Distinguished Concerts International - New York

J. Griffith

K. Jenkins

B. Sykes

C. Paulsen

M. Bisengaliev

Monday, January 19, 2009
8:00 pm

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

AVERY FISHER HALL, LINCOLN CENTER

The Music of Karl Jenkins

Stabat Mater (U.S. Premiere) and Te Deum (U.S. Premiere)
Jonathan Griffith, DCINY Artistic Director and Principal Conductor
Belinda Sykes, 'Ethnic' Vocals and Mey
Charlotte Daw Paulsen, Mezzo-soprano

View a video about the creation of Stabat Mater on YouTube.

"Sarikiz," a violin concerto (World Premiere Performance)
Karl Jenkins, Guest Conductor
Marat Bisengaliev, Violin

Featuring Distinguished Concerts Orchestra International and Distinguished Concert Singers International

Participating in Stabat Mater: Billingshurst Choral Society and The Angmering Chorale (East Preston, England); Leicester Philharmonic Choir (Leicester, England); Hilo Community Chorus (Hilo, HI); Connecticut Master Chorale (Danbury, CT); Pennsbury High School Concert Choir (Fairless Hills, PA); Pennsbury Community Choir (Bucks County, PA); Laramie County Community College (Laramie, WY)

Participating in Te Deum: Pennsbury High School Concert Choir (Fairless Hills, PA); Pennsbury Community Choir (Bucks County, PA)

View enlarged poster

Top of page

Ensemble bios

United Kingdom

The Angmering Chorale was formed in 1976 by Leslie Harverson, who handed over the baton to George Jones in 2002. They presently have 130 members.

Billingshurst Choral Society, with over 100 members, has sung under the direction of their founder, Musical Director George Jones, since 1986.

Both choirs perform their own repertoires under George’s direction, as well as joint concerts in Arundel and Chichester Cathedrals. Internationally, they have performed in France, Belgium and the USA. By invitation in October 2007, they sang in a Royal Gala Concert at the Royal Festival Hall, London, attended by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

George Jones, Musical Director, began conducting in his teens and has directed choirs and choral societies in various parts of the country. A head teacher for many years, George specialised in music during his training. He is Musical Director of both the Godalming and the Guildford Junior Schools’ Music Festivals and works with Surrey County Arts, establishing and directing festivals in many parts of the County. This year, 4,000 Surrey children have the opportunity make music in an enjoyable and non-competitive manner. George also directs a festival in Billingshurst for the Weald Family Group of junior schools. George is a church organist of great experience and is Director of Music at the parish churches of St. Mary, Storrington and St. Peter & St. Paul, Rustington. George is also a committee member of the London & South East Region of the Association of British Choral Directors.

Top of page

Leicester Philharmonic Choir

Founded in 1886, Leicester Philharmonic Choir (LPC) is the largest choir in Leicestershire, UK. With a membership of c 130 it has performed all the major choral repertoire with leading orchestras and conductors. LPC is proud to have Karl Jenkins as its patron and will be giving the Leicester première of his Stabat Mater under Karl’s baton on March 21st 2009.

Top of page

United States

The Connecticut Master Chorale, founded and directed by Tina Johns Heidrich, is a premiere ensemble of 55 high-caliber vocalists in Western Connecticut. The Connecticut Master Chorale has performed at the White House, Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, West Point Military Academy, and the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra. The group has won the annual McDonald’s Gospelfest Competition for three consecutive years. Upcoming engagements include the International Haydn Festival 2009 in Vienna. The ensemble’s recordings are featured on WMNR Fine Arts Radio.

Tina Johns Heidrich is the Founder and Music Director of the Connecticut Master Chorale. Ms. Heidrich’s unique approach of “work hard but have fun” and her immense energy ensure an exciting and educational experience for her singers, while eliciting their very highest performance quality. Celebrated for her spirited and moving concert performances, she has earned noteworthy acclaim in Connecticut and beyond for her eclectic and innovative programming, passionate style of conducting, and dedication to the choral arts.

With an extensive background and over 30 years of experience in choral and orchestral conducting, she has directed numerous school, church and community choirs and orchestras, and musical theatre. She has served as Guest Conductor for several groups. She has directed choruses on tour in Eastern Europe, Canada, and Washington, DC, and on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” She has been Director of Music and Organist of the First Congregational Church of Bethel since 1990.

Top of page

For several decades, the Hilo Community Chorus was a part of a choral union with the chorus of the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Because of the growth of both choruses and the limited space available for rehearsals, the ensembles rehearse separately but combine for performances.

Tom McAlexander, Director, although he has been associated with choral music since early childhood and attended college on a music scholarship, he chose another vocation and served for 34 years as a forensic document examiner with the FBI, CIA, and Secret Service. During that time he always found time to participate in choral music in church choirs and community choruses. For 25 years, he sang with the Metropolitan Chorus in the Washington DC area, where he was frequently featured as tenor soloist. Shortly after retiring to Hawaii in 1994, he became the volunteer director of a community chorus in the village of Volcano. In 2005 he was asked to become the music director of the Hilo Community Chorus and has served in that volunteer capacity ever since.

Top of page

Laramie County Community College (WY)

Laramie Community College choirs have a reputation for performing major works very well. Within the past few years they performed Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony and Karl Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Cheyenne Symphony and Mozart’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall. They also performed Mozart’s Missa Brevis K. 220, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Pergolesi’s Magnificat, Bach’s Kantata NR. 4 Christ Lag in Todesbanden, Bach’s Kantata NR. 78 Jesu, der du meine Seele, Bach’s Kantata NR. 79 Gott, der Herr, ist Sonn und Schild, Rutter’s A Sprig of Thyme and portions of Rachmaninoff’s The All-Night Vigil. The choir’s latest achievements were a performance of the Rocky Mountain Region Premiere of Karl Jenkins’ choral/orchestral masterpiece The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace and a performance of Missa se la face ay pale by Guillaume Dufay. The LCCC Choir has received excellent and superior ratings at competitions in South Padre Island, TX, Los Angeles, CA and Norfolk, VA.

Nancy Cornish is a native of Rhode Island where, as a cellist, she performed with the All-New England and All-State Orchestras. She attended Graceland College in Iowa , and earned her Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music Education degrees from the University of Kansas . She is concluding her work toward the D.M.A. in choral conducting from the University of Kansas . At the University of Kansas she directed performances by the Women’s Chorale, the University Singers, and the Concert Choir. In 2003 she joined the faculty at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, WY to teach choral music, music history, music appreciation, and music theory classes.

Ms. Cornish’s background includes three years of teaching high school vocal music in Leavenworth and Chanute, KS. She then taught vocal and instrumental music, theory, music appreciation, and music education classes, as well as private studio lessons in voice, piano, guitar, strings, trumpet, saxophone, and tuba for 15 years at Allen County and Neosho County Community College in Southeast Kansas.

Top of page