Hi Everyone –
I hope you are enjoying the remnants of summer – I know I'm trying to keep it from slipping away too soon!
Below are the Rehearsal Schedule (to date) and the Holiday Concert Program for the fall semester. Please note that we will be scheduling auditions this year from 5:30 – 6:30 on September 15th and September 22nd. Interested parties should contact me so I can assign them a time slot. Of course, if you convince someone at the last second please let me know by phone and we can do what we need to do in order to accommodate them, especially tenors and basses!
You will be receiving a paper copy of the complete Rehearsal Schedule among other important information items on September 29th when we will hold our first Town Hall meeting of the season. In the meantime, I hope the information listed below will help you plan your fall activities.
Please review the dates carefully. If you are unable to make the mandatory rehearsals it is respectfully requested that you adhere to the established attendance policy and join us at another time when you are able to meet the obligation.
Looking forward to seeing you all 3 weeks from tomorrow!
Yours in Harmony,
Sheri
Showing posts with label Eastern Connecticut Symphony Chorus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eastern Connecticut Symphony Chorus. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
ECSC Fall 2010 Rehearsal Schedule
ECSC FALL REHEARSAL SCHEDULE*
(*Additional regular rehearsals may be added. All rehearsals are on Wednesday evenings except "Mandatory Rehearsal #2" which is on Friday, December 17th)
SEPTEMBER
15 Auditions 5:30pm – 6:30pm
Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
22 Auditions 5:30pm – 6:30pm
Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
29 Regular Rehearsal 7-8pm
Town Hall 8-9pm
OCTOBER
6 Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
13 Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
20 Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
27 Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
NOVEMBER
3 Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
10 Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
17 Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
24 NO REHEARSAL (Thanksgiving Week)
DECEMBER
1 Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
8 Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
15 Mandatory Dress Rehearsal #1 (with orchestra principals) 7-10pm at Harkness Chapel
17 Mandatory Dress Rehearsal #2 (with full orchestra) 7-10pm at Harkness Chapel
18 CONCERT – 7:30pm (6:00pm CALL)
(Concert SNOW DATE: Monday, December 20th at 7:30pm)
(*Additional regular rehearsals may be added. All rehearsals are on Wednesday evenings except "Mandatory Rehearsal #2" which is on Friday, December 17th)
SEPTEMBER
15 Auditions 5:30pm – 6:30pm
Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
22 Auditions 5:30pm – 6:30pm
Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
29 Regular Rehearsal 7-8pm
Town Hall 8-9pm
OCTOBER
6 Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
13 Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
20 Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
27 Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
NOVEMBER
3 Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
10 Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
17 Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
24 NO REHEARSAL (Thanksgiving Week)
DECEMBER
1 Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
8 Regular Rehearsal 7-9pm
15 Mandatory Dress Rehearsal #1 (with orchestra principals) 7-10pm at Harkness Chapel
17 Mandatory Dress Rehearsal #2 (with full orchestra) 7-10pm at Harkness Chapel
18 CONCERT – 7:30pm (6:00pm CALL)
(Concert SNOW DATE: Monday, December 20th at 7:30pm)
2010 Holiday Concert Program Line-Up
HOLIDAY CONCERT PROGRAM (*Concert order and musical selections are subject to change)
December 18, 2010, 7:30pm
Harkness Chapel, Connecticut College
(Snow Date: Monday, December 20, 2010, 7:30pm)
Part I: Miniature Messiah with Soprano Arias
4. And The Glory Of The Lord
12. For Unto Us A Child Is Born
17. Glory To God
33. Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates
Part II: Lauridsen Anthems
O NataLux from “LuxAeterna”
O Magnum Mysterium (arr. Singleton for chorus and soprano solo)
Sure On This Shining Night
Part III: Singleton Anthems
HinehMahTov from “God is Love”
Christmastide
Part IV: Finale
Christmas Carol “Sing-a-long”
Hallelujah Chorus
fini
Encore: We Wish You A Merry Christmas (Rutter)
December 18, 2010, 7:30pm
Harkness Chapel, Connecticut College
(Snow Date: Monday, December 20, 2010, 7:30pm)
Part I: Miniature Messiah with Soprano Arias
4. And The Glory Of The Lord
12. For Unto Us A Child Is Born
17. Glory To God
33. Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates
Part II: Lauridsen Anthems
O NataLux from “LuxAeterna”
O Magnum Mysterium (arr. Singleton for chorus and soprano solo)
Sure On This Shining Night
Part III: Singleton Anthems
HinehMahTov from “God is Love”
Christmastide
Part IV: Finale
Christmas Carol “Sing-a-long”
Hallelujah Chorus
fini
Encore: We Wish You A Merry Christmas (Rutter)
Sunday, May 2, 2010
"Elijah" in Middletown
The Greater Middletown Chorale invited ECSC, First Congregational Church of Cheshire Senior Choir, and United Girls' Choir to collaborate with them in performing Felix Mendelssohn's "Elijah" on May 2nd. Congratulations to the 27 chorus members who were able to participate in the performance! The entire work was performed, and that meant they had to perfect 10 new movements (in addition to the ones we'd learned for the winter concert) between the end of our regular season and the concert on May 2nd. (that was only 3 weeks!) The concert in the performing arts center of Middletown High School was sold out, and they even added chairs in the orchestra pit for people to sit in. (The orchestra and choir were on the stage together.) It was an exhausting rehearsal week with trips to Middletown for the rehearsals, and I think we all found special meaning in the song, "He That Shall Endure to the End" by the time we were through! ;) We were all uplifted and thrilled when we saw Mark join us at the last rehearsal, and he sang bass for the concert - YES - BASS!! (gasp!) Again, a job well done to our chorus members! Now we're all ready for our summer break - see you in the fall!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Bravo!
