Sunday, May 29, 2011, 2:00 PM
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 M. Hayes
P. Plew
D. Bernard
J. Bergquist
J. Miller
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Sunday, May 29, 2011
2:00 PM
Memorial Day Weekend
Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center
The Spirit of Remembrance
Mark Hayes, Composer/Conductor
Hayes: The American Spirit
(World Premiere)
Joseph Bergquist, Narrator
Paul T. Plew, DCINY Debut Conductor
Rutter: Requiem
Jo Ellen Miller, Soprano
Park Avenue Chamber Symphony
David Bernard, Music Director
Beethoven: Symphony No. 8
Featuring Distinguished Concerts Singers International: The Asbury Choir, Asbury United Methodist Church (LA), Charles Wesley Choir of St. Andrew United Methodist Church (CO), East Linn Christian Academy High School Choir (OR), Johnson County Chorus (KS), Joliet Junior College Chamber Singers and Chorale (IL), The Master's Chorale (CA), Savannah High School Concert Choir (MO)
Tweet about this concert: #remembrance
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Ensemble bios |
L. Cooke
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The Asbury Choir, Asbury United Methodist Church (LA)
The 55-member Asbury Choir is the adult choir of Asbury United
Methodist Church in Lafayette, LA. The choir provides music for the
11:00 worship service each Sunday as well as three concerts per year.
The group has worked with composers Jane Marshall, Fred Bock, Mark
Hayes, Benjamin Harlan, Allen Pote and others. The choir tours
frequently and took part in the Carnegie Hall debut of Paul Baker's
Requiem of Psalms in 2005. Plans for 2011 include a hymn festival for
All Saints' this year and a Christmas Festival concert featuring the
arrangements of Mack Wilberg on Dec. 18.
Dr. Lee Cooke makes his home in Lafayette. Lee has served
Asbury United Methodist Church as Director of Music and Worship
Ministries since 1991. He is a summa cum laude graduate of Louisiana
College and also holds degrees from Southwestern Seminary and the Robert
Webber Institute for Worship Studies. He has conducted choirs of
virtually every configuration and has coordinated choir camps, choir
tours, festival concerts, and mission trips since 1977. This spring, he
is an adjunct instructor at ULL in choral music and has guest conducted
for Chorale Adadienne. At Asbury, Lee is responsible for worship
planning and conducts the Alpha Omega youth choir and the Asbury Adult
Choir.
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M. Zwilling
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Charles Wesley Choir of St. Andrew United Methodist Church (CO)
The Charles Wesley Choir was formed in 1961 with 15 members and a
volunteer director. It has successfully grown over the years, and now
consists of an average of 150 faithful members. They have performed
several major works through the years, including the Brahms's Requiem in
1987 in Carnegie Hall. For several years the choir sang the National
Anthem at the Colorado Rockies' baseball games, and performs at least
two major concerts every year at both Christmas and Easter. Major works
include Faure's Requiem, Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Requiem, Rutter's
Requiem and the Gospel Mass by Robert Ray.
Mark Zwilling is the Director of Music and the Arts for St.
Andrew United Methodist Church, a position he has held since 2000. Mark
is also the staff accompanist for the Colorado Academy. He is
celebrating his ninth year as Artistic Director for the Denver Women's
Chorus and his third year as Artistic Director of Out Loud: the Colorado
Springs Men's Chorus. Mark maintains an active private studio as well
as doing various musical projects with the National Endowment for The
Arts. Mark holds four degrees in music which include Piano Performance,
Piano Pedagogy, Voice/Choral and Organ.
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J. Grove
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East Linn Christian Academy High School Choir (OR)
East Linn Christian Academy High School Choir is a thirty-two-member
choir from Lebanon, Oregon. In the past five years, under the direction
of Jenni Grove, the ELCA High School Choir has had much success at the
annual Association of Christian Schools International Northwest Music
Festival. ELCA has taken command performance three of the past five
years at the Seattle based festival which hosts approximately
twenty-three high schools from Washington, Idaho and Oregon.
Jenni Grove has been Fine Arts Director, Choral Conductor and
Music Teacher at East Linn Christian Academy since January 2006. She
received her Bachelor of Arts, degree Vocal Performance from The Masters
College in 1984 where she studied voice and conducting with Dr. Paul
Plew. She has directed children's choirs in various churches in Texas
and Oregon and also maintained a private vocal studio in Texas. She is a
member of the OMEA and ACDA. Mrs. Grove is a native of Waco, Texas and
is married to Bruce Grove. They have 4 children and 1 grandchild.
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A. Cyrier
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Johnson County Chorus (KS)
The mission of the Johnson County Chorus is to enrich the lives of
its members and the Greater Kansas City community through education and
performance excellence in singing a broad variety of classical and
contemporary choral music. Founded in 1978, the Johnson County Chorus is
a performing choir of 60 to 80 adult volunteers from the Greater Kansas
City area, directed by Anita Cyrier and sponsored by the Community
Services Division of Johnson County Community College. The group
presents two major concerts each year in Yardley Hall and performs
regionally in a variety of public venues. Prominent soloists and guest
conductors as well as adult and youth guest choirs participate regularly
in our concert program.
Anita Cyrier has been a conductor of the Johnson County Chorus
since 1979 and its director since 1998. She earned a bachelor's degree
from Kansas Wesleyan University and a master's degree from the
Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Anita
has been active in both the Music Educators National Conference and the
American Choral Directors Association. In addition to experience as a
classical oratorio soloist, lyricist, arranger and advisory board
member, she has served as music director for more than 30 theater
productions. During her career as a music educator, Anita has served as
teacher, tutor, director, guest conductor, adjudicator and clinician for
local, regional and state choirs.
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Joliet Junior College Chamber Singers and Chorale (IL)
The JJC Chorale is the fifty-voice college community choir of Joliet
Junior College, the oldest public community college in the United
States, founded in 1901. Comprised of students, faculty and community
members, the ensemble sings one concert on campus each semester, always
including a major choral work, in addition to other performances in the
community throughout the academic year.
Philip Spencer is a Professor of Music and Director of Choral
and Vocal Music in the Fine Arts Department of Joliet Junior College in
Joliet, Illinois. In this position, he conducts the JJC Chamber Singers
and the JJC Chorale, and teaches applied and class voice and world
music. He is the also Founding Conductor of the Lutheran Youth Choir of
North America and Artistic Director of their new Festival of American
Vocal Music at Mansfeld Castle in Wittenberg, Germany this summer. Mr.
Spencer earned a Master of Music degree from the Yale University School
of Music and Institute of Sacred Music, and has done doctoral study in
choral conducting and pedagogy at the University of Iowa.
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M. Haenni
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Savannah High School Concert Choir (MO)
The Savannah R-III School District is located in rural Northwest
Missouri. Current enrollment at Savannah High School is approximately
785 students. The Savannah High School Concert Choir, under the
direction of Mary Ann Haenni, is an auditioned ensemble of students
grades 9-12. The choir performs three concerts annually and competes at
Music Festival sponsored by the Missouri State High School Activities
Association. The SHS Concert Choir was a pilot school for Missouri
Verses and Voices, traveled to the state capitol to perform at the
Governor's Verses and Voices Festival in 2010 and 2011 and in 2010
received the Verses and Voices First Lady Award.
Mary Ann Haenni is currently in her 30th year as Director of
Vocal Music in the Savannah R-III School District. Teaching
responsibilities include all vocal performance classes grades 7-12,
Music Theory, and Music History. She is also Director of Music
Ministries at Huffman Memorial United Methodist Church in St. Joseph.
Mary Ann is currently serving as president of the St. Joseph Community
Chorus after having chaired the Educational Outreach Committee for five
years. While on the committee, she designed and wrote An American Folk
Journey: History Alive Through Music, a multi-disciplined arts in the
schools program presented each spring for St. Joseph and Savannah School
District fourth and fifth graders.
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