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Choral Society sings love songs for 11th annual ‘black tie’ fundraiser In the spring thoughts turn to love, and the Greenville Choral Society is going to sing about love to conclude its 2011-12 season in May. The Choral Society will sing “Your Favorite Love Songs,” some as old as the mid-1920s, for its 11th annual black-tie fundraising gala May 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the Hilton Greenville Hotel on Greenville Boulevard. The Concert Choir and soloists will perform, under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey Ward. The evening’s music will span several decades of popular love songs, but with a twist: the songs were nominated by members of the Choral Society and by patrons who attended Choral Society concerts earlier in the season. More than a dozen songs will be performed, among them three by George and Ira Gershwin: “Someone To Watch Over Me” (1926), “Embraceable You” (1930) and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” (1936). Other classics will include “It Had to Be You” (1924) and “As Time Goes By” (1931), and the choir will sing love songs from the movies including “Moon River” by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer, “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing” by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster, and “The Rose” by Amanda McBroom. Such Broadway favorites by Rodgers and Hammerstein as “If I Loved You,” “Some Enchanted Evening” and “People Will Say We’re in Love” also are to be performed. The music will be accompanied by a jazz combo, and the evening will include time for dancing, in addition to dinner and a silent auction. Tickets are $75 each and must be purchased in advance. A table for eight can be purchased for $500. The Greenville Choral Society, which was formed in 1969 as the Greenville Community Chorus, has as its main goal providing fine choral music for residents of Pitt County and beyond. For information on purchasing tickets, call 252-227-0467, or see www.greenvillechoralsociety.com.
Choral Society’s youth, children’s auditions open for 2011-12 season Auditions are being scheduled for the Greenville Choral Society’s youth and children’s ensembles for the 2011-12 season. The Children’s Chorus is open to fourth through eight grade students, and the Youth Chorale is open to ninth through 12^th grade students. Students interested in the Children’s Chorus can schedule an audition by calling Paul Flowers at 252-375-4673. Students interested in the Youth Chorale can schedule an audition by calling Christopher Smith at 252-481-5703. Rehearsals start the week of Sept. 11. The two ensembles will present a winter concert Dec. 3 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and a spring concert April 1 at Peace Presbyterian Church. For additional information on the Choral Society, call 252-353-5495 or visit www.greenvillechoralsociety.com. The Greenville Choral Society, which began as the Greenville Community Chorus in 1969, has as its main goal providing fine choral music for residents of Pitt County and beyond.
Greenville Choral Society sets auditions Aug. 21-23 for Concert Choir’s 42nd season The Greenville Choral Society will conduct auditions for adult singers in the Concert Choir later this month. Auditions for singers college age and older in all voice parts are scheduled Sunday, Aug. 21, 2-5 p.m.; Monday, Aug. 22 , 6-9 p.m.; and Tuesday, Aug. 23, 6-9 p.m. at St. James United Methodist Church, 2000 E. Sixth St. Auditions are open to residents of Greenville, Pitt County and surrounding areas. The Concert Choir’s 42^nd season will consist of five concerts and a fundraising gala between October and May. An Oct. 14 concert will present opera choruses; a Dec. 3 concert will feature Christmas music through the ages; and a concert March 24 will feature Franz Joseph Haydn’s “Lord Nelson” mass with soloists and the New Carolina Sinfonia. The annual fundraising gala, focusing on popular love songs, is scheduled May 19 at the Hilton Greenville Hotel. The fall concert will be repeated in Washington Oct. 25, and the holiday concert will be repeated in Kinston Dec. 17. Choral Society rehearsals take place Tuesdays 7-9 p.m. at Peace Presbyterian Church off Old Tar Road in Winterville, beginning Aug. 30. To schedule an appointment for an audition, or for additional information on the Choral Society, call Elizabeth Rogers at 252-353-5495, or visit www.greenvillechoralsociety.com. Audition dates for the society’s Youth Chorale, which consists of high school-age singers, and Children’s Chorus, for singers in fourth through eighth grades, will be announced soon. The youth and children’s ensembles will present a winter concert in December and a spring concert in April. The Greenville Choral Society, which began as the Greenville Community Chorus in 1969, is the largest community-based performing arts organization in eastern North Carolina and has as its main goal providing fine choral music for residents of Pitt County and beyond.
