Community Chorus at South Berwick Season for 2007/2008
An exciting season is underway for 2007/2008, with a "A Christmas Garland" successfully completed the first weekend in December, 2007, a concert with chamber orchestra and seasonal works on the theme, "O magnum mysterium". CCSB's upcoming spring concert, titled "From a Poet's Pen", will be performed April 4, 5, and 6 2008, and will feature the premiere performance of a choral work commissioned by CCSB.
Chorus greets spring with poetry in song
The spring concerts of The Community Chorus at South Berwick will feature choral works based on verse through the ages. The 60-voice ensemble will perform "From a Poet's Pen" on April 4, 5, and 6 in South Berwick, Dover, and Portsmouth.
The texts inspiring the music range from a Biblical psalm and a Navaho prayer to contemporary poetry. They include Walt Whitman's Jubilant Song, the moving World War I poem Flanders Fields by Canadian John McCrae, the beautiful Sing Me to Heaven by Jane Griner, and Autumnal Sun by Henry David Thoreau. Musical settings are by Brahms, Clausen, Aitken, Washburn, and others.
The centerpiece of the concerts will be the premiere of a choral cantata, Spheres, written by Maine composer Charles Kaufmann and based on poetry by the late Constance Hunting, a University of Maine professor and writer. The piece was commissioned by The Community Chorus at South Berwick and supported by a grant from Kennebunk Savings Bank. Charles Kaufmann will be present to discuss the composition one half-hour before the concert.
Members of the chorus will read selected poems before they are performed. Constance Hunting's son, Sam Hunting, will read her verses which inspired Spheres.
The South Berwick audience on April 4 will enjoy a prelude performance by The Academy Street Singers of Berwick Academy, who will present a choral work based on poetry of H.W. Longfellow.
Performances will be Friday, April 4, 8:00 p.m., at the Whipple Theater of Berwick Academy, 31 Academy St., South Berwick, Me.; Saturday, April 5, 7:30 p.m., at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, 150 Central Ave., Dover, N.H.; and Sunday, April 6, 3:00 p.m., at Christ Episcopal Church, 1035 Lafayette Rd., Portsmouth, N.H. NOTE: Composer's talk will begin a half-hour before concert time.
The Community Chorus at South Berwick and Conductor Harry Moon at a rehearsal for From a Poet's Pen, the chorus' Spring 2008 concert
The spring concerts of The Community Chorus at South Berwick will feature choral works based on verse through the ages. The 60-voice ensemble will perform "From a Poet's Pen" on April 4, 5, and 6 in South Berwick, Dover, and Portsmouth.
The texts inspiring the music range from a Biblical psalm and a Navaho prayer to contemporary poetry. They include Walt Whitman's Jubilant Song, the moving World War I poem Flanders Fields by Canadian John McCrae, the beautiful Sing Me to Heaven by Jane Griner, and Autumnal Sun by Henry David Thoreau. Musical settings are by Brahms, Clausen, Aitken, Washburn, and others.
The centerpiece of the concerts will be the premiere of a choral cantata, Spheres, written by Maine composer Charles Kaufmann and based on poetry by the late Constance Hunting, a University of Maine professor and writer. The piece was commissioned by The Community Chorus at South Berwick and supported by a grant from Kennebunk Savings Bank. Charles Kaufmann will be present to discuss the composition one half-hour before the concert.
Members of the chorus will read selected poems before they are performed. Constance Hunting's son, Sam Hunting, will read her verses which inspired Spheres.
The South Berwick audience on April 4 will enjoy a prelude performance by The Academy Street Singers of Berwick Academy, who will present a choral work based on poetry of H.W. Longfellow.
Performances will be Friday, April 4, 8:00 p.m., at the Whipple Theater of Berwick Academy, 31 Academy St., South Berwick, Me.; Saturday, April 5, 7:30 p.m., at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, 150 Central Ave., Dover, N.H.; and Sunday, April 6, 3:00 p.m., at Christ Episcopal Church, 1035 Lafayette Rd., Portsmouth, N.H. NOTE: Composer's talk will begin a half-hour before concert time.
Chorus to premiere work by Maine composer and poet
A musical work is created anew every time it is performed, but it is rare to hear a piece created publicly for the first time. That is what music lovers will be able to do April 4-6 when the Community Chorus at South Berwick premieres "Spheres", a choral cantata by Charles Kaufmann of Portland, Maine, based on poetry by the late Constance Hunting, University of Maine professor and poet.
The Community Chorus at South Berwick commissioned the Kaufmann work as the centerpiece of its spring concert series, "From a Poet's Pen", featuring choral music inspired by poetic texts of many ages and cultures. Other selections range from the Psalms to Thoreau and Whitman, with music from Brahms and Mennin. The Kaufmann commission is supported by a grant from Kennebunk Savings Bank of Kennebunk, Maine.
Conductor and Music Director Dr. Harry Moon says that the chorus is "excited to be preparing for the premiere performance of this new work" with local roots. It is written in cantata format scored for chorus, alto and bass soloists, and piano. The piano part is rich, with many sounds and effects, including plucking of the strings inside the piano. The piece has a contemporary feel but is very accessible to the audience.
Mr. Kaufmann, known as Chip, is an award-winning composer and founding director of The Longfellow Chorus in Portland. He is an organist and one of the leading Baroque and classical bassoonists in North America, with degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Yale University School of Music.
Constance Hunting was a noted poet, author, and publisher, the owner of a noted small press, founder of the state's first literary magazine, and an inspiring teacher to countless students. She was an accomplished pianist herself and would no doubt be gratified to see her words put to music. Kaufmann describes "Spheres" as one of Hunting's final minimalist series of poems, comprised of twelve short poems evoking images of the natural world through the poet's wandering mind.
Performances will be April 4, 8:00 p.m. at Berwick Academy in South Berwick, Me.; April 5, 7:30 p.m. at St. Joseph's Church in Dover, N.H.; and April 6, 3:00 p.m. at Christ Episcopal Church in Portsmouth, N.H.
Charles Kaufmann, composer; Audrey Adams, pianist; and Dr. Harry Moon, Conductor and Music Director of the Community Chorus review the score of Spheres
The Community Chorus at South Berwick commissioned the Kaufmann work as the centerpiece of its spring concert series, "From a Poet's Pen", featuring choral music inspired by poetic texts of many ages and cultures. Other selections range from the Psalms to Thoreau and Whitman, with music from Brahms and Mennin. The Kaufmann commission is supported by a grant from Kennebunk Savings Bank of Kennebunk, Maine.
Conductor and Music Director Dr. Harry Moon says that the chorus is "excited to be preparing for the premiere performance of this new work" with local roots. It is written in cantata format scored for chorus, alto and bass soloists, and piano. The piano part is rich, with many sounds and effects, including plucking of the strings inside the piano. The piece has a contemporary feel but is very accessible to the audience.
Mr. Kaufmann, known as Chip, is an award-winning composer and founding director of The Longfellow Chorus in Portland. He is an organist and one of the leading Baroque and classical bassoonists in North America, with degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Yale University School of Music.
Constance Hunting was a noted poet, author, and publisher, the owner of a noted small press, founder of the state's first literary magazine, and an inspiring teacher to countless students. She was an accomplished pianist herself and would no doubt be gratified to see her words put to music. Kaufmann describes "Spheres" as one of Hunting's final minimalist series of poems, comprised of twelve short poems evoking images of the natural world through the poet's wandering mind.
Performances will be April 4, 8:00 p.m. at Berwick Academy in South Berwick, Me.; April 5, 7:30 p.m. at St. Joseph's Church in Dover, N.H.; and April 6, 3:00 p.m. at Christ Episcopal Church in Portsmouth, N.H.
CCSB Performs A Christmas Garland Concert, December 1,2 2007
The Community Chorus at South Berwick performed its fall 2007 concert, based on the theme O magnum mysterium, (the great mystery of Christmas) on December 1 and 2, 2007. The concert program spanned the centuries, from the renaissance to contemporary works. The chorus was accompanied by a chamber orchestra an many of the works, including Gustav Holst’s "Christmas Day", and Vaughan William’s "Fantasia on Christmas Carols", and added richness and color to the concert. Soloists from within the chorus were featured on several works. The first concert was performed at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Newington, to an audience that filled the church. On Sunday, December 2, the concert was performed at the Wesley Kennedy Performing Arts Center at Marshwood High School in South Berwick. The Chorus and audience enjoyed use of additional acoustical shells purchased with a continuing grant from the Strawberry Festival Committee.
CCSB Commissions Original Choral Work by Maine Composer Charles Kaufmann
The Community Chorus at South Berwick (CCSB) is commissioning the composition of an original choral work by Maine composer Charles Kaufmann, to be premiered at CCSB's April 2008 concert From a Poet's Pen. Mr. Kaufmann is creating a choral work based on the poem "Spheres" by contemporary Maine poet Constance Hunting, the poet and English professor at the University of Maine , who passed away in April 2006.
Mr. Kaufmann resides in the Portland area, and is organist and music director at The First Parish Unitarian-Universalist Church in Portland . He has written for choruses in Maine and nationally. He has had a longstanding commitment to music of writers and poets, having organized choral concerts based on the music of Celia Thaxter's time, and is currently leading choral concerts based on musical settings of texts by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
CCSB's music director and conductor Dr. Harry Moon has programmed the spring 2008 concert to be titled From a Poet's Pen, and will include settings of poems and verses from ancient to contemporary, from Sanskrit to psalms, Native American verses to American folk, from the contemporary to classical. Dr. Moon invited Mr. Kaufmann to compose a centerpiece of the concert, to be written on verse by a contemporary Maine woman poet. Mr. Kaufmann has selected the poem "Spheres" by Constance Hunting (used by permission of Ms. Hunting's estate). He is writing a choral work he characterizes as a "miniscule cantata", including several short movements for combinations of chorus singers and soloists.
