UPDATE: The concert has been cancelled for this Sunday, and will be rescheduled for a later date.
Verona flutist and Caldwell University Music Department Professor Rebecca Vega will be among the performers when Caldwell University debuts a new work commissioned to honor the Saint John’s Bible, the first illuminated, handwritten Bible of monumental size to be created in more than 500 years.
Caldwell music faculty member Nan Childress Orchard commissioned two original works from New Jersey composers Caroline H. Newman of Hackensack and Rob Middleton of Montclair to celebrate the university’s Year with The Saint John’s Bible. The works will be premiered in a concert at 3 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 10 in the Caldwell University Alumni Theatre. In addition to Childress Orchard, Vega and Middleton, Jacqueline Stern of Little Falls will perform on violoncello.
Eight illuminations from the Gospels and Acts volume have inspired the two composers. Each illumination will be projected on a screen during the performance of the music. A “Meet the Composer session” will follow the concert where audience members will be encouraged to ask questions.
Childress Orchard, a resident of Union, says the event will be a fabulous opportunity for audience members to experience this world premiere and have the opportunity to speak to the composers. “Patronage of the arts is vital to our culture. Caldwell University is promoting and supporting the humanities and in particular the performing arts through a dynamic event.”
The Saint John’s Bible was commissioned by Benedictine Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minn. and the creative director was Donald Jackson, senior scribe to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s Crown Office.
The Heritage Edition of the Gospels and Acts volume will be on display before and after the concert.
General admission is $15 and students are free. For more information contact Nan Childress Orchard at [email protected] 973-618-3587.
