Download echoes - Monmouth Civic Chorus

ECHOES
In This Issue:
Audience to Meet Composer at MCC March Concert
Notes on the Program
"Terrific" Baritone Soloist in MCC March Concert
MCC to Sing American Folk Music
Join MCC in Axelrod Classical Musical Festival
MCC Auditions
MCC Announces Scholarship Auditions
What’s on your mind?
Welcome to the “March 2010”issue of ECHOES, targeted to fans and audience of the Monmouth Civic
Chorus. Look for an issue of ECHOES in your e-mail before each of our upcoming concerts.
Audience to Meet Composer at Monmouth Civic Chorus Concert
The rafters will ring at Tower Hill when a brass ensemble joins the Chorus in Sing the Body
Electric on Saturday, March 13, 2010, at 8:00 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 255 Harding
Road, Red Bank. The concert features glowing music by contemporary composers Paul Hindemith,
Frank Martin, Trond H. F. Kverno, and Vince Peterson, with commentary by Dr. Shapiro. Single
tickets are $25 ($22 seniors, $20 groups, $5 students).
The audience is invited to meet the composer, Vince Peterson, at a pre-concert talk at 7:00 p.m.
at the church. Vince Peterson, a 28-year-old Brooklyn-based composer and conductor, will discuss his
piece Sing the Body Electric, a setting of Walt Whitman poems for chorus and brass ensemble.
Vince Peterson (Composer, Conductor and Pianist) holds the BMus in Composition from The
San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a Double MMus from Mannes College The New School for
Music in Manhattan where he was the sole recipient of the 2007 Music Teacher's League Award upon
his graduation. His principal composition teachers have included celebrated composers Conrad Susa
and David Conte of SF Conservatory as well as Dr. Philip Lasser of The Juilliard School, among
others. He studied conducting under Dr. Mark Shapiro, a critically acclaimed champion of new and
obscure music as well as Sonja Neblett. His work has been profiled in The New York Times, The
Brooklyn Eagle and several notable arts blogs. He is the Founding Artistic Director of Choral
Chameleon and currently serves as Director of Choirs at Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music,
CUNY. In addition, he is Assistant Conductor of Cantori New York under Dr. Shapiro.
####
He also previously served as Assistant Conductor and Principal Accompanist for The Golden
Gate Men's Chorus of San Francisco, under the direction of Grammy® Award-Winning conductor
Joseph Jennings, a position to which Jennings appointed him. His thriving music program at The
Union Church of Bay Ridge, a church community known for its commitment to the arts, has caused the
church sanctuary to be named by The Brooklyn Eagle as Bay Ridge's “premiere performance hall”. In
2008, he was given the honor of conducting Cantori at The Gregg Smith Legacy, a celebratory festival
underwritten by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Having worked in many musical capacities including performer, conductor and music director,
pianist, composer and arranger, teacher and coach, musical consultant and clinician, Peterson has
appeared all over the world including tours to Italy, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, France, The
Philippines, Canada and throughout the United States.
As composer, he has received commissions from The DeLaSalle Institute (Napa, CA), Sacred
Heart Cathedral Preparatory (San Francisco), The San Francisco Arts Education Project, The
Monmouth Civic Chorus (New Jersey), Cantori New York and Chanticleer among others. In addition
to maintaining his own catalogue of work, he has commissioned and conducted premieres of the work
of many of his composer colleagues.
Peterson is also very active in musical theater and cabaret in New York City, having music
directed at Don’t Tell Mama, the legendary piano bar as well as The Duplex in the West Village. His
theatrical conducting credits include “How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying”, “The
Wiz”, “Into the Woods” (Regional), “The Last Five Years” (San Francisco Premiere), “Between Dirt
and Sky” (World Premiere), “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor
Dreamcoat” among others. He currently music directs for the 2009 MAC® Award Winner, Cait Doyle
in her hit show “Hot Mess in Manhattan” which plays monthly sold-out engagements in NYC and will
soon make its premiere as a musical at Ars Nova.
N
Nootteess oonn tthhee PPrrooggrraam
m
“The public doesn't want new music; the main thing it demands of a composer is that
he be dead.” Arthur Honneger, 1951
Classical music is a living art, continually energized by the discovery of new compositions and
little-known gems of the past. Tonight’s concert features music by two living composers and two 20thcentury masters whose choral works are vibrantly alive, burnished by the gleam of brass
accompaniment.
