Kalamazoo Choral Arts brings a bold, theatrical reimagining of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana to PMN’s In Performance series.
Recorded at the Dalton Theater in Kalamazoo College’s Light Fine Arts Center, this staged production reworks one of the most recognizable choral works ever written into something closer to theater than concert. A 70-plus voice chorus performs alongside actors, dancers, film projections, lighting design, and smoke effects, with medieval marginalia imagery projected throughout the performance — the result of three years of development, according to KCA. Rather than a full orchestra, the piece is carried by five percussionists and special guests The Westhuizen Duo, pianists Pierre and Sophie van der Westhuizen.
The staging follows a monk who falls asleep reading the 13th-century Bavarian poems that inspired Orff’s cantata, with his dream driving the narrative through Fortune’s fickle wheel, the joys of springtime, rowdy tavern life, and finally the court of love. KCA Music Director Chris Ludwa has described the percussion-driven approach as true to Orff’s own vision “with a modern set of eyes.”
Soprano soloist Lisa Buhelos joins the production, part of a lineup that reflects Kalamazoo Choral Arts’ broader mission of building community through singing.
