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J. Meaders
K. Johnson
E. Brenner
J. Carr
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Sunday, January 15, 2012
2:00 PM
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Weekend
Psalms & Songs for the New Year
Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center
James M. Meaders, Guest Conductor
John Rutter: Mass of the Children
Bernstein: Chichester Psalms
Bass: Gloria
Kristen Johnson, Soprano
Eric Brenner, Counter-tenor
Jay Carr, Bass-baritone
Featuring Distinguished Concerts Orchestra International and Distinguished Concerts Singers International
Distinguished Concert Singers International:
Classic Choral Society (NY), Cappella Girls Choir (MS), Jubilate Warwick Youth Choir (NY), Martin High School Chorale (TX), Mississippi College Singers (MS), The Mississippi Girlchoir (MS), The Mississippi School of the Arts Chorale (MS), Queens University Chamber Choir, Charlotte (NC), University of South Carolina Chorus (SC)
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Ensemble bios
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J. Kohler
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Classic Choral Society (NY)
Classic Choral Society, established in 1959, is one of the Hudson River Valley's oldest and most highly regarded cultural institutions. An un-auditioned adult choir, its members enjoy a common passion for music and a love of singing. It is unique among community choral organizations. Director Janiece Kohler, an especially skilled singer and conductor, has a knack for choosing choral music demanding enough to challenge the many experienced singers in the Society, yet make it accessible to those limited in music-reading ability and performance opportunities. With orchestra, Classic Choral Society provides a year-round resource for choral musicians and grateful audiences. CCS, by invitation, has performed at prestigious venues that include Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium, the 1964 World's Fair, the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, and the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Janiece Kohler is a musician with international performance and training credits. She has served as Conductor and Artistic Director of Classic Choral Society since 1991. Holding an undergraduate degree in Vocal Performance from Western Michigan University, Jan continued her studies at the University of Music and the Performing Arts in Vienna (Austria). An accomplished singer, pianist and organist, Ms. Kohler is frequently invited to conduct festival choruses, to adjudicate young singers for NYSSMA functions, and facilitate choral music reading sessions for music teachers in New York State. After a 30-year career as Performance Research Specialist at ASCAP's international headquarters in NYC, Janiece now makes her home in Orange County (NY).
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T. Carney
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Cappella Girls Choir (MS)
The Clinton Junior High Choral Department has been a long standing successful choral program in the state of Mississippi for many years. The Clinton Choral Department is comprised of four concert choirs, including the performing choir, Cappella. Cappella Girls Choir is a select group of singers who not only perform as a girl's choir but with 18 young men to form the mixed choir. These young women are selected based on ability, academics, and maturity. Each singer excels in many other aspects of campus life including sports, show choir, drama, media arts, and school organizations, such as student government and honor society.
Tammy Carney is director of choral music at Clinton Junior High School where she directs a choral program of 250 students and conducts Cappella Choir and Troubadours Choir. Her choirs and ensembles have been recognized with numerous awards and have performed for the Atlanta Braves, and in many venues including the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and Camden Yards.
A Mississippi public school educator since 1988, she has taught elementary, middle school, and high school choral music. She was recently named Teacher of the Year for Clinton Junior High School where she is the founding director of the award-winning Ambassador Show Choir. Ambassadors have won Grand Champion honors in every competition entered.
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The Mississippi School of the Arts Chorale (MS)
MSA's award winning Chorale has performed three times at Carnegie Hall over the past six years. This performance of Mass of the Children marks the group's premier performance at Avery Fisher Hall. The Chorale has also performed with both the Meridian and Mississippi Symphony Orchestras. Members of MSA Chorale have been repeat winners at state and Southern Region National Association of Teachers of Singing competitions. MSA Chorale will host the Mississippi Symphony in a joint concert on their campus for the second year in a row, this May.
Patton Rice is in his seventh year as the director of the MSA Chorale. Mr. Rice holds a degree in music ed. from Auburn University and a masters in vocal performance from FSU. As a soloist, Patton has been acclaimed for "exceptional dramatic power and complete command of his voice." He has brought his years of musical experience to prepare the chorale for performances here, at Carnegie Hall and with the Meridian and Mississippi Symphony Orchestras. This year marks the second consecutive year the MSO performs a joint concert with the chorale on the MSA campus.
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J. Crutchfield
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Queens University Chamber Choir (NC)
Queens University Chamber Singers in Charlotte, NC is an auditioned choir comprised of students in various disciplines of study at the University, especially those in the Music Therapy degree. The choir travels each year through the southern states as part of the University's outreach program. The choir sings two choral concerts each year, participates in the annual Boar's Head Festival, and sings for high schools in the Charlotte area. Queens University of Charlotte is a private, co-ed, master's level university with a commitment to liberal arts and professional studies. The school serves approximately 2,600 undergraduate and graduate students.
Jonathan Crutchfield has received degrees from Southern Wesleyan University (BA - piano performance); Florida State University (MM - choral conducting); and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (DMA - choral conducting). Dr. Crutchfield has served three University music faculties: Southern Wesleyan University, Central (SC); University of Alabama at Huntsville; and Indiana University, Southeast, New Albany, Indiana. He co-founded and directed the School of Fine Arts in Chattanooga (TN) from 1996-2002. Jonathan currently is Minister of Music and Worship and senior organist at Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is the conductor of the Chamber Choir at Queens University, Charlotte.
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A. Walker
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University of South Carolina Chorus (SC)
The University Chorus is a 90 voice ensemble comprised of students from across the University of South Carolina campus. The diversity of the personnel is reflected in the variety of repertoire performed, from choral standards in every stylistic period, to world music/folk songs, and large choral orchestral works. The Chorus is active on and off campus, singing for half-time shows at Gamecock football games and performing for the Governor's Carolighting ceremony each year. Under the direction of new conductor Dr. Alicia Walker, the ensemble will also begin traveling, with both national and international tours planned. The University Chorus concerts in the 2011-2012 academic year will include performances of Britten's "Rejoice in the Lamb" and Verdi's "Requiem."
Alicia W. Walker is Assistant Professor of Choral Music at the University of South Carolina, where she directs the University Chorus, teaches Conducting and Choral Methods, and supervises student teachers. She holds degrees from Florida State University (BME), the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (MCM), and the University of Georgia (DMA). Her conducting teachers have included André Thomas, John Dickson, and Allen Crowell. An experienced music educator, Dr. Walker taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels in Florida and Georgia, prior to joining the music education faculty at the University of Georgia. She brings a strong sense of the ethics of music education to her students.
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