|
view photos
H. Apfelstadt
J. Griffith
M. Lauridsen
|
Saturday, March 31, 2012
2:00 PM
Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center
Eternal Light...Shining Bright
Hilary Apfelstadt, Conductor
Laureate
Music for Women's Chorus
Jonathan Griffith, DCINY Artistic Director and Principal Conductor
Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna
Morten Lauridsen, Composer-in-Residence
Featuring Distinguished Concerts Orchestra International and Distinguished Concerts Singers International
Cy-Fair Chorale and Cy-Fair High School Women's Choir
Jed Ragsdale and Hallie Reed, Directors
Distinguished Concerts Singers International: Bella Voce Singers (NY), Cathedral City High School Lions' Pride Chamber Singers (CA), Clearview Regional High School Vocal Ensemble (NJ), Encore! Women's Choir (TX), Santiago High School Madrigals and Santiago High School Treble Ensemble (CA), Seaglass Chorale (ME), Traverse City Central High School (MI), Voca Lyrica (MI)
read what people said
|
| |
Ensemble bios
|
J. Corbin
|
Bella Voce Singers (NY)
Bella Voce is a 45-member multigenerational group dedicated to
excellence in choral singing. Our mission is to enrich and educate our
members and our audiences by performing a diverse repertoire with an
emphasis on contemporary choral composers such as Gyneth Walker,
Elizabeth Alexander, Clifton J. Noble, Jr., Joan Szymko, Eleanor Daley
and Abbie Betinis, and by bringing other new and lesser-known works to
the community. We have performed with many choirs including the New
York Treble Singers, the Davidson Singers, Damkoren SALT (from Sweden),
and Coro Musa (from Japan), and we are a regular participant in the
bi-annual New York Women and Girls' Choir Festival. Bella Voce Singers
released its first CD recording in the spring of 2010, called "Songs of
Peace and Love".
Jessica Corbin is happy to be celebrating her 11th season as
Artistic Director of the Bella Voce Singers. A graduate of Indiana
University and Duquesne University, Jessica currently works as a
free-lance conductor and accompanist in and around New York City. She
also serves as an adjunct professor at Kingsborough Community College,
and was recently named Music Director for the 2012 spring musical at
Kingsborough. She has extensive teaching experience, having served as
an Associate Instructor in the Music Theory Department at Indiana
University, Director of Musical Activities at the Maryland School for
the Blind, teacher in the vocal music department at F. H. La Guardia
High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts in Manhattan, and
teacher of piano, chorus and theory at the Brooklyn Conservatory of
Music.
Top of page
|
|
Cy-Fair Chorale and Cy-Fair High School Women's Choir (TX)
The Cy-Fair High School Choir is an award winning program which
consistently earns top honors in various state and national
competitions. The choir program consists of four choir classes, as well
as AP Music Theory, and boasts seven performing ensembles. The choirs
are frequently invited to perform at various collegiate and state
invitationals. Each year, several members earn a chair in the Texas
All-State Choir and often earn highest honors at Solo and Ensemble
Contest. The choir program performs several concerts throughout the
year, often to standing-room-only audiences. Students in choir are
often offered scholarships to universities of their choice.
Top of page
|
F. Le Roy
|
Cathedral City High School Lions' Pride Chamber Singers (CA)
The Lions' Pride Chamber Singers of Cathedral City High School is the
school's elite choral ensemble and its members are often selected for
both regional and state honor choirs. As student ambassadors, they are
dedicated to set a good example always. They've received both gold and
silver ratings in their festival competitionsand held over 14 concerts
in 2 weeks during the past holiday season. Proclaimed as the Official
Choir of the City of Cathedral City in September 2011 by its Mayor, Mrs.
Kathy De Rosa, they are also supported by several of the community's
prominent business leaders.
Fides May Le Roy has inspired children and adults with some of
her former students now accomplished composers & professional
musicians themselves. Recently nominated for Best Music Director from
the Desert Theatre League, she considers it an honor and a privilege to
have been a music educator for over 25 years. A native of the
Philippines, she is currently in her second year of teaching at
Cathedral City High School and is the composer of the school's first
ever Alma Mater. She is a graduate of Pepperdine University in Malibu
where she majored in Music Education & Piano Performance.
Top of page
|
P. Milford
|
Encore! Women's Choir (TX)
Encore! Women's Choir is from Wichita Falls, Texas. It was founded in
September 2005 by Patti Milford. Formed from a nucleus of retired
teachers, the 56-voice choir now includes multigenerational women of
diverse backgrounds. Encore! entertains throughout the community and
sings a variety of music. Free concerts for the public are performed
during the year. The group supports worthy causes and has established
"Singing for Our Sisters," a benefit concert for Faith Refuge Women's
Shelter. Encore! is a member of Kemp Center for the Arts.
Patti Milford conducts Encore! Women's Choir in Wichita Falls,
Texas. She is artistic director and founded thegroup after retiring
from public education. A graduate of Midwestern State University, she
holds a Master of Music Education degree, with a concentration in voice.
She taught at all levels of public school music. As a church musician,
she has directed hand bell and children's choirs, and currently serves
as pianist at Trinity United Methodist Church. Ms. Milford is a member
of the American Choral Director's Association.