The following note was sent to Mark and Sheri from Isabelle Singer, the Executive Director of the ECSO. How wonderful to be so appreciated!! Excellent work, friends!
Please let everyone in the Chorus know that they were unbelievable. The concert was lush, lyrical, and literally fabulous. I was sorry when it ended. And the review was spectacular as well. Wonderful work!!!! Kudos, applause, and many bows for all that were involved.
Best,
Isabelle
Please let everyone in the Chorus know that they were unbelievable. The concert was lush, lyrical, and literally fabulous. I was sorry when it ended. And the review was spectacular as well. Wonderful work!!!! Kudos, applause, and many bows for all that were involved.
Best,
Isabelle
Successful Concert!
The review of our concert in The Day is fantastic! Congratulations to all!
Link to article: http://www.theday.com/article/20100412/ENT10/304129927/1044
Article in The Day
Review: ECSO finishes season in grand manner
By Milton Moore
Publication: The Day
Published 04/12/2010 12:00 AM
New London - The annual Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra choral concert usually tests the carrying capacity of the Garde Arts Center stage. Just how many people can it hold?
Saturday's grand finale to the ECSO season packed the stage with more than 160 singers and musicians, with bass principal Tom Green all but teetering into the audience and one percussionist stationed out a doorway. Music Director Toshi Shimada led a triumphant conclusion to his first season here in a mostly French program, with works great and small, but a performance that was uniformly first-rate.
The two featured choral works were contrasts in themselves: Poulenc's lean and characteristically unsanctimonious 1959 "Gloria" and Ravel's complex 1912 sonic tapestry "Daphnis et Chloe." Neither work featured the sort of part singing found in the bedrock German repertoire for large choruses, but in both works, the choristers were well-balanced and projected powerfully, even in the large orchestral crescendos.
Front and center for the Poulenc was soprano Mireille Asselin, a glamorous presence onstage in a strapless purple gown who charged her solos with emotion, personality and that ineffable quality that reaches across the lights to connect with her audience. In the two final sections, the "Domine Deus, Agnus Dei" and the "Qui sedes," her unforced timbre and heartfelt emotion were compelling.
The chorus was particularly pleasing in the tangy harmonies of the "Domine Deus," and Shimada kept the work light on its feet, particularly in the playful, scampering sections that harked back to Poulenc's Parisian nightlife evocations of the 1920s.
The concert opened with Dukas' short Fanfare to La Peri, with rich, warm playing by the brass and horns, then moved to Debussy's epochal "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune," the type of delicate, highly perishable score at which Shimada has excelled at since his try-out concert here.
The dreamlike Debussy, so shocking to its 1894 audience with its formlessness and dissonances, is a concert-hall staple today. Its opening theme in the flute, beautifully played by principal Nancy Chaput, is one of the signature melodies of the repertoire. (Chaput would take her bows once again for her animated evocation of Chloe's dance in the Ravel.) French orchestration often calls for a sonic transparency, allowing all of the subtle voices to be heard, and nowhere was this more beautifully drawn Saturday than in the closing moments of the Debussy, as the winds gently wafted like spring breezes over muted violins, in a gorgeous coloristic finish.
Shimada opened the second half with Mozart's Symphony No. 31, thematically included for its nickname "Paris" and programmatically included as a literal counterpoint to the French fare, all but devoid of Classical orchestral counterpoint. As in the Haydn symphony performed earlier this year, the small-sized period orchestra was tack sharp in ensemble, both brisk and robust.
The second movement, with the winds finishing thoughts for the strings, was beautiful without sweetness, and the final movement, with the first violins chasing the seconds in a game of counterpoint tag and its exciting stretto section, was a short, fast ride, thrilling without sonic fireworks.
The concert, and the season, ended with one of the most testing works in the orchestral repertoire, Ravel's "Daphnis et Chloe." Shimada introduced the concert by saying "it has many, many, many, many notes." When speaking of the score by master orchestrator Ravel, the conductor said it has as many notes as in all of the other concerts this season combined. But the performance belied its difficulty, as Shimada led the chorus and huge orchestra - with two harps, a celeste and every wind instrument in the catalog - with a seemingly effortless grace.