Frank Martin (1890-1974) was a Swiss composer whose subtle, elegant choral works are much
admired by Dr. Shapiro. Cantori New York performed Martin’s final work, Et la vie l’emporta, in
2006, and the group’s CD of his opera Le Vin Herbé was an Opera News Editors’ Choice. His Ode à la
Musique (Ode to Music) is based on a poem by the 14th-century French composer Guillaume de
Machaut. This sparkling piece for a cappella chorus and baritone soloist exemplifies its own message:
music is a source of joy, love, consolation and devotion.
Apparebit Retentina Dies sets a text from the 7th century, admonishing us to be kind to the poor
and warning sinners of the perils of hell. The sound world is eerily Medieval, evoking the chants of
monks and the trumpets of Judgment Day. Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) was a German composer who
lived in the U. S. from 1940 to 1953, teaching and lecturing at Yale and Harvard while writing an
####
extensive canon of music for orchestra, chamber ensemble, piano, organ, choir, opera and ballet. He
invented his own tonal system that gave him the latitude for complex experimentation, coupled with an
emotional sensibility not often associated with avant-garde music at mid-century.
Trond Kverno (b. 1945) is a Norwegian composer, organist, teacher and conductor whose
career is devoted to the power of sacred music in worship. He has said: “The essential point is that the
music hears us and interprets us before the throne of God, not that we hear the music. This is the
fundamental assumption on which my work is based." Missa in Sono Tubae expresses this state of
reverence through hypnotic repetition and swift mood changes.
When Walt Whitman wrote Leaves of Grass in 1855, electricity was a thrilling new invention,
and glorification of the human body in poetry was downright scandalous. Vince Peterson’s setting of I
Sing the Body Electric captures this excitement and brings it into the 21st century, with jazz-inflected
sonorities and free-spirited rhythms. Peterson (b. 1981) is the Founding Artistic Director of Choral
Chameleon, a professional chamber choir in New York City; Assistant Conductor of the critically
acclaimed chorus Cantori New York, directed by Mark Shapiro; Minister of Music at The Union
Church of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn; and Director of Choirs at Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music.
~ Susan Metz
““TTeerrrriiffiicc”” B
Baarriittoonnee SSoollooiisstt iinn M
MCCCC M
Maarrcchh CCoonncceerrtt
Sidney Outlaw, Baritone, was lauded by The New York Times as a “terrific singer” and by The
Friday Morning Music Club as “possessing great potential to seize a world-class vocal career.” In 2009
he made international debuts in Weimar, Germany and Tel Aviv, Israel, and he will debut with The
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra this fall. Mr. Outlaw also appeared on the Wigmore Hall recital
stage in London as a Winner of the International Wigmore Hall Song Competition. 2010 brings a debut
with the San Francisco Opera Center Merola Program in L’elisir d’amore.
Mr. Outlaw’s operatic roles include Papageno in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with Opera North;
Agamemnon in Gluck’s Iphigenie en Aulide with the Juilliard Opera Theatre; and Achilla in Handel’s
Giulio Cesare, The Marquis D'Ogigny in La Traviata, and Prince Yamadori in Madama Butterfly with
the Florida Grand Opera. He also performed in the premiere of H. Leslie Adams’s opera Blake at the
prestigious Schomburg Center for African American Culture in Harlem as the opening concert for the
2007 National Opera Association Convention.
In recital, Mr. Outlaw is frequently seen in collaboration with his mentor, internationally
renowned pianist Warren Jones. Mr. Outlaw presented his debut recital under the auspices of the
Marilyn Horne Foundation “On Wings of Song” recital series in February 2007. More recently, he
performed in the “Wednesday at One” recital series in Alice Tully Hall and the New York Festival of
Song in The Peter J. Sharpe Theatre in New York City. The Juilliard School commissioned A Time to
Break Silence: Songs inspired by the Words and Writings of Martin Luther King Jr., premiered by
Sidney Outlaw at Saint Bartholomew’s Church in New York City. The work was subsequently
broadcast on WQXR on a program sponsored by the Marilyn Horne Foundation.
Mr. Outlaw made his Avery Fisher Hall debut in May 2007 under the baton of Maestro James
DePriest as soloist for The Beethoven Symphony No. 9. In addition, Mr. Outlaw was the baritone
soloist for Handel’s Messiah with the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall. He has also
been oratorio soloist in Verdi’s Requiem, Haydn’s The Creation, Faure’s Requiem, Vaughan Williams’
Fantasia on a Christmas Carol, and Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, among others. He has worked with
####
conductors such as David Atherton, the late Moses Hogan, Steven Osgood, Andre Thomas, Valery
Ryvkin, Louis Burkot and Stuart Malina.
In 2006, Mr. Outlaw was named the New England Regional First Place winner and a National
Semi-Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and Second Place winner in the
Oratorio Society of New York Solo Competition. In 2005 he was selected as a Young Artist at the
Music Academy of the West, where he worked closely with internationally renowned mezzo-soprano
Marilyn Horne and received an Encouragement Award in The Marilyn Horne Foundation Award
Competition.
Sidney Outlaw is a native of Brevard, North Carolina and is a graduate of the University of
North Carolina at Greensboro, where he earned a bachelor of music degree. He received his Masters
degree in Vocal Performance at The Juilliard School, where he studied with W. Stephen Smith. Mr.
Outlaw is a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity Inc. For more information please visit
www.SidneyOutlaw.com.
MCC to Sing American Folk Music
The award-winning Monmouth Civic Chorus presents another of its signature events
combining music, readings, and theater to bring history to life. This edition, American Folk, is a
musical and historical portrait of our American landscape. There are two performances, Saturday, May
1 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 2 at 4:00 p.m. at the Middletown Arts Center, 36 Church Street,
Middletown, New Jersey, 07748. Concert tickets are $25 ($22 seniors, $20 groups, $5 students). Call
(732) 933-9333 or visit www.monmouthcivicchorus.org for tickets and information.
Join MCC in the Axelrod Classical Musical Festival
Two-Day Showcase of Classical Music & Modern Dance at the Axelrod Performing Arts Center
The highly anticipated first annual Axelrod Classical Music Festival will be held Saturday,
March 20 and Sunday, March 21 at the Axelrod Performing Arts Center, 100 Grant Avenue, Deal, NJ.
The brainchild of Jess Levy, Axelrod CEO, and Mary Weir, founder of Pacific Encore
Performances, the two-day festival brings together central New Jersey’s best classical music and dance
organizations for a special showcase of opera, ballet, modern dance, choral, chamber music and
symphony. The program is geared for music and dance lovers of all ages, and offers a perfect outing
for families who want their children to experience classical music and modern dance.
There is nothing even remotely stuffy about this festival, says Mary Weir of Pacific Encore.
Eight leading music and dance organizations are joining together in this musical celebration of youth
and the arrival of spring. With so many great artists under one magnificent roof, the public gets a
delightful taste of a diverse selection of work.
Participating organizations include Monmouth Civic Chorus, Monmouth Conservatory of
Music, Kathryn Barnett School of Dance, Monmouth Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey State Youth
####
Orchestra, Pacific Encore Performances, the Say Dance Collective and the Arcadian Chorale. The
festival is made possible by the generous support of a grant from Dr. Herbert and Evelyn Axelrod.
The festival kicks off Saturday at 8 pm with a “Celebration of Spring” performance by pianist
Julia Zilberquit, a Russian born pianist who at a young age has already earned critical acclaim as a
recitalist, orchestral soloist, chamber musician and recording artist. Julia will accompany singers from
Pacific Encore Performances, an internationally acclaimed organization performing opera, cabaret,
musicals, show tunes, folk songs, pops, zarzuela, spirituals, and national songs, in numerous dialects
and languages. Pacific Encore’s performance at Carnegie Hall last summer drew rave reviews.
Saturday’s opening performance also features the Say Dance Collective, a contemporary dance
company of young, adventurous artists. A dessert reception will follow the show in the Axelrod
lobby.
Sunday’s events will begin at 10 am with The Monmouth Symphony Orchestra Young Artist
Concerto Competition. Finalists will perform in the Axelrod theater in front of a panel of orchestra
personnel. The general public is welcome to attend the concerto competition free of charge. Winners
will be announced at 12:45 pm at a special awards ceremony in the Axelrod lobby. Monetary prizes
will be awarded to the first, second and third prize winners. The first prize winner will play a concerto
or other solo work in at least one performance with the MSO during the fall 2010 concert season.
Forty-minute showcases will be held throughout the day on Sunday, starting at 1 pm with the
New Jersey State Youth Orchestra, under the direction of Roy Gussman and Patty Gonsky. At 2 pm
students and faculty from the Monmouth Conservatory will present a special performance. At 2:40 pm
the Monmouth Symphony’s Woodwind Ensemble will perform music from Mozart and Rossini. At 3
pm the Monmouth Civic Chorus will present highlights from its upcoming concert American Folk,
combining music, theater and history in a portrait of America, and at 4 pm the highly accomplished
Arcadian Chorale will perform. The program includes a 5 pm performance by the Kathryn Barnett
Traveling Dance troupe, which specializes in lyrical, contemporary, jazz and tap dancing. The event
will conclude with a wine and cheese reception in the Axelrod lobby.
The festival presents a unique opportunity for so many New Jersey organizations to collaborate
and cross-market, says Mary Weir. It’s an honor for us to perform at the Axelrod. More people need
to become aware of this remarkable performing arts center. Not only is it drawing the next generation
into performing arts, but it provides many seniors a local outlet for quality performances. Getting into
New York City is difficult for many seniors. The Axelrod is a gift for New Jersey residents of all ages
and backgrounds.
Tickets are $15 for the Saturday, March 20 opening night performance and dessert reception;
and $10 for adults ($5 for youth under 16) for Sunday, March 21. Entrance to MSO’s Young Artist
Concerto Competition on Sunday is free. Tickets can be purchased at the door or reserved by calling
the Axelrod box office at 732-531-9100 ext. 142 or on line at axelrodartscenter.com.
####
MCC to Hold Auditions
Experienced singers are invited to audition for the award-winning Monmouth Civic Chorus by
appointment on Tuesday evenings. The spring 2010 season includes a concert with brass ensemble in
March, and American folk music in May, under the baton of Artistic Director and Conductor Dr. Mark
Shapiro. Those interested in a solo in our American Folk concert are invited to perform their choice of
song or reading that expresses the meaning of America
Interested singers are encouraged to attend a rehearsal. Auditions and rehearsals are held at
Trinity Episcopal Church, 50 White Street, Red Bank, New Jersey. For an audition appointment or
further information, call 732-933-9333 or visit www.monmouthcivicchorus.org.
MCC Announces Scholarship Auditions
The Monmouth Civic Chorus will hold its annual vocal scholarship auditions for New Jersey
high school seniors planning to pursue higher education. Auditions will be held by appointment on
Saturday afternoon, April 10, 2010 at the United Methodist Church, 247 Broad Street, Red Bank. The
application deadline is April 2. For information or an audition appointment, call 732-933-9333, visit
monmouthcivicchorus.org or e-mail [email protected].
A total of $2500 is available to be awarded to students of outstanding vocal promise.
Contestants must be prepared to perform two selections from the standard vocal repertoire (opera,
operetta, art songs, oratorio or Gilbert and Sullivan), with at least one selection in Italian, French or
German. Contestants will be judged on technique, choice of material, poise and musicianship. An
accompanist will be provided if needed.
Last season, the First Place award of $800 each went to Ryan Zettelmoyer of Browns Mills and
Alexandra Miller of Brick. The Second Place award of $300 each went to Steven Conzo of Mahwah,
Edward Donovan of Lincroft and Christian Kuphal of Cherry Hill. Alexandra Athanasiou of Lincroft
received Honorable Mention.
What’s on your mind?
We’d love to know what you think about our concerts and our newsletter. Visit our web site,
be our friend on Facebook, or e-mail [email protected] to send us your comments.
We hope you’ve enjoyed the “March 2010” issue of The Monmouth Civic Chorus’ ECHOES!
We welcome your comments, suggestions, and ideas for the future.
Send comments or questions to: [email protected]
Send address changes or unsubscribe requests: [email protected]
Monmouth Civic Chorus
P.O.Box 16, Red Bank, NJ 07701
732-933-9333
[email protected]
www.monmouthcivicchorus.org
####