Top of page
|
| |
Seaglass Chorale (TX)
Founded by Jean Strazdes in 1993, Seaglass Chorale is a
non-auditioned choral representing 20 Maine communities. While our
mission is to bring music to the local community, Seaglass has performed
at a number of Maine and New England venues, as well as at the National
Cathedral in Washington, DC. Internationally acclaimed, Seaglass has
toured Italy in 1997 and performed at the 2000 Innsbruck Festival,
before a second European tour. Most uniquely, Seaglass presents a wide
variety of music from the Brahams Requiem, to Pops, to the April 2011
Maine Premiere of Howard Goodall's Eternal Light.
Jean Strazdes, Seaglass' Founding Artistic Director, earned a
degree from Hartt College of Music (Connecticut), and a Master's from
the Cleveland Institute of Music; she did post-graduate, doctoral work
in Austria. A mezzo-soprano, Ms. Strazdes has performed extensively in
the United States and Europe. Career highlights include touring Greece
as Santuzza, and singing Madam Flora in Menotti's The Medium to
celebrate Catherine the Great's Theatre at Russia's Hermitage Museum.
She taught for several years at Connecticut's Trinity College before
founding Seaglass. Gifted in theater, Ms. Strazdes has directed
musicals from South Pacific to Into the Woods. Ms. Strazdes teaches
privately and is full-time faculty at Phillips-Exeter Academy.
Top of page
|
V. Kerwin
|
Voca Lyrica (MI)
Voca Lyrica is a diverse group of women, ranging in age from high
school students to grandmothers, representing a wide variety of life and
musical experiences. But in spite of these differences, and perhaps
enriched by them, Voca Lyrica sings with one voice to express those
experiences and share a love of music and life. Founded in 2001 by
Artistic Director Virginia Kerwin, Voca Lyrica is committed to sharing
the beauty of the choral art with Big Rapids and the Western Michigan
area, and to supporting music education in the schools and community
through concerts and various programming events. Voca Lyrica has shared
collaborative concerts with The Traverse City Central HS Vocal
Majority, The United Voices of Detroit, Con Brio Voce, The Lakewood
Choral Society, The Tyner Chorale, The Michigan State University Women's
Ensemble, and The Ohio State University Women's Choir.
Virginia Kerwin is the Executive Director of the Michigan
School Vocal Music Association. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree
in Education from the University of Delaware, a Master of Arts degree in
Education from Calvin College, and has done post-graduate work with
Joseph Huszti, Anton Armstrong, and Roger Taylor. In addition to
fulfilling her administrative duties in this position, she has been a
strong advocate for comprehensive vocal music education. She has
represented MSVMA on the ArtServe Michigan Education Committee, MYAA,
and MMC Boards. In addition, she has participated in numerous Michigan
Department of Education arts education projects, most recently the
committee to establish the Michigan Merit Curriculum Visual, Performing,
and Applied Arts Requirement.
Top of page
|
| |
|
| |
What People Said...
|
| |
New York Concert Review: DCINY in Review: "Eternal Light...Shining Bright"
Top of page
|
| |
Hilary Apfelstadt
Conductor Laureate
Many thanks for a terrific experience this weekend with DCINY. Your
[residencies] are so well organized; things run like clockwork. Your
staff is so professional and efficient that they make things look easy.
I know that countless details and behind-the-scenes work take hundreds
of hours.
It was an honor to be in Lincoln Center. As usual, your
instrumentalists were first rate and made the combined works a pleasure
to rehearse and conduct.
Top of page
|
| |
Virginia Kerwin
Voca Lyrica
On behalf of the women of Voca Lyrica, I thank you for the marvelous
experience we shared with DCINY and conductor/teacher Hilary Apfelstadt
last week. The honor, privilege, and joy of singing in the prestigious
Avery Fisher Hall were extraordinary. Thank you for the professional
staff service and unparalleled organization for the event. The music and
its artistry will be in our hearts for days to come.
Top of page
|
| |
Wendee Wolf-Schlarf
Vocal Majority
Thank you for providing a very unique opportunity for myself and the
singers of Vocal Majority. The journey we had this year in preparing for
our participation with DCINY was wonderful and the final concert was
the icing on the cake. This opportunity to prepare wonderful music and
share it was terrific for all.
It takes many hours of work, and we appreciate everyone's efforts at DCINY.
Top of page
|
| |
Karen Nevins
Voca Lyrica
It was a pleasure to re-visit NYC and to work with such a highly
organized establishment as DCINY! From past experiences with other
companies, I can testify to this being our MOST organized experience, as
each and every detail was clearly planned!! Such team work is certainly
a rare occurance, and working with you in our pre-performance planning
was absolutely delightful! Thank you, and thank you!! I will certainly
keep DCINY in mind for all future NYC performance opportunities for my
high school and community chorus excursions. Likewise, Cathy Brodie and I
decided to stay over to take in the Sunday evening Whitacre/Lauridsen
performance and it was the frosting on the cake! What a concert!! Truly
delightful.
Top of page
|
|
