05 August 2011

An Audition Message From Bob

The Wisconsin Chamber Choir is accepting new members in all voice parts for the 2011/12 season. We are especially interested in auditioning new basses and tenors for the choir. We rehearse on Tuesday evenings at First United Methodist Church, downtown Madison. Our season runs from September through May and features three concerts.


The highlight of our coming season will be a performance of Maurice DuruflĂ©’s moving Requiem on March 23rd at First Congregational Church, with organist Ted Reinke. The same program will include Francis Poulenc’s powerful Four Motets for the Time of Penitence. On June 3rd, in a concert entitled “Bernstein and Friends,” we’ll perform Chichester Psalms along with music by composers whom Bernstein championed as a conductor, including Beethoven, Schumann, and Aaron Copland—a mix of serious works and lighter fare.

This coming fall, in observance of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, our first concert (on November 18th) reflects on the theme “War and Peace.” In addition to several pieces written directly in response to 9/11, there will be music by Handel, Howells, Britten, Ravel, and Charles Ives, including Ives’ incredible Psalm 90. Ives’ own favorite work, Psalm 90 progresses from dense cluster chords that depict notions of wrath and destruction, to a serene ending that exudes peace and contentment and which sounds a bit like Aaron Copland (but composed long before Copland sounded like this).


Auditions will be held on three Tuesdays in August: August 9, 16, and 23, 2011 at First United Methodist Church. For further information, and to schedule an audition, visit http://www.wisconsinchamberchoir.org/auditions.html.

Best regards,

Bob Gehrenbeck

Artistic Director, Wisconsin Chamber Choir

www.wisconsinchamberchoir.org

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