Seattle Symphony Orchestra in search of tenors and basses for "Ode to Joy" Seeds of Compassion concert

Gentlemen: How would you like to sing in Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" for His Holiness the Dalai Lama — on international TV?

The Seattle Symphony Orchestra, which is forming a large community orchestra and chorus to sing the choral finale to Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 at an April 15 "Seeds of Compassion" morning event in the UW's Hec Edmundson Pavilion, is looking for professional, amateur and advanced-student tenors and basses to join the choir. (Conductor Gerard Schwarz already has lined up plenty of instrumentalists and female singers, as well as four vocal soloists.)

If this sounds like your cup of Tibetan green tea, here are the details: To sign up, tenor and bass participants should send an e-mail to compassion@seattlesymphony.org with their name, voice part and contact phone number.

The event, which is sold out, will be televised on international TV and available as a Webcast (see box). It is part of the five-day Seeds of Compassion event, an initiative of the Kirlin Charitable Foundation and the Venerable Lama Tenzin Dhonden.

The 14th Dalai Lama will be in Seattle to participate in dialogue with leading educators, researchers and policymakers during Seeds of Compassion, which focuses on early-childhood learning and how it relates to compassion. Daniel Kranzler, president of the Kirlin Foundation, asked Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony to be part of the event because of the important role music plays in children's lives.

Participating in the concert will be four soloists: soprano Megan Hart, mezzo-soprano Kathryn Weld, tenor Stephen Rumph and bass-baritone Clayton Brainerd. More than 600 musicians will perform; the event starts at 11:20 a.m. as part of the conference's morning session, which deals with the topic of compassion in the world's spiritual traditions.

Melinda Bargreen: mbargreen@seattletimes.com