Mr. Kaufmann resides in the Portland area, and is organist and music director at The First Parish Unitarian-Universalist Church in Portland . He has written for choruses in Maine and nationally. He has had a longstanding commitment to music of writers and poets, having organized choral concerts based on the music of Celia Thaxter's time, and is currently leading choral concerts based on musical settings of texts by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
CCSB's music director and conductor Dr. Harry Moon has programmed the spring 2008 concert to be titled From a Poet's Pen, and will include settings of poems and verses from ancient to contemporary, from Sanskrit to psalms, Native American verses to American folk, from the contemporary to classical. Dr. Moon invited Mr. Kaufmann to compose a centerpiece of the concert, to be written on verse by a contemporary Maine woman poet. Mr. Kaufmann has selected the poem "Spheres" by Constance Hunting (used by permission of Ms. Hunting's estate). He is writing a choral work he characterizes as a "miniscule cantata", including several short movements for combinations of chorus singers and soloists.
Kennebunk Savings Bank Provides Grant for Commission by CCSB of New Choral Work
CCSB has been again supported by the Kennebunk Savings Bank (KSB) with a grant of $500 towards the commission of a new choral work from Charles Kaufmann (see news item above). KSB’s funding helps make possible this important addition to our concert season, and the addition of an important choral work based on the work of a celebrated Maine poet, Constance Hunting. CCSB also received financial support through KSB’s "Community Investment Ballot Program" earlier in 2007. CCSB appreciates the commitment of Kennebunk Savings Bank to support our regional music program.
Additional Acoustical Shell Units funded by Strawberry Festival Committee
In 2005, the Community Chorus at South Berwick coordinated the purchase of portable acoustical shells with a grant from the Strawberry Festival Committee and funding by the SAD 35 school district. (The Strawberry Festival Committee distributes grant funds for local community programs from the Strawberry Festival events in June. See previous news item below). These have been extremely effective and successful for CCSB's concerts, and also in concerts by the Marshwood choral programs. The trouble was, growth in the number of singers resulted in the existing shells not fitting around these growing choruses! In response to a grant request made in July 2007 by CCSB, the Strawberry Festival Committee provided $3,500 for the purchase of four additional panels of the shells. With these, all singers will be "surrounded" by these acoustical shells for performances in the Wesley Kennedy Performing Arts Center at Marshwood High School, at Berwick Academy's Whipple Arts Theater, and other venues in the area. CCSB and Marshwood choral programs at SAD 35 express their sincere thanks to the Strawberry Festival Committee for promoting choral singing in the area!
2006/2007 Successful CCSB Concert Season Wraps Up
CCSB completed a very successful concert season with it's "Refractive Images of Light" concerts at the end of April, 2007. The season included this concert, as well as December 2006 concerts and the "Singers for a Lifetime" festival concert in March, 2007. During this season, the chorus grew to with 65 singers. New singers from all walks of life joined the chorus, including young people, older people, and directors of other choruses who came to sing. Our audience grew as well, with hundreds of people enjoying each of our concert programs. CCSB returned to popular venues with concerts at The Wesley Kennedy Performing Arts Center, and new venues like the Rochester Opera House. Programs continued to be chosen by Harry Moon that are rich with variety, interesting, fun and challenging for singers and audiences alike. The chorus sang works ranging from masterworks like Vivaldi's Gloria with chamber orchestra, to Mozart's delightful Missa Brevis in Bb, to gregorian chant and renaissance works, to the double choir Apostrophe to the Heavenly Hosts by Willan, to spirituals and favorites like Shenandoah. It was an year of growth both musically and in singers and audience.
CCSB Sponsors "Singers for a Lifetime"
The Community Chorus at South Berwick presented the festival concert "Singers for a Lifetime" on March 4, 2007 demonstrating that singing can be a meaningful and wonderful life-long activity. CCSB was joined by three choruses of different ages: Sandpipers-the Seacoast Children's Chorus (directed by CCSB founder and soprano Dianne Colby Dean) , the Marshwood Junior High School select Chorus (directed by CCSB tenor Adam Scarpone), and the Marshwood High School Select Chorus (directed by Tanya West). Each chorus performed separately, and then jointly in a celebration of singers of all ages, from less than ten to seventy-something. Over 500 audience members and singers enjoyed this afternoon of singing. Over $1300 was distrubuted to three participating students to support their attendence at music camps during the summer of 2007.
CCSB music director Dr. Harry Moon with Marshwood High School choral director Tanya West and Marshwood Junior High School director Adam Scarpone present scholarships to winning students.
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