North Florida Women’s Chorale was part of the Romanza Festivale, and performed at the Ancient City Baptist Church on Saturday, May 4th at noon. The title of their performance was “Much Ado About Women”.
Category: Chorus
The 27 voice St. Augustine Chamber Singers presented a concert for the community on Friday evening, Sept. 28, at 7 pm in the St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica. Requiem, a major work for choir, soprano solo, organ, cello, oboe, flute and percussion by the English composer, John Rutter, was presented as well as compositions by local composer, Dr. Peter Mathews. The Chamber Singers are conducted by Kathleen Vande Berg with Shannon McKay at the organ.
The St Augustine Chamber Singers presented a concert on Sept 29 at 7:00pm at the Cathedral Basilica of St Augustine.
The concert, entitled, “A Patchwork Quilt of American Music” traced the arrival of unique music expressions to the shores of America as immigrants from many countries brought their music with them. The program began with Native American songs, followed by songs of people arriving from England, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Africa, Cuba, Israel and the Middle East.
The Chamber Singers were joined by instrumentalists Susan McGee, French horn and Caren Umbarger, violin. Several members of the St. Augustine Youth Chorus performed body percussion; percussion players from Jacksonville University played a multitude of instruments including congas, slit drums and drum set.
The 28-voice Chamber Singers group was directed by Kathleeen Vande Berg. The collaborating accompanist was Barbara Mattingly.
The concert was free.
Newark Boys Chorus in concert at Grace UMC
On Friday March 31st at 7:30 pm, Music at Grace offered a special presentation of the renowned Newark Boys Chorus (Newark, NJ). The Newark Boys Chorus was founded in 1966 as the New Jersey Symphony Boys Choir. Three years later, the Newark Boys Chorus School was established to create an integrated academic and music program unique to the city of Newark, New Jersey. The school is fully accredited by the Middle State Association of Colleges and Schools and is responsible for the academic and musical education of young urban men from the greater Newark area. The school’s mission is to inspire in the students a love for learning, a quest for excellence, and a compassion for humanity.
Known as Newark’s “Musical Ambassadors,” the Chorus has been heard throughout the world with a diversified repertoire that includes traditional classical music, spirituals, folk music, and jazz. In recent years the boys have toured Australia, South Africa, the Caribbean, Finland, Latvia, Russia, England, Wales, Spain, Portugal, and Canada. Recognized for their excellence in performance, they have been invited to sing at divisional (2004) and national (2005) conventions of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). With an average of fifty concerts per year, the Newark Boys Chorus has performed in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall (last appeared January 2017), Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.
Few Chorus School graduates become professional musicians, but the training and experience they receive demand discipline and poise while providing the self-esteem that these young men carry with them through life. They leave the Newark Boys Chorus School as young men prepared for and looking forward to a productive and happy future.
The St. Augustine Community Chorus, under the direction of Mike Sanflippo, presented “Curtain Up! Broadway Encores” as part of its 2016–2017 concert season at 7:30 p.m. March 11 and 3 p.m. March 12. The performances were at Ancient City Baptist Church, 27 Sevilla St.
This year, the chorus’ annual Pops Concert featured selections from the vast repertoire of the Broadway stage with medleys from “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Carousel,” “Chicago,” “Ragtime,” “The Wiz” and “Les Miserables,” with an instrumental ensemble and accompanist Ray McDonald.
The St. Augustine Community Chorus, under the direction of Mike Sanflippo, performed their annual Christmas Program entitled “Welcome Yule”. The chorus was joined by the St. Augustine Youth Chorus which was directed by Kerry Fradley. The chorus performed Benjamin Britten’s “Ceremony of Carols” with harp accompaniment along with several favorite traditional choral arrangements of John Rutter, Mack Wilberg, Gustav Holst, and Rene Clausen. The program again featured wonderful excerpts from Handel’s Messiah, