Ragazzi Boys pay homage to Sandy Hook Children

The Ragazzi Boys Chorus will collaborate with the San Mateo Masterworks Chorale to present Mass of the Children at 8 p.m., Saturday, March 23 and 4 p.m., Sunday, March 24.

Both performances, which include individual selections by each choir, will be held at the Carlmont Performing Arts Center in Belmont.

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The Ragazzi Boys Chorus will present the African song Ukuthula and Ron Jeffers’ arrangement of Workin’ for the Dawn of Peace.

The concert is a special presentation dedicated to the memory of the children Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Mass of the Children was written by British composer John Rutter. The text is that of a standard Latin Missa brevis to which several relevant English poetic texts have been added, including poems from Bishop Thomas Ken and English poet William Blake.

First performed at Carnegie Hall in 2003, the work is full of promise. However, Rutter wrote the Mass after the death of his son Christopher in March 2001.

“As a boy soprano in my school choir I had been thrilled whenever our choir took part in adult works with children’s choir parts, such as the Mahler Third Symphony and the Britten War Requiem, and years later I remembered this experience and wanted to write something that would give children a similar opportunity to perform alongside adult professionals,” said Rutter.

He has composed many choral works, carols, anthems, and wrote commissioned pieces for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002 and the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey in 2011.

For more information, call 650.342.8785 or visit www.ragazzi.org.