Choral Society brings ‘Glee’ to Greenville for Gala fundraiser At age 41, the Greenville Choral Society is going to lets its collective hair down—if only a little bit. The Choral Society will bring its 2010-11 season to a close with music from the popular television program “Glee” as part of its 10^th annual black-tie fundraising gala May 21. “A GLEE-ful Reunion—Take the Journey” will be presented at the Hilton Greenville Hotel on Greenville Boulevard, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The Concert Choir, Chamber Chorale, Youth Chorale and soloists will perform. The evening’s music will span several decades of popular song, although numbers by Lady Gaga are not on the bill. Beginning with the late 1920s (“Happy Days Are Here Again”) and 1930s (“Get Happy” and “Dream a Little Dream of Me”), the music comes into the turn of the most recent century. The selections, including such standards as “Over the Rainbow” and a combination of “Happy Days Are Here Again” and “Get Happy,” will be sung in more contemporary arrangements featured in the television program. Of more recent vintage will be such songs as “To Sir With Love,” “I Say a Little Prayer” and “Sweet Caroline,” and songs from “Grease” and “The Wiz” also will be performed. The Choral Society’s Youth Chorale will sing “Lean on Me.” Dr. Jeffrey Ward will direct the Concert Choir, and Lisa Stockard will direct the Chamber Chorale. Tickets to the gala, which includes dinner and a silent auction, are $75 each and must be purchased in advance. A table for eight can be purchased for $500. The Greenville Choral Society, which was formed in 1969 as the Greenville Community Chorus, has as its main goal providing fine choral music for residents of Pitt County and beyond. For information on purchasing tickets, call 252-353-5495, or see www.greenvillechoralsociety.com.
Choral Society children’s ensemble to sing in Charleston church service Members of the Greenville Choral Society’s Children’s Chorus will travel to Charleston, S.C., later this month to sing in a church service. The chorus, under the direction of Paul Flowers, will sing May 15 at Providence Baptist Church on Daniel’s Island. The children and parents also will take sightseeing trips in the area. The Children’s Chorus consists of middle school and older elementary school-age children For additional information, call 252-353-5495, or see www.greenvillechoralsociety.com.
2010 Fleming Scholarship Award Winner Ben Keiper The Rhonda Fleming Music Study Scholarship was established by the Greenville Chorale Society for the purpose of keeping the music alive within our youth. A graduating senior member of the Youth Chorale is selected by committee each May. The recipient is judged on a formal application, length of membership in the GCS from children’s chorus up through youth, and his or her commitment, citizenship and leadership within the GCS Choirs. The recipient should show solid contributions to GCS, his or her school choral program and the community in general. The student also intends to major in music. This year’s recipient is no stranger to GCS, the community and choral programs within the schools he attended. He has been with GCS since 2005. He has been a part of school choirs, church choirs and even attended ECU Summer Choral Camp. This year’s recipient has taken voice and piano lessons and has been a part of a youth group Worship Band. He has also done some conducting and has been accepted to study music at Furman University beginning in the Fall. This year’s recipient is Mr. Ben Keiper. He has been a large contributor to musical theater since 2000. He has played diverse roles in many musicals from Annie get your Gun to The Sound of Music, and he recently completed a run as one of the leads in You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown We wish Ben all the best as he continues his education at Furman!
GCS Fleming Scholarship Awarded to Caroline Vaughan Caroline Vaughan, a senior at Arendell Parrott Academy in Kinston, has received the 2011 Rhonda Fleming Scholarship from the Greenville Choral Society. The $1,000 scholarship is named for a former director of the Choral Society. Vaughan, daughter of Peggy Vaughan and Scott Vaughan, plans to attend East Carolina University and major in vocal performance. She sang in Greenville Choral Society children’s and youth ensembles for seven years and earned positions in the North Carolina All-State Chorus and North Carolina Honors Chorus. She also has received a scholarship from the ECU School of Music. The Greenville Choral Society, which was formed in 1969 as the Greenville Community Chorus, has as its main goal providing fine choral music for residents of Pitt County and beyond. For additional information, call 252-353-5495, or see www.greenvillechoralsociety.com.
