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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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