The Sacramento Choral Society opened its 2012-13 season with an exquisite sold-out program Sunday.

The Stained Glass Concert One, “Portals of Heaven,” brought back to Sacramento the wonderful sacred music that has thrilled and captivated Sacramento Choral Society & Orchestra audiences for the past 16 seasons. The 17th season promises to be an unqualified success as well. Image by: Kati Garner

The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament was filled to capacity with SCSO’s faithful fans. Music lovers eager to experience the glorious music of this renowned choral organization ringed the block, standing three and four abreast in line for nearly an hour.

The singers themselves, clad in their tuxedos and long black gowns, milled about Cathedral Plaza, waiting for the last of the parishioners to clear the building after the 1 p.m. Spanish Mass. Vendors of chicharrones and paletas finally furled their rainbow-hued umbrellas and trundled their pushcarts away, as the great doors swung open and both audience members and singers made their way into the lovely restored cathedral. Image by: Kati Garner

The 150 members of the Choral Society took their places on the risers as organist Ryan Enright played the John Stanley Voluntary in D, with brilliantly clear trumpet work by Michael Meeks in the second movement. Image by: Kati Garner

The Gabriel Faure Requiem in D Minor was composed in 1888, a year before the Cathedral was built. It is one of the brighter and more hopeful Requiem settings, omitting the traditionally thunderous and ominous Dies Irae and Tubus Mirum movements. While these traditionally provide a dramatic showcase for the baritone, Faure instead composed two gloriously angelic sections, the Pie Jesu and In Paradisum, which feature the soaring voices of sopranos.

Atop the podium, Dr. Donald Kendrick coaxed and exhorted his singers to a masterful reading of the work, with gorgeous solos from baritone Daniel Yoder and soprano Katherine Jolly. Image by: Kati Garner Katherine Jolly (Image by: Kati Garner)

Antonio Vivaldi wrote the Gloria in D Major in 1715, when he was the priest and music teacher at a girls’ orphanage in Venice. Vivaldi composed hundreds of works to be played and sung by the girls’ orchestra and choir.

The beautiful Gloria again featured Meeks on trumpet, and Ruth Stuart playing oboe. Soprano Jolly and mezzo Julie Anne Miller joined in glorious duet in Laudemus Te. Both Jolly and Miller’s voices enraptured the audience, as they sang in turn Jolly’s ethereal Domine Deus, Rex Coelestis and Miller’s rich Qui Sedes, Ad Dexteram Patris. As the last notes of Cum Sanctu Spiritu were sung, and the final amen gave way to silence, the audience rose to their feet in tribute to the masterful musicianship of this fine organization. Julie Anne Miller (Image by: Kati Garner)

The SCSO is a rich cultural treasure for the Sacramento community; it enriches the lives and the experiences of countless patrons each season. An important part of SCSO’s mission is musical education and outreach to all sectors of the community. Image by: Kati Garner Image by: Kati Garner Image by: Kati Garner Image by: Kati Garner

In keeping with these goals, over 200 disadvantaged Title I schoolchildren will be sponsored by Wells Fargo to attend the “Home for the Holidays” concert at Memorial Auditorium on Saturday, Dec. 8. Ticket sales for the popular holiday program are already brisk, and another sold-out event may be expected.

For details about the December concert, the second Stained Glass Concert in March, also at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, or the May Armed Forces Salute, or to purchase tickets, please visit sacramentochoral.com.