The opening section, a pastoral evocation of murmuring waters, unfolded as naturally as spring, with the burbling waters drawn by the harps and winds and birdsongs from piccolo principal Cheryl Six setting the mood as the warm gently rising melodic sequence coalesced in the cellos and violas. When the wordless chorus entered and the strings swooned, the clear voicings, the virtuosity in the solo phrasing and the seamless melding of it all made you sense this is the best stuff an orchestra can do.
In the second section, with beautiful playing by the entire expanded flute section, the dance of winds and percussion surged toward the explosive finale, where Shimada used his laser-beam sense of direction to drive the 5/4 finale. The chorus rose to add full voice to the pulsing crescendos as the timpani and five percussionists raised the roof.
It was a big finish to a big season for the ECSO, and the mood surrounding this orchestra has never been sunnier.
Link to article: http://www.theday.com/article/20100412/ENT10/304129927/1044
Article in The Day
Review: ECSO finishes season in grand manner
By Milton Moore
Publication: The Day
Published 04/12/2010 12:00 AM
New London - The annual Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra choral concert usually tests the carrying capacity of the Garde Arts Center stage. Just how many people can it hold?
Saturday's grand finale to the ECSO season packed the stage with more than 160 singers and musicians, with bass principal Tom Green all but teetering into the audience and one percussionist stationed out a doorway. Music Director Toshi Shimada led a triumphant conclusion to his first season here in a mostly French program, with works great and small, but a performance that was uniformly first-rate.
The two featured choral works were contrasts in themselves: Poulenc's lean and characteristically unsanctimonious 1959 "Gloria" and Ravel's complex 1912 sonic tapestry "Daphnis et Chloe." Neither work featured the sort of part singing found in the bedrock German repertoire for large choruses, but in both works, the choristers were well-balanced and projected powerfully, even in the large orchestral crescendos.
Front and center for the Poulenc was soprano Mireille Asselin, a glamorous presence onstage in a strapless purple gown who charged her solos with emotion, personality and that ineffable quality that reaches across the lights to connect with her audience. In the two final sections, the "Domine Deus, Agnus Dei" and the "Qui sedes," her unforced timbre and heartfelt emotion were compelling.
The chorus was particularly pleasing in the tangy harmonies of the "Domine Deus," and Shimada kept the work light on its feet, particularly in the playful, scampering sections that harked back to Poulenc's Parisian nightlife evocations of the 1920s.
The concert opened with Dukas' short Fanfare to La Peri, with rich, warm playing by the brass and horns, then moved to Debussy's epochal "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune," the type of delicate, highly perishable score at which Shimada has excelled at since his try-out concert here.
The dreamlike Debussy, so shocking to its 1894 audience with its formlessness and dissonances, is a concert-hall staple today. Its opening theme in the flute, beautifully played by principal Nancy Chaput, is one of the signature melodies of the repertoire. (Chaput would take her bows once again for her animated evocation of Chloe's dance in the Ravel.) French orchestration often calls for a sonic transparency, allowing all of the subtle voices to be heard, and nowhere was this more beautifully drawn Saturday than in the closing moments of the Debussy, as the winds gently wafted like spring breezes over muted violins, in a gorgeous coloristic finish.
Shimada opened the second half with Mozart's Symphony No. 31, thematically included for its nickname "Paris" and programmatically included as a literal counterpoint to the French fare, all but devoid of Classical orchestral counterpoint. As in the Haydn symphony performed earlier this year, the small-sized period orchestra was tack sharp in ensemble, both brisk and robust.
The second movement, with the winds finishing thoughts for the strings, was beautiful without sweetness, and the final movement, with the first violins chasing the seconds in a game of counterpoint tag and its exciting stretto section, was a short, fast ride, thrilling without sonic fireworks.
The concert, and the season, ended with one of the most testing works in the orchestral repertoire, Ravel's "Daphnis et Chloe." Shimada introduced the concert by saying "it has many, many, many, many notes." When speaking of the score by master orchestrator Ravel, the conductor said it has as many notes as in all of the other concerts this season combined. But the performance belied its difficulty, as Shimada led the chorus and huge orchestra - with two harps, a celeste and every wind instrument in the catalog - with a seemingly effortless grace.
The opening section, a pastoral evocation of murmuring waters, unfolded as naturally as spring, with the burbling waters drawn by the harps and winds and birdsongs from piccolo principal Cheryl Six setting the mood as the warm gently rising melodic sequence coalesced in the cellos and violas. When the wordless chorus entered and the strings swooned, the clear voicings, the virtuosity in the solo phrasing and the seamless melding of it all made you sense this is the best stuff an orchestra can do.
In the second section, with beautiful playing by the entire expanded flute section, the dance of winds and percussion surged toward the explosive finale, where Shimada used his laser-beam sense of direction to drive the 5/4 finale. The chorus rose to add full voice to the pulsing crescendos as the timpani and five percussionists raised the roof.
It was a big finish to a big season for the ECSO, and the mood surrounding this orchestra has never been sunnier.
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