| Greetings!
Concert season for the Chapel Hill Community Chorus kicks off this week with two exciting concerts by our chamber ensemble, Cantari. May 15th our Symphonic chorus celebrates Sue Klausmeyer's tenth anniversary as CHCC's conductor with our program "A Choral Sampler" in UNC's Memorial Hall.
Read on for more information about the upcoming performances including ticket information and program notes on some of the featured pieces. I hope you will be able to join us for at least one of our concerts for an evening of beautiful choral music.
Stephanie Ottone
President, CHCC Board of Directors |
| Conductor's 10th Anniversary | |
A Tribute to Sue Klausmeyer
Photo by Mark Manring |
The 2009-2010 choral season marks the 10th year that Sue Klausmeyer has conducted the Chapel Hill Community Chorus. The performances of the Chorus over the past 10 years and the increased membership reflect the exceptional talents of the conductor. The committee of singers who interviewed and hired Sue in the year 2000 recall her appeal. "She was upbeat, enthusiastic, eager to start, and has a beautiful smile." The committee reported: "Sue had a great reputation as a musician who sang, studied voice, played the piano and had conducting experience with musical groups in Ohio. She was extremely well qualified."
Over the past 10 years as conductor of CHCC, Sue has maintained a vision. She said that she wanted our concerts to "challenge our singers and delight our audiences." She has accomplished this with a variety of choral music ranging from an ambitious presentation over three seasons of Bach's Christmas Oratorio to a program titled "The Wild, Wild West."
Her many innovations include creating the CHCC summer chorus, the Carolina International Chorale that performed Carmina Burana in a unique choral festival in Italy in 2008, and Cantari, a 22-voice, select vocal ensemble. Her other innovations for the chorus include performing in a variety of venues, including UNC's Memorial Hall; engaging guest artists including soloists for many performances and a pianist for Beethoven's Choral Fantasy; arranging annual vocal music workshops; and inviting other choral groups to sing with CHCC, such as the North Carolina Boys' Choir.
In 2002, Sue encouraged us to take part in a significant musical experience. One year after the tragedy of September 11, CHCC joined members of other Triangle choral organziations and the North Carolina Symphony to perform Mozart's Requiem in Meymandi Hall - a contribution to The Rolling Requiem, a choral remembrance that circled the globe on that day.
Sue's conducting style makes rehearsals enjoyable, not only because of her consistent goal of excellence, but also because of her wit and infectious laugh. As a prominent Chapel Hill musician said, "CHCC is extremely fortunate to have Sue Klausmeyer as conductor. She is sensitive to the feelings of choral members, and she is able to get the very best out of her singers."
-Pat Brooks and Jean Anne Leuchtenburg |
| Program Notes |
A Choral Sampler
May 15, 8pm
UNC Memorial Hall
REGINA COELI WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Mozart composed three settings of the Latin Marian hymn Regina Coeli, Queen of Heaven. This joyful setting in C major from 1779 is the last of the three and has a remarkable threefold "Alleluia" that brings to mind a bit of Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus," though it is unlikely that Mozart knew Messiah at this time. Written for soloists, chorus, and archestra, Regina Coeli is appropriate to the liturgical season of Easter.
HEILIG FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Scored for two choirs (eight parts), Mendelssohn's Heilig is a sublime and powerful motet of a mere 49 measures. A sweeping dynamic arc creates impressive contrasts from the quiet entrances, one part at a time, on the first page to the full-throated acclamation "All the nations speak of thy greatness and glory."
PSALM 121 ZOLTÁN KODÁLY
Hungarian musician Zoltan Kodaly enjoyed a long life of composing. For nearly seventy years he made significant contributions in a variety of genres. His music ranges from opera, chamber and instrumental works, choral works - with orchestral accompaniment and unaccompanied, to music education exercises. In addition, he wrote extensively on topics including Hungarian folk songs, musical criticism, and music education methodology. Psalm 121, written in 1943, is an unaccompanied brief work featuring imitation and voice pairings. |
| Soloists Join CHCC for A Choral Sampler |
Baritone Valentine Lanzrein, a native of Switzerland, came to UNC-Chapel Hill after nearly ten years of performing, teaching and training in New York City. The winner of the Association des Suisse Musiciens & Kiefer Hablitzel Stiftung Competition, he has since toured Europe, Asia, and the US. He has appeared at the Rheingau Musikfestival (Germany), the Aimez Vous Brahms festival (Switzerland), the Verbier Festival (Switzerland) and in the Wednesdays at One series at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in New York. Valentin Lanzrein holds the BM and MM degrees from the Julliard School, an Artist Diploma from Oberlin College, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Most recently he performed with the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle as soloist in Stravinsky's Pulcinella.
Soprano, Andrea Edith Moore has sung numerous leading roles on the operatic stage. Most recently seen singing in Glauce in Cherubini's Medea with the Opera Company of New York, she has also appeared with the Hamburger Kammeroper, the Long Leaf Opera Festival, Yale Opera, Aspen Music Festival, Central City Opera, Peabody Opera Theatre, and the Opera Company of North Carolina. Andrea Moore was honored in 2009 with a career grant from the Anna Sosenko Foundation. Among many honors, she has won Third Prize in the Southeast Regional Finals in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and was the Opera Company of North Carolina's 2005 Emerging Artist of the Year. She holds a Master of Music and and Artist Diploma from Yale University as well as a Bachelor of Music from the Peabody Conservatory of Music at the Johns Hopikins University. She is currently guest lecturer in the voice department at UNC Chapel Hill. |
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| Sponsor a Concert Ticket | | |
Symphonic's upcoming "A Choral Sampler" concert includes over sixty children from local youth choirs singing with the chorus.
In order to provide concert tickets to each participating child's family, CHCC is seeking sponsors willing to make a donation towards the total cost of the tickets.
Your donation is tax deductible, helps defray CHCC's operating costs, and ensures future concert success. |
| Sing with us! | |
Open registration to audition for our Fall 2010 season begins
May 1, 2010
Become part of our community and enjoy singing with us as we celebrate our 30th anniversary together during the 2010-2011 season.
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| Friends of the Chorus |
Thank you to all of our donors for supporting the chorus this year!
Each month's newsletter will highlight some of our generous donors that help make our rehearsals and performances possible.
This month we'd like to extend a special thanks to our contributors at the
BENEFACTOR LEVEL
Lloyd Comstock and Judith Kramer
Martha Huggins
Jean Lennon and Kevin Weinfurt
Sally Logan
Joan and David Ontjes
Stephanie Ottone
Bill and Pam Perreault
Steve and Gail Peterson
Jonathan J. Prinz
Ken and Susan Stokes
Ken and Caroline Talbot
Michael and Penny Tane
Donald and Janet Thomas
A full list of CHCC donors can be found in our concert program. |
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Recognized for musical excellence, the Chapel Hill Community Chorus is an organization open to singers who desire to bring the beauty of choral music to our community and beyond. |
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