Schedule

Amanda Forsythe, soprano
Mei Gui Zhang, soprano
Harold Wilson, bass
North Carolina Master Chorale

Carlos Miguel Prieto, conductor

Live - Love - Pray!

Songs that celebrate the love of life, the gift of love ,and the power of prayer!

in collaboartion with Matthew Bachman, piano

‍

Beethoven wrote his Missa solemnis to “awaken and permanently instill spiritual feelings … in singers and listeners alike.” Framed by the structure of the Catholic mass, the work becomes both a luminous testament of faith and a tribute to our shared humanity. This performance closes Music Director Ken-David Masur’s final season and marks the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus’ 50th anniversary. As Beethoven inscribed on the score’s first page: “From the heart—may it go to the heart.”

If there were ever a musical champion of peace it is Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.

Issachah is delighted to return to Seattle and join Maestro Xian Zhang and a wonderful cast of singers to echo the clarion call of unity in Beethoven most enduring and timeless masterwork, Ode to Joy!

Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads The Philadelphia Orchestra and Colorado Symphony Chorus in Beethoven’s choral masterpiece, Symphony No. 9, featuring the beloved “Ode to Joy,” with an incredible cast of singers including Leah Hawkins, Eve Gigliotti, Issachah Savage, and Joshua Hopkins. And Terence Blanchard’s thrilling Suite from Fire Shut Up in My Bones with open the program.
‍

Philadelphia Orchestra Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin returns to SPAC to kick off 60th anniversary season with the piece that opened the Orchestra’s first season at SPAC in 1966, Beethoven’s iconic Ninth Symphony, featuring soprano Leah Hawkins, mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, tenor Issachah Savage, and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green and the Albany Pro Musica.

‍

Aspen's final concert of the season celebrates America’s 250th anniversary with a Leonard Bernstein masterpiece the Chichester Psalms and Beethoven's most timeless transcendent and iconic work: Symphony No. 9; universally embraced as a beacon of hope and unity.

Issachah is thrilled to sharing in the opening night performance of the Philadelphia Orchestra's 26/27. As a native Philadelphian this performance is extremely special to me. Come experience the transcendent power of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, a masterpiece that overflows with beauty, humanity, and hope. Under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, this inspiring performance features vocalists; Leah Hawkins, J'anai Bridges, Issachah Savage and Ryan Speedo Greene in the universally cherished “Ode to Joy.” The evening opens with Orbis by Joe Hisaishi, a luminous choral work conceived as a contemporary companion to Beethoven’s monumental symphony, creating a compelling musical journey that bridges past and present.

MacArthur Fellow Rhiannon Giddens and acclaimed composer Michael Abels bring Omar, their powerful and deeply human operatic masterpiece, to Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Inspired by the remarkable memoir of 19th-century Islamic scholar Omar ibn Said, Omar traces an extraordinary journey from West Africa across the Atlantic to enslavement in South Carolina. Through resilience, intellect, and faith, Omar’s enduring voice emerges in a series of writings that illuminate both the hardships he endured and the strength of the human spirit.

In director Kaneza Schaal’s striking and evocative production, the focus remains firmly on Giddens and Abels’ Pulitzer Prize-winning score—a richly textured fusion of hymns, spirituals, bluegrass, and other musical traditions. The result is a profoundly moving work that explores identity, faith, freedom, and belonging, while telling a story that is at once deeply personal and fundamentally American. Under the baton of conductor, Kazem Abdullah, the opera feature a world-class cast:

Issachah Savage - Omar
Kearstin Piper-Brown - Julie
Zoie Reams - Fatima
Kyle Ketelsen - Johnson/Owen

‍

‍

Ring in the New Year together with one of the world’s great musical touchstones. Beethoven’s Ninth, crowned by the exultant “Ode to Joy,” offers a powerful message of hope, unity,and shared humanity. Guest conductor Peter Oundjian returns to the BSO, bringing his natural rapport to a performance that gathers voices and players in a collective, uplifting celebration

Cast:
Peter Oundjian, conductor
Joélle Harvey, soprano
Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano
Issachah Savage, tenor
Dashon Burton, bass-baritone
Baltimore Choral Arts Society, chorus

Program:

VALERIE COLEMAN Umoja: Anthem of Unity
BEETHOVEN Elegaic Song
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 “Choral”

Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Anthony Blake Clark, music director

‍

In Wagner’s Tannhäuser, a sweeping exploration of desire, faith, and redemption; a human struggle to reconcile earthly passion with the longing for spiritual grace. Thrilled to make his house debut at Opéra de Rouen Normandie in the title role. Issachah is privileged to join maestro Pierre Dumoussaud, stage director and set designer David Bobée, and an exceptional cast, in bringing one of opera’s most profound and transformative works to life. Wagner’s exploration of love, redemption, and the search for belonging remains as compelling today as ever.

Tannhäuser - Issachah Savage
Vénus - Dorottya Láng
Élisabeth - Magdalena Hinterdobler
Wolfram - Samuel Hasselhorn
Hermann - Ain Anger
Walther - Jonathan Abernethy

‍Heinrich - Florian Panzieri
Reinmar - Tomislav Lavoie
A young shepherd - Théo Imart
A Pope - Thierry Mettetal

Normandy Rouen Opera Orchestra
Accentus Choir / Normandy Rouen Opera Orchestra

‍

‍