On 24 May, the Order of Santiago is putting on a concert performed by the University of Oregon Chamber Choir as part of its Order of Santiago in the 21st Century programme at La Almudena Cathedral.

This is the opening concert in a season that seeks to celebrate the Xacobeo Holy Year 2021-2022. To mark this special event, the Order of Santiago has designed an programme of events featuring concerts all along the Camino de Santiago trail. It starts in Madrid, stops in Burgos on 25 May and Oviedo on 26 May, and finishes in Santiago de Compostela on 28 May. The central piece in all the recitals is a movement from Joby Talbot's Path of Miracles, except in Santiago, where it will be sung in full.

The 36 members of the University of Oregon Chamber Choir, a mixed voice choral ensemble specialising in a cappella melodies from the 16th to the 21st century, will be offering audiences an unforgettable evening of music. Most of the choir members are undergraduate or graduate students, mainly studying music, although some are studying other subjects such as neuroscience and business administration.

In 2011, during their first international tour, they won the highest honours in two categories at the International Choir Festival in Tallinn (Estonia) and in 2013 they won the Fleischmann International Trophy Competition at the Cork International Choral Festival (Ireland). In 2019, they won first prize in the chamber choir category at the Grand Prix of Nations in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The choir is led by Sharon J. Paul, head of the Department of Music Performance and director of choral activities at the University of Oregon, where she teaches choir conducting, repertoire, and pedagogy classes for graduate students. In addition, in 2014 she received the University of Oregon Foundation Teacher Excellence Award and in 2019 the Oregon Choral Directors Association Podium Award for outstanding contributions to the choral arts.

Artistic credits:

• Conductor - Sharon J. Paul
• University of Oregon Chamber Choir

Programme:

Darkness and light

• Alonso Lobo (1555-1617) - Versa est in luctum
• Francisco Guerrero (1528-1599) - Ego flos campi

The Pilgrimage

Joby Talbot - Path of Miracles (2005)

• Roncesvalles
• Burgos
• León
• Santiago

Surviving the storm

• Don Macdonald - When the Earth Stands Still (2016)
• Lissa Schneckenburger arr. Andrea Ramsey - Hope Lingers On (2002)
• Thomas A. Dorsey (1899-1993) arr. Arnold Sevier - Precious Lord
• Swedish folk song arr. Bengt Ollén - Trilo (2017)
• Sydney Guillaume - Tchaka (2016)