World-renowned musicians perform well-loved sacred poem for Ralston College’s second annual winter concert
News 20th February 2024
Ralston College’s seasonal concert series yesterday drew hundreds of music lovers to Savannah for a rousing performance of Stabat Mater, the well-loved sacred poem set to music by Italian composer Giovanni Pergolesi.
The free, public performance was led by world-renowned conductor, Fr Dr Robert Mehlhart, who visited from Rome where he is President of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music.
Critically acclaimed soprano Kristi Bryson, and mezzo-soprano Kim Leeds–soloists who have each toured extensively throughout North America and Europe–joined Fr Dr Mehlhart at Sacred Heart Church on Bull Street on February 19th.
Stabat Mater is a deathbed masterwork that is considered one of the most emblematic works of the Baroque Period.
Stephen Blackwood, the founding president of Ralston College, welcomed audiences to the concert.
“The College was thrilled to share with our students and wider community this masterpiece of Baroque music,” he said. “We are very proud to showcase the many talented instrumentalists that we are so fortunate to host in Savannah, whether local residents or esteemed guests.
“The enduring and unassailable importance of the arts and humanities is that they channel, as well as challenge, emotions and experiences that are common to all humankind: the Stabat Mater, as a poem that reflects deeply on the power of suffering and loss, demonstrates this universal truth.”
Music at Ralston College
Musical performance, which is so central to the character of Savannah, is one of the most treasured aspects of Ralston College’s student life.
The 2024 graduating class includes world-class pianists, guitarists, a violinist, a flutist and many passionate vocalists whose performance at the College’s seasonal concert in December 2023 marked the debut of The Ralston Chorus.
Beginning in 2021 when the College earned state authorization to grant degrees, it began hosting free concerts, each intended to complement the curriculum of its year-long Master of Arts in the Humanities degree. Since Stabat Mater is a medieval poem, its presentation during the third term, of which the focus is the medieval period, enriches the curriculum of Ralston College’s 23 graduate students as they study the development, from ancient times to the present, of Western Civilization.
The performance opened with a lecture by Fr Dr Mehlhart and was followed by a concert at 6:30 p.m.
Fr Dr Mehlhart is a frequent guest of Ralston College and led its inaugural seasonal concert in February 2023: Palestrina, Allegri, and Plainchant.
The evening of Renaissance music featured major works by the great Roman composers Gregorio Allegri (“Miserere mei, Deus”) and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (“Missa Emendemus”), as well as the plainchant from which these works sprung.
Fr Mehlhart, OP, is also the Director of Music and Organist at the Theatine Church in Munich, where he leads the Vokalkapelle–founded in 1482 as the choir to the Bavarian Royal Court; a former lecturer at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich, a composer of masses and motets, and a scholar of plainchant, also known as Gregorian chant.
About Ralston College
Ralston College, which is a new, donor-funded liberal arts university whose campus in Savannah currently includes six historic buildings throughout the city's National Historic Landmark District, intends to launch an undergraduate program in the future.
It is a private, 501(c)(3) institution of higher education was originally founded in 2010, and has been authorized for operation and awarded degree-granting powers by the State of Georgia.
Ralston College is also seeking accreditation from the New England Commission of Higher Education, and was authorized on November 16th, 2023 to publish the following statement:
“The New England Commission of Higher Education has determined that Ralston College is eligible to proceed with an application for candidacy for accreditation within two years. A determination of eligibility is not candidacy or accreditation, nor does it indicate a likelihood of eventual accreditation. Questions about eligibility and the accreditation process should be directed to the President of the Commission.”
The College is devoted to freedom of thought and speech, has no political or religious affiliations, and does not accept government funds. Its mission is to revive the conditions of a free and flourishing culture by providing transformative, rigorous education in the humanities.
In addition to its degree program, the College also hosts a free, public lecture series which has welcomed more than 1,500 guests.
To date, the Ralston College’s podcasts and online lectures–also available for free–have reached millions.
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