"Masterworks" Concert Shines a Light on CT High School Choirs

CONCORA (Connecticut Choral Artists), the region’s oldest all-professional choral ensemble, continues the 2017-2018 “Masterworks” season by inviting three of Connecticut’s finest high school choirs to present a joint concert of classic choral music.

“Extraordinary Choral Masterworks” will be performed on Saturday, November 18, at 7:30 PM, at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, 872 Farmington Avenue in West Hartford.

Participating high school choirs include:

Bristol Central High School Madrigal Singers – David Nelson, Choral Music Teacher
Ledyard High School Chamber Choir – Melanie Wade Cometa, Director of Choral Activities
Litchfield High School Chamber Choir – Peter Perkins, Director

This is the eleventh edition of the “Extraordinary Concert” series, which began in 1993 as part of CONCORA’s education and outreach programming.

CONCORA’s Artistic Director Chris Shepard has collaborated with the three high school directors in choosing the concert repertoire and planning and leading rehearsals, including meeting with each choir in its school setting. CONCORA and the high school choirs will rehearse independently, then all the musicians will come together for joint rehearsals prior to the public concert on Saturday, November 18.

Shepard will share the conductor's podium during the concert, when two of the high school choir directors will take a “solo” turn to conduct CONCORA’s professional singers. Peter Perkins, director of the Litchfield Chamber Choir, will lead CONCORA in Gabriel Fauré’s ravishingly beautiful Cantique de Jean Racine, while Melanie Wade Cometa, Director of Choral Activities at Ledyard High School, will direct CONCORA in “Ye Shall Have a Song” from Randall Thompson’s landmark work, The Peaceable Kingdom.

“Most conductors never have a chance to work with a professional choral ensemble, and I’m glad to be able to offer this opportunity to these fine high school conductors,” said Shepard. “And CONCORA’s professional singers enjoy the experience, too. Each conductor brings a unique perspective to rehearsing and performing, and we all benefit from a fresh approach, whether it's with well-loved choral classics or with music that is new to us — and this concert includes some of both.”

For the young singers, an event like the Extraordinary Concert can be a life-changing event.

“Rehearsing and performing with professional singers can inspire a young musician to pursue a career in music,” said Christine Laird, CONCORA’s Director of Operations and a long-tenured CONCORA singer. “These singers are our future music teachers, church musicians, composers, and arts supporters. It’s not unusual for us to hear from participants years later; they contact us to say, ‘Singing with CONCORA in this concert made a difference in my life.’ ”

The November 18 concert opens with “solo” performances by each of the high school choirs led by their own directors. Chris Shepard will then lead the CONCORA professional ensemble in excerpts from masterworks by Handel, Bernstein, and Mendelssohn, along with classics of the choral repertoire by Lauridsen and Whitacre and arrangements of folk songs and spirituals by Parker, Bartholomew, and Dawson. After the music by Fauré and Thompson led by Perkins and Cometa, the program concludes with all the choirs forming a single large ensemble to perform three movements of the Mozart Requiem with CONCORA, with Chris Shepard conducting.

“We are so fortunate to be able to return to St. Thomas the Apostle Church in West Hartford for this edition of the Extraordinary Concert,” said Shepard. “The acoustic is magnificent for choral music – the sound of these voices will wash over and around the audience and will fill every corner of that beautiful space. It will be a memorable experience for everyone.”

The concert itself is inspiring and enriching for listeners, too, as a member of the audience said of last year’s Extraordinary Concert: “What a treat to sit and be bathed in glorious sound. The young voices were so fresh and clear and the ensemble sound quite breathtaking. The variety of musical offerings was a delight to the listener and perfectly suited to that grand space.”

EVENT DETALS:

Extraordinary Choral Masterworks
Saturday, November 18, 2017, 7:30 PM
St. Thomas the Apostle Church
872 Farmington Avenue
West Hartford, CT
Information: http://www.concora.org/extraordinary-masterworks.html
Tickets are available at www.concora.org, by phone at 860-293-0567, by email at contact@concora.org, or at the door.