Release Date: January 8, 2016
 
December 14, 2015 (New York, NY) – One of the nation’s finest choral ensembles, the GRAMMY-nominated Miami-based Seraphic Fire releases its 15th album in 14 seasons on January 8th with STEAL AWAY: THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CONCERT SPIRITUAL. The release of STEAL AWAY coincides with a series of performances of repertoire from the album in a concert entitled The American Spiritual: An Expression of Pure Joy, in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Coral Gables and Naples in seven different venues from January 12th – 17th (complete concert details below).
 
Persistently keeping to its mission of sharing with audiences under-performed music with cultural significance, Seraphic Fire uses STEAL AWAY to highlight the Concert Spiritual, a form that may deal with religious subjects or have religious texts, but has always been intended for non-religious concert performance rather than sacred use during church services. In contrast to the improvisatory and anonymous nature of the traditional “field” or “folk” spiritual, the concert spiritual is a crafted, written-down musical organism replete with all of the compositional techniques of the day, intended to be performed by classically-trained voices.

The program repertoire for STEAL AWAY explores this compelling genre in depth, illuminating both familiar tunes and soon-to-be favorites.  The leading exponents of the genre during the 20th century are represented, including Roland Carter (You Must Have That True Religion), John Work (This Little Light of Mine; Little Black Train), William L. Dawson (Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit; There is a Balm in Gilead), Jester Hairston (Poor Man Lazrus; Hold On) and Moses Hogan (Great Day; My God is So High) along with Patrick Dupré Quigley who arranged Over My Head, Were You There and Steal Away. Complete track listing is below.

Seraphic Fire’s Founder and Artistic Director Patrick Dupré Quigley has a singular goal for the ensemble. “Seraphic Fire helps people reach across time and space to touch the fabric of a different era, a different people,” he writes.  In order to do so with STEAL AWAY, meticulous consideration was given to the history of the African American concert spiritual, back to its earliest days with the Fisk University Jubilee Singers in 1871. Seraphic Fire retains the authentic quality the authors intended on each piece by using the full-voiced, almost operatic quality of early spiritual performers and adopting pronunciations appropriate to the regional dialect written into the lyrics.     

 STEAL AWAY: THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CONCERT SPIRITUAL Track Listing:
 

1.	You Must Have That True Religion	Roland Carter	b. 1942
2.	Little Black Train	John Work	1901-1967
3.	This Little Light of Mine	John Work	1901-1967
4.	Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit	William L. Dawson	1899-1990
5.	There is a Balm in Gilead	William L. Dawson	1899-1990
6.	Daniel, Daniel, Servant of the Lord	Undine S. Moore	1904-1989
7.	My Lord, What a Mornin’	Harry T. Burleigh	1866-1949
8.	Poor Man Lazrus	Jester Hairston	1901-2000
9.	Hold On!	Jester Hairston	1901-2000
10.	My God is So High	Moses Hogan	1957-2003
11.	Rockin’ Jerusalem	André Thomas	b. 1939
12.	Great Day	André Thomas	b. 1939
13.	Over My Head	Traditional*
14.	Were You There?	Traditional*
15.	Steal Away	Traditional*

                                                                  *Arranged by Patrick Dupré Quigley b. 1977   
                    
THE AMERICAN SPIRITUAL: AN EXPRESSION OF PURE JOY
Patrick Dupré Quigley, conductor
Tickets can be purchased for the individual shows from the Seraphic Fire website at: http://www.seraphicfire.org/performances/single-tickets/.  
 

January 12, 2016	7:00pm	Bienes Center	Ft. Lauderdale, FL
January 13, 2016	7:30pm	St. Sophia Cathedral	Miami, FL
January 14, 2016	7:30pm	Moorings Presbyterian	Naples, FL
January 15, 2016	7:30pm	St. Philip’s Episcopal	Coral Gables, FL	SOLD OUT
January 16, 2016	8:00pm	All Saints Episcopal	Ft. Lauderdale, FL
January 17, 2016	4:00pm	All Souls Episcopal	Miami Beach, FL

About Seraphic Fire
Now in its 14th season performing throughout the South Florida region and on national tours, Seraphic Fire is regarded as one of the preeminent choral orchestral chamber ensembles in the United States. Led by Founder and Artistic Director Patrick Dupré Quigley, Seraphic Fire brings top ensemble singers and instrumentalists from around the country to perform repertoire ranging from Gregorian chant and baroque masterpieces, to Mahler and newly commissioned works by this country’s leading composers. Two of the ensemble’s recordings, Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem and A Seraphic Fire Christmas, were nominated for 2012 GRAMMY® awards, making Seraphic Fire the only choral ensemble in North or South America to be nominated that year, and the only classical ensemble in the world to be nominated for two separate projects.
 
Seraphic Fire’s artistic accomplishments have translated to chart-topping album sales as well. The ensemble’s September 2014 release, Reincarnations: A Century of American Choral Music, soared to No. 4 on the iTunes Classical Chart and reached No. 6 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Chart. The ensemble’s GRAMMY®-nominated recording of Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Chart. Seraphic Fire’s 2010 recording of Monteverdi’s Vespers of the Blessed Virgin (1610) reached the No.1 position on the iTunes Classical Chart, and their 2010 Christmas album, about which NPR’s Morning Edition proclaimed “the singing is just fabulous; this group has a really excellent blend,” broke into the top ten on the iTunes Classical Chart on the day of its release.

About Patrick Dupré Quigley
American conductor Patrick Dupré Quigley has been described by the Miami Herald as: “A musician with a constellation of qualities rarely found in a single conductor: an enthusiastic and audience-friendly personal style, a scholar’s instinct for rooting out obscure but worthy music, a scrupulous and historically informed approach to works that span a wide range of musical periods, an ability to bring out the best in his talented platoon . . . and a showman’s canny sense of how to appeal to audiences.”
 
In addition to his work as Artistic Director with Seraphic Fire, Mr. Quigley has made guest appearances with the San Francisco Symphony’s Community of Music Makers series, Cincinnati’s professional Vocal Arts Ensemble, and two separate appearances with the San Antonio Symphony. With Seraphic Fire, Patrick will conduct over 60 performances across the United States.

Quigley has been lauded as an adept arts entrepreneur and a savvy institution builder. In fourteen seasons, Quigley has grown Seraphic Fire into a vibrant, cutting-edge arts organization—mounting acclaimed performances of Baroque mainstays, introducing new work and exploring under-performed treasures with equal success.

Quigley is the recipient of the 2004 Robert Shaw Conducting Fellowship, given annually by the National Endowment for the Arts and Chorus America to one conductor between the ages of 25 and 40 who demonstrates the potential for a significant professional career. At 26, Mr. Quigley was the youngest person to receive this award. Most recently, Mr. Quigley was awarded Chorus America’s 2011 Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal, recognizing his artistic and institution- building achievements with Seraphic Fire. Mr. Quigley has been a featured guest on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and is a sought-after speaker and consultant regarding arts entrepreneurship.

Patrick received his M.Mus. in conducting from the Yale School of Music, his B.A. in musicology from the University of Notre Dame, and is a graduate of the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy’s Fundraising School.

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