GCS to perform Puccini's "Gloria" on Friday, March 25; Chamber Chorale Spring Concert Will Open the Evening's Program The last time the Greenville Choral Society performed Giacomo Puccini’s “Gloria” was in 1997, and the full chorus was accompanied by a piano. Not so this week. The Choral Society’s Concert Choir and two soloists will be accompanied by an augmented New Carolina Sinfonia—more than 30 players—in one of the larger choral concerts to be presented locally in recent years. The concert will take place Friday, March 25, at 7 p.m. at Faith Assembly of God, 5005 Corey Road in Winterville. Because the expenses of the concert are underwritten by a grant from the Wells Trust, admission is free. Donations are welcome. Dr. Jeffrey Ward, director of the concert choir, says the audience should expect one beautiful melody after another from nearly 90 singers and orchestra members, as the music in the mass serves to indicate the successful opera composer that the youthful Puccini would become. “He was 22 when he wrote it. It was a graduation project after he had finished studies at Istituto Musicale Pacini,” Ward says, although Puccini already had written the “Credo” movement at age 20. The mass, originally titled “Mass for Four Voices and Orchestra” and now known as “Messa di Gloria,” comes more from the musical tradition of late 19^th century European operatic composers than earlier composers of religious works. Ward says Puccini was “highly influenced by Wagner,” for example, and moved to Milan to begin composing for the theater instead of the church. Puccini, who would write such beloved operas as “Madame Butterfly,” “La Boheme” and “Manon Lescaut,” actually recycled two of the melodies from the mass for use in his operatic works. Ward says Puccini apparently intended to make something of the mass shortly after it was performed in 1880, by re-orchestrating it and adding and changing instruments, but with the success of “Manon Lescaut,” he never returned to his earlier church-related compositions. In fact, Puccini never published the mass, and it did not receive its second performance until the early 1950s. It was first performed in the United States in 1952, 72 years to the day that it received its premier performance in Italy, Ward says. The work now “is a fusion of beautiful, lyrical, melodic lines that you see in his operas,” Ward says. “So you get the best of both worlds—opera and liturgical music—but in some ways it is actually more liturgical than Verdi’s ‘Requiem,’” which was written six years earlier. Ward, who conducted the piece in southeastern Virginia with the Norfolk Cantata Chorus and members of the Virginia Symphony, said the Greenville audience can expect “beautiful singing of beautiful melodies, with the fire, dramatics and passion of Puccini’s best operas.” IF YOU GO: “Messa di Gloria” by Giacomo Puccini Greenville Choral Society Concert Choir, with bass John Kramar and tenor Matthew King as soloists; accompanied by the New Carolina Sinfonia; performance preceded by selections by the Chamber Chorale Friday, March 25, 7 p.m. Faith Assembly of God, 5005 Corey Road, Winterville Admission: Free (donations accepted) Additional information: 252-353-5495 or www.greenvillechoralsociety.com
Greenville Choral Society’s 41st season concludes with Puccini’s ‘Gloria,’ gala The second half of the Greenville Choral Society’s 41^st season will conclude with Giacomo Puccini’s “Gloria” in late March and the annual Black Tie Fundraising Gala in late May. The Choral Society’s Concert Choir will sing Puccini’s “Messa di Gloria” Friday, March 25, at 7 p.m. at Faith Assembly of God at 5005 Corey Road in Winterville. The mass, last performed by the Choral Society in 1997, will include soloists and will be accompanied by an expanded New Carolina Sinfonia. The Chamber Chorale will open the program with several contemporary selections, including Stephen Paulus’ “The Road Home,” David Dickau’s “If Music Be the Food of Love” and “You Are the New Day” by John David of the King’s Singers. The Choral Society will bring its season to a close with its ninth annual fundraising gala May 21 at 6 p.m. at the Hilton Greenville Hotel on Greenville Boulevard. A theme is to be selected. The March concert will be presented at no charge to the public through a grant from the Wells Trust. The May gala will cost $75 per person and will include music, dinner and a silent auction. The Choral Society’s youth and children’s ensembles will present their annual spring concert April 2 at 7 p.m. at Peace Presbyterian Church, 301 Guiness Drive in Winterville. Among the Children’s Chorus selections will be Allen Pote’s setting for the 23^rd Psalm and “Al Shlosha D’Varim” by Allen Naplan. Among the Youth Chorale’s selections will be James Erb’s arrangement of “Shenandoah” and part of Randall Thompson’s “Frostiana” song cycle. The Bella Voce Singers also will perform. For additional information on the Choral Society, call 252-353-5495 or visit www.greenvillechoralsociety.com. The Greenville Choral Society, which began as the Greenville Community Chorus in 1969, has as its main goal providing fine choral music for residents of Pitt County and beyond. March 25: Greenville, N.C.—Greenville Choral Society Spring Concert, “Messa di Gloria” by Giacomo Puccini; Concert Choir, soloists and New Carolina Sinfonia, 7 p.m.; Faith Assembly of God, 5005 Corey Road , Winterville. Free admission. Call 252-353-5495 or see www.greenvillechoralsociety.com.
Greenville Choral Society’s 41st season includes works by Saint-Saens, Puccini The 41^st season of the Greenville Choral Society will feature major choral works by Saint-Saens and Puccini and will include at least two concerts outside Greenville. The Choral Society’s 60-member Concert Choir will present six concerts and a fundraising gala in its 2010-11 season, which will begin Saturday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m. with a program of music from poetry. “A Concert of Words—The Marriage of Music and Poetry” will be presented at Peace Presbyterian Church off Old Tar Road in Winterville. The Concert Choir will sing poems by Emily Dickenson, Robert Burns, James Agee, Robert Frost and William Butler Yeats, among others, in musical settings by such composters as Samuel Barber, Rene Clausen, Eric Barnum and David Childs. The Concert Choir will preview selections from the fall program at a Sunday in the Park concert Oct. 10 at 3 p.m. at Greenville Town Common and will repeat the concert Sunday, Oct. 24, at 7 p.m. at the Turnage Theater in Washington. The Choral Society’s annual “Holiday Choral Festival” is scheduled Dec. 4 at First Christian Church, 2810 E. 14^th St. The society’s Chamber Singers will open the 3 p.m. program with seasonal selections, followed by the Concert Choir performing Camille Saint-Saens’ “Christmas Oratorio,” with soloists and the New Carolina Sinfonia. Later that day, also at First Christian Church, the Choral Society’s Children’s Chorus, Youth Chorale and Bella Voce Singers will perform seasonal selections, beginning at 7 p.m. The Concert Choir and Chamber Chorale will repeat their holiday program Saturday, Dec. 18, at 7 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Kinston as part of the Mary Poole Music Series. In 2011, the Concert Choir will sing Giacomo Puccini’s “Gloria” Friday, March 25, at 7 p.m. at Faith Assembly of God in Winterville. The performance will include soloists and will be accompanied by the New Carolina Sinfonia. The Chamber Chorale will open the program. The Choral Society’s youth and children’s ensembles will present a spring concert at a date and location to be announced later. The Choral Society will bring the season to a close with its annual fundraising gala May 21 at 6 p.m. at the Hilton Greenville Hotel on Greenville Boulevard. A theme will be announced later. Tickets for the fall and winter programs will be $15 for adults and $10 for students, seniors 60 years of age and older and groups of six or more. The spring concert will be presented at no charge through a grant from the Wells Trust. The May gala will cost $75 per person and will include dinner and a silent auction. Season tickets are available for $100 per person, or $90 per senior citizen. For additional information on the Choral Society, or to purchase season tickets, call 252-353-5495 or visit www.greenvillechoralsociety.com. The Greenville Choral Society, which began as the Greenville Community Chorus in 1969, has as its main goal providing fine choral music for residents of Pitt County and beyond.
Vaughan, Smith to lead Choral Society’s Youth Chorale for 2010-11 season Peggy Vaughan, director of music at Peace Presbyterian Church, will direct the Greenville Choral Society’s Youth Chorale during the 2010-11 season. The assistant director will be Christopher Smith, director of music at Faith Assembly of God in Winterville, who sang in the Youth Chorale for four years between 1998 and 2002. Vaughan also is general music and choral director at Arendell Parrott Academy in Kinston. She has been a member of the Choral Society and has been a soloist in several Choral Society performances. Smith earned a bachelor of music degree in music performance from East Carolina University and also serves as worship pastor at Faith Assembly. The Youth Chorale consists of high school-age singers and is one of five performing ensembles in the Choral Society. The Youth Chorale will present selections during a holiday concert Dec. 4 and at a concert in the spring. A date and location will be set later. For additional information on the Choral Society, call 252-353-5495 or visit www.greenvillechoralsociety.com. The Greenville Choral Society, which began as the Greenville Community Chorus in 1969, has as its main goal providing fine choral music for residents of Pitt County and beyond.
Greenville Choral Society elects officers, sets auditions for Concert Choir’s 41st season GREENVILLE—Stephen Gray, director of parent and student services in the East Carolina University Dean of Students’ office, has been re-elected president of the Greenville Choral Society for the 2010-11 season. The Choral Society also has set audition dates in late August for the Concert Choir’s 41st season. Auditions for adult singers are scheduled Sunday, Aug. 22, 2-5 p.m.; Tuesday, Aug. 24, 6-9 p.m.; and Thursday, Aug. 26, 6-9 p.m. at St. James United Methodist Church, 2000 E. Sixth St. Auditions are open to college-age singers and older from Greenville, Pitt County and surrounding areas. The Concert Choir will present three concerts and a fundraising gala in the 2010-11 season. An October concert will present music from poetry; a December concert will feature Saint-Saens’ “Christmas Oratorio,” and a spring concert will feature Puccini’s “Gloria.” Dates, times and locations are being set. The annual fundraising gala is tentatively scheduled May 21 at the Hilton Greenville Hotel. Choral Society rehearsals take place Tuesdays 7-9 p.m. at Peace Presbyterian Church off Old Tar Road in Winterville, beginning Aug. 31. Other Choral Society officers elected for the 2010-11 season are B.J. Lawrence, payroll specialist at Physicians East, president-elect; Bill Hodges, chief of perfusion services at the East Carolina Heart Institute, treasurer; and Amber Honeycutt, social worker in the Pitt County Health Department, secretary. New members of the board of directors are Tracey Tuten, Ramona Warren, Susan Holmes and Andriana Sacchini. Audition dates for the society’s Youth Chorale, which consists of high school-age singers, and Children’s Chorus, for singers in fourth through eighth grades, will be announced soon. The youth and children’s ensembles will present a holiday concert in December and a spring concert. For additional information on the Choral Society or to schedule an appointment for auditions, call Rob Taylor at 252-258-1907, or send an e-mail to admin@greenvillechoralsociety.com. The Greenville Choral Society, which began as the Greenville Community Chorus in 1969, has as its main goal providing fine choral music for residents of Pitt County and beyond. Greenville Choral Society elects officers GREENVILLE—Stephen Gray, director of parent and student services in the East Carolina University Dean of Students’ office, has been re-elected president of the Greenville Choral Society for the 2010-11 season. Other Choral Society officers elected for the 2010-11 season are B.J. Lawrence, payroll specialist at Physicians East, president-elect; Bill Hodges, chief of perfusion services at the East Carolina Heart Institute, treasurer; and Amber Honeycutt, social worker in the Pitt County Health Department, secretary. New members of the board of directors are Tracey Tuten, Ramona Warren, Susan Holmes and Andriana Sacchini. For additional information on the Choral Society, call 252-353-5495 or visit www.greenvillechoralsociety.com. Greenville Choral Society sets auditions for 2010-11 GREENVILLE—The Choral Society has set audition dates in late August for the Concert Choir’s 41st season. Auditions for adult singers are scheduled Sunday, Aug. 22, 2-5 p.m.; Tuesday, Aug. 24, 6-9 p.m.; and Thursday, Aug. 26, 6-9 p.m. at St. James United Methodist Church, 2000 E. Sixth St. Auditions are open to college-age singers and older from Greenville, Pitt County and surrounding areas. The Concert Choir will present three concerts and a fundraising gala in the 2010-11 season. An October concert will present music from poetry; a December concert will feature Saint-Saens’ “Christmas Oratorio,” and a spring concert will feature Puccini’s “Gloria.” Dates, times and locations are being set. The annual fundraising gala is tentatively scheduled May 21 at the Hilton Greenville Hotel. Choral Society rehearsals take place Tuesdays 7-9 p.m. at Peace Presbyterian Church off Old Tar Road in Winterville, beginning Aug. 31. Audition dates for the society’s Youth Chorale, which consists of high school-age singers, and Children’s Chorus, for singers in fourth through eighth grades, will be announced soon. The youth and children’s ensembles will present a holiday concert in December and a spring concert. For additional information on the Choral Society or to schedule an appointment for auditions, call Rob Taylor at 252-258-1907, or send an e-mail to admin@greenvillechoralsociety.com. The Greenville Choral Society, which began as the Greenville Community Chorus in 1969, has as its main goal providing fine choral music for residents of Pitt County and beyond.
Greenville Choral Society presents Christmas portion of ‘Messiah’ Dec. 12 The Greenville Choral Society will mark its 40^th anniversary as part of a “Holiday Choral Festival” Saturday, Dec. 12, at Memorial Baptist Church, 1510 SE Greenville Blvd. The two-part program will include the Christmas portion of Handel’s “Messiah,” along with the popular “Hallelujah” chorus, beginning at 7 p.m. The “Messiah” selections will consist of performances by the Concert Choir and four soloists: Rebecca Worthington, soprano; Nicole House, alto; Tim Messina, tenor; and Harris Ipock, bass. They will be accompanied by the New Carolina Sinfonia. The Choral Society’s Chamber Chorale will open the evening program with seasonal selections by Rutter, Helvey and others. The Choral Society started as the Greenville Community Chorus in 1969 and sang “Messiah” in its first public performance in December of that year. Also on Dec. 12, beginning at 3 p.m., the society’s three children’s and youth ensembles will perform seasonal music from around the world. Among the selections: “Winter Wind” and “What Child Is This?” sung by the Children’s Chorus, three German carols sung by Bella Voce Singers, and “A La Nanita Nana” and Purcell’s “Come Ye Sons of Art” sung by the Youth Chorale. Both programs are open to the public free of charge as the Choral Society’s gift to the community through a grant from the Mildred Sheffield Wells Charitable Trust. Donations of new or gently used stuffed animals will be collected at both programs as contributions to the “TEDI Bear” Children’s Advocacy Group. The Greenville Choral Society has as its main goal providing fine choral music for residents of Pitt County and beyond. In all, about 150 singers ranging in age from 8 to nearly 80 perform in the ensembles within the society. For additional information, call 252-353-5495, or www.greenvillechoralsociety.com.
Greenville Choral Society by Richard Parsons November 2, 2008, Winterville, NC: "North Carolina's Classical Music — The Moravians" was the advertised title of this concert by the Greenville Choral Society, Jeffrey Ward and Lisa Stockard, directors. That title sounds like somebody's unpublished thesis. So did the concert, which consisted of twenty, count 'em, twenty lovely little Sunday morning anthems, all accompanied in this concert by a well-played but miserable little upright piano in the Peace Presbyterian Church. With a concert time of 80 minutes, that averages just four minutes from the start of one to the start of the next. Along with the clatter of a church upright, maybe it sounded more like choir practice than a thesis. (The church choir I sing in doesn't rehearse in dinner suits with black tie nor handsome black formal dresses, and our director doesn't wear white tie and tailcoat, so maybe I am stretching the parallel just a little.) The chorus was handsomely turned out. Research suggests that most Moravian choir lofts usually contained a variety of wind and string instruments that would be used with the organ to accompany choral music. And while the three-minute Sunday morning anthem is a wonderful thing for Sunday morning, to take twenty of them out of liturgical context, and to strip them of their proper accompaniment, too, is a cruel thing to do to both these bijou little pieces and the audience as well. A different tack that needs to be taken about this concert is to tell how very, very good the singing was — there is no doubt about that! The chorus was as well-prepared for this concert as they were for their excellent performance of Haydn's Creation in May of this year. My notes from the performance say things like "careful and focused," "good attack," "excellent blend," "precise cut-offs," "good development of the long lines," "lovely quartet; good balance and voice matching!" That was true throughout the performance. The singing and conducting were superb. Peace Presbyterian Church, a new building of brick and wood, with a high ceiling and lots of corners to break up the sound, was an acoustically superb place to hear the Concert Choir and the Chamber Chorale. (There will always be serious stage-management problems in any church. Sunday was no exception.) There is no doubt that putting on a piece like The Creation, with orchestra, taxed the Greenville Choral Society to the limit; still on Sunday it was a shame to see so much effort expended so unevenly. It impresses me about like calling in Yo-Yo Ma to start your iPod. The music begs to be sent back to the choir loft and reserved for Sunday morning, and then with proper accompaniment. But who has the funds to hire musicians for three minutes? I am grateful to the Greenville Choral Society for their discipline and professionalism and for the lovely music that they make. And the music certainly was lovely; I hope all these musicians sing in church choirs and that they all take these pieces back to their choirs and ask them to sing them often on Sunday morning. And I really do look forward to hearing the Greenville Choral Society again soon. For their fine work, bravo!


Haydn, The Creation: Greenville Choral Society and New Carolina Sinfonia by Richard Parsons May 17, 2008, Greenville, NC: In the performer’s worst nightmare, even the walls are carpeted. While the walls at Oakmont Baptist Church are not carpeted, there is full thick plush luxurious carpet, on a thick pad, and the pew cushions are the thickest and deadliest I’ve ever seen. This is typical of many new Southern Baptist churches. These structures are now frequently of the highest, if most dubious tech for music performance. They favor another kind of performance, with everyone body-miked, controlled by a techie at a sound board and blared out in stentorian fashion over myriad speakers, in order to overcome the cushions and carpet. Such was the case today. Working hard against the sponge effect, both the singers and the orchestra acquitted themselves very well. Balance was generally excellent in every way, with the exception of the harpsichord, a “Revival-style” instrument with lots of pedals and complicated trapwork, a music desk as big as a sewer grate, and no volume to speak of, further choked down by a lid only six or eight inches open. It was probably nice to have been spared the tone quality. There was a further something going on with the acoustics in addition to the lack of reverberation, something that made a lot of the orchestral tone not as clear in the large pieces as they were capable of in the soft passages. This is intended as a review primarily of the Greenville Choral Society chorus. If the intention were different, one could write a strong review entitled “An Evening with Jon Shaw, soprano, and her back-up band.” Which is not meant to slight Carolyn Myers, soprano (Gabriel); Pablo Bustos, tenor (Uriel); and John Kramar, bass, (Raphael and Adam); all first rate!, nor the chorus, nor the New Carolina Sinfonia. Over the last 25 months, I’ve had the privilege of reviewing three different groups performing Haydn’s The Creation; it is definitely music that I love to hate (so to speak); the composition is on such a lofty plane and is so devoid of anything like evil, sex, or fun, that I find it seriously lacking in dramatic tension. I’ve also come to appreciate how very careful and clear the playing needs to be to succeed in “The Representation of Chaos.” This one movement was the one serious weak point of the Greenville performance. But once Raphael opened his mouth and sang, “In the beginning,” everybody, both singers and players, nailed it every time thereafter! John Kramar’s tone is warm; he has a fat voice running with marinara sauce, vino rosso, and good cheer, his diction is incredible. Every syllable of every word he sang was completely intelligible. He also had the volume necessary to stand up to the room. Carolyn Myers was equal to him in every way. These two were an interesting contrast in singing style, Kramar singing with a very closed mouth and Myers with her mouth wide open. Pablo Bustos was equal to him in every way save balance; he has not the volume to match Kramar or to cope with the room. His is a voice of pure silver by moonlight, with a very carefully controlled vibrato. His is a name to look for, especially if he finds venues and pieces better suited to his voice than The Creation. The effortless, beautiful, precise voice of Jon Shaw, who sang Eve, is in a special category by itself. Of special note was the excellent clarinet playing in Gabriel’s aria “On mighty pens uplifted” (No. 26). This aria also enjoyed the best orchestral playing of the evening, crisp and clear. In the recitative “And God created great whales,” (No. 17) the wonderful walking bass must have been lost in the room. The violins were strong and nice in the Trio and Chorus “Most beautiful appear” (No. 19); Kramar’s leviathan voice was perfect for singing of Leviathan. In Part Three, Barra’s interpretation of No. 28, the Duet with Chorus “By thee with bliss” made the structure clearer than I’ve ever heard! The chorus had a fine youthful sound and a little barefoot angel on the front row danced the whole movement. I could not have agreed with her more!
Greenville Choral Society names Ward new director; Bara takes over St. Paul’s Episcopal Church choir GREENVILLE—Dr. Jeffrey Ward, an assistant professor of choral music education in the East Carolina University School of Music, has been named director of the Greenville Choral Society’s concert choir. He succeeds Dr. Daniel Bara, director of choral music activities at ECU, who in addition to his ECU responsibilities is assuming a new position as interim choir director at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Greenville. Ward joined the ECU faculty at the beginning of the 2007-08 year and heads the choral music education program. During the Choral Society’s 2007-08 season, Ward also directed the Youth Chorale. Before coming to Greenville, he taught at Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake, Va. He also was artistic director of the Norfolk, Va., Cantata Chorus, director of music ministries at Monumental United Methodist Church in Portsmouth, Va., and associate conductor of the Virginia Children’s Chorus. He has conducted the Beaufort County Choral Society in Washington, N.C; First United Methodist Church of Winter Park, Fla.; and the Bach Children’s Choir of the Winter Park Bach Festival. Ward earned a bachelor’s degree from Rollins College in Florida and a master of music degree from ECU in 1999. He later earned his doctor of musical arts degree from Shenandoah University in Virginia. He has been active in the National Association of Music Education, the American Choral Directors Association and Chorus America. The Choral Society also has announced that Kathryn C. Holley, a 2008 graduate of D.H. Conley High School, is the winner of this year’s Fleming Scholarship, a $1,000 award to an outstanding participant in choral society youth programs. A member of the society’s children’s and youth groups since third grade and accomplished flutist, she intends to study music at Appalachian State University. The society also has a new president for 2008-09, Nancy Sturgis, who teaches music at St. Peter’s School, and three new directors: Robert Gennings, Etsil Mason and Amber Honeycutt. Gerry Arakelian is the new secretary of the society. The Greenville Choral Society, which will mark its 40^th anniversary in 2009, has as its main goal providing fine choral music for residents of Pitt County and beyond. In all, about 200 singers ranging in age from 8 to nearly 80 perform in the five adult and children’s groups within the society. The Concert Choir consists of more than 90 adults, including some college students, while the Chamber Chorale consists of more than 20 singers drawn from the Concert Choir. The Children’s Chorus is composed of middle school and older elementary school-age children, and Bella Voce Singers is a select group of students drawn mainly from the choral society’s high school-age Youth Chorale and advanced singers in the Children’s Chorus. For information on the choral society, call 252-353-5495, or www.greenvillechoralsociety.com.
At the Greenville Choral Society’s Winter Choral Celebration, over 100 stuffed teddy bears were collected from attendees and donated to TEDI BEAR Children's Advocacy Center. 755 Johns Hopkins Dr. Greenville, NC 27834, (252) 758-1200 "This organization serves children that have been physically and sexually abused and/or neglected as well as non-offending family members. Provides "nurturance" parenting programs and educational outreach. A team of physicians, nurse practitioner, social worker and therapist work to provide medical exams, counseling and referrals."	L to R: Julie Ocker, Executive Director of TEDI Bear, Rebecca Powers, GCS President.