Included on the program is Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and other works by American composers such as Walton, Bach, Britten and Thompson accompanied by professional organ, piano, harp and percussion.  The concert will feature the Connecticut Children’s Chorus, directed by Stuart Younse and Sallie Ferebee and the debut of the new Hartford Chorale Chamber Singers conducted by Ehren Brown.  For more information, please visit www.hartfordchorale.org. Tickets may be purchased at the door or online at www.woodlandconcertseries.org.

This program is a joint venture with the Greater Hartford Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.  The concert will take place at Immanuel Congregational Church in Hartford and will include works by Beethoven, Brahms, Britten, Duruflè, Elgar, Stanford, and others.

Guest Organists: Daniel Campolieta, Jason Charneski, Donald Funk, Jr., and Christa Rakich .

Further information is available at voceinc.org.

By JEFFREY JOHNSON | SPECIAL TO THE COURANT
October 26, 2008

As Edward Cumming conducted Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony from memory, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, in the opening program of the 2008-2009 Masterworks Series in Mortensen Hall, responded with a fiery performance.

Familiar as this work is, conducting it from memory is no small feat, given that there are some 2,600 measures of detailed textures and cues. But it put Cumming in direct and unbroken contact with the orchestra, and the level of intensity was magnified.

Cumming began the first movement by backing his feet onto the extreme left-hand corner of the podium. He was facing the celli section diagonally, looking like an Olympic gymnast getting ready for a tricky combination in a floor routine. He readied his arms and stood motionless for what seemed a good 20 seconds.

Then, from the opening downbeat through the two sweeping scales that precede the final cadence, the entire movement came across as continuous and uninterrupted compositional thought. The orchestra produced a vivid and massive sound.

The second movement developed the intensity of the first, with Cumming giving agile cues for entrances of the rhythmic motive that drives this scherzo. He took the trio at a tempo disputed by some Beethoven scholars, one that is slower than typically heard. The tempo allowed space within the driving intensity of the music and seemed an effective idea in the larger context of the performance as a whole.

“O Freunde, nicht diese Töne! (Oh friends, not these tones!)” With these words, sung by baritone Anton Belov, the symphonic world of instruments became vocal. This invocation consists of Beethoven’s own words, and it precedes the text by Schiller. Belov was later joined by soprano Elona Ceno, mezzo-soprano Ela Zingerevich and tenor Tadeusz Szlenkier, who made an impression with spirited singing during his solo in the “Turkish-March” episode.

But it was the Hartford Chorale, prepared by the incomparable Richard Coffey, who stole the show. They stood en masse at the return of what Wagner called the “schreckensfanfare” (horror fanfare), and it then became clear that they intended an intensification of their own — they sang the lengthy German text from memory. The sense of collective focused energy was overpowering, unbroken from the choir to us. How can one hear this kind of direct communication and not be moved? The challenges of this demanding movement were met. The passage during which the familiar “Joy” theme combines with the more austere “Seid umschlungen, millionen! (Be embraced, you millions!)” had a clarity, both in diction and direction, that became a celebration.

The closing gesture of the symphony was met with an instantaneous standing ovation. The audience stood in a single gesture, one that balanced the moment when the chorale stood just prior to its entrance. The ovation lasted 10 minutes, solid and unbroken through three complete calls.

This was a monumental event.

Afterward, it was almost difficult to place the performance of Beethoven’s First Symphony, an engaging performance that opened the concert, as having taken place on the same evening.

Cumming also conducted the First Symphony from memory and did not use a podium. He was at eye level with the players and created the sense of chamber music with an ensemble that was greatly reduced in comparison with the orchestra used for the Ninth Symphony. The wind writing came across as being particularly colorful in this performance. Chuckles were peppered throughout the hall as Cumming wound the orchestra note by note, his smile growing bigger with each mischievous gesture.

“Lucky you!” said Cumming from the stage as he concluded his pre-concert talk earlier in the evening. “A whole year of Beethoven. It doesn’t get any better than that!”

Indeed, it doesn’t.

Copyright © 2008, The Hartford Courant

The Woodland Concert Series is kicking off its 2008-2009 season with a fundraiser concert featuring the music of Leonard Bernstein on Saturday, September 20 at 7:30pm.  Titled “On The Town,” the evening’s performers will include the Chancel Choir of Immanuel Congregational Church and the Voce Chamber Artists.  I will be singing in the choir as well as several solos that evening.  Tickets are $25 and may be ordered online here or purchased at the door.

Featured Music

On the Town (selections)
West Side Story (selections)
Mass (selections)

Plus additional works from
Wonderful Town, Candide &
1600 Pensylvania Avenue

Featured Musicians

The Choir of Immanuel Congregational Church
Voce Chamber Singers

Tom Cooke, Clarinet
Eric Dahlin, Cello
Sarah Meneely-Kyder, Piano
Donald Funk, Piano

Mark Singleton, Music Director of Immanuel Congregational Church
and Artistic Director of Voce, will serve as Conductor.

With the extremely successful Vernon Chorale concert on June 7th, my 2007-2008 concert season has come to a close. Thanks to all of you who attended my performances! Your presence and support truly make what I do possible.

In other news, two opportunities have come my way recently. First, the Vernon Chorale has been asked to perform at the President’s Concert at the 2008 CT ACDA Fall Conference. The conference will take place at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain. We will share the stage with several other choirs, but will be the only community choir in the state to perform. This is a huge honor for the Chorale, and I am glad for the opportunity to publicize the great music we make on a consistent basis.

Second, I have been asked to conduct the 2009 Southern Region Middle School Chorus, which I have gladly accepted. The festival will take place in February 2009 at Naugatuck High School. This will be the first such festival I have directed, though certainly not the first time I have worked with middle school voices. Some of you may remember my time teaching at Lebanon Middle School a few years ago, and I have also had numerous other opportunities to work with young singers. I am looking forward to this honor, and will provide more information here on my website as it becomes available.

By imagining the opening Kyrie as a “slow introduction” and the Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei that follow as a symphonic conception, conductor Edward Cumming argued during an inspired pre-concert discussion, we could hear Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis as a “sacred symphony.” He claimed that it “asks vocalists to sing as instruments” within the orchestra, and that the work is universally regarded “as one of the most difficult works in the choral repertoire.”

Difficult it is, and perhaps even impossible in its demands on technique and endurance for singers. The Hartford Chorale and Concora, prepared by Music Director Richard Coffey, were not intimidated, however, and it became the centerpiece in an uncompromising performance on Friday. They, along with soprano Inna Dukach, mezzo soprano Janine Hawley, tenor Steven Tharp, and bass Kevin Deas, joined the Hartford Symphony in Mortensen Hall at the Bushnell Center in a program that consisted of only one work: the Missa Solemnis by Beethoven.

It was an amazingly detailed choral performance. The low alto line that opens the Gloria and every word of the quiet bass entry on “et in terra pax” could be clearly heard. The chorus was able to maintain balance in sections in which quiet singing collides with passages sung at top volume. The “in Gloria Dei” fugue from the Gloria had a most attractive dance quality. Attention to articulation helped define rhythmic motives and create a network of associations developed by the orchestra. In this sense, the singers really did feel like an extension of the orchestra.

A professional choir might have been able to round off every high B-flat and create a sound closer to icy perfection, but I would choose to hear The Hartford Chorale and Concora anytime. It was as soulful a performance of this work as you are likely to ever hear.

The soloists had effective moments, and brought an operatic quality to the largely ensemble singing required of the soloists. The Agnus Dei benefited most directly from their approach, as dramatic juxtapositions of military music and musical pleadings for peace take on the feel of an operatic scene.

The orchestra excelled, particularly in darker, more reflective moments such as the “Präludium” that precedes the Benedictus. The low G played by organ at the close of that section made it seem as if the whole theater were slowly vibrating.

This event seemed to stun and enrapture the Hartford audience. I cannot recall any concert in which the audience was this quiet — no wrappers, no shifting, no coughing … just silent concentration for a single work that lasted an hour and a half without a significant break. The standing ovation at the close of the performance happened in what seemed to be a single motion.

Copyright © 2008, The Hartford Courant

source: http://www.courant.com/entertainment/music/reviews/hc-hsorev0518.artmay18,0,2180290.story

Join the Vernon Chorale on Saturday, June 7th at 7:30pm for a concert that will showcase the variety of vocal talent in the Chorale’s membership. Conducted by assistant conductor Samuel Eurich, the concert will be comprised of choral music as well as solos and small ensemble performances by Chorale members. Details are below. We hope to see you there!

The Vernon Chorale presents
A Choral Tapestry
Saturday, June 7, 2008 at 7:30pm
First Congregational Church of Vernon
695 Hartford Turnpike
Vernon, CT 06066
www.firstchurchofvernon.org

The Hartford Chorale and Hartford Symphony Orchestra will join forces on May 16th and 17th to perform Beethoven’s Missa solemnis at the Bushnell Center for Performing Arts in Hartford. The concerts will take place at 8:00pm on both evenings. I will be singing with the chorus in this concert.

Tickets are available online at https://tickets.hartfordsymphony.org or by calling the Hartford Symphony box office at (860) 244-2999.