 305-285-9060 or go to seraphicfire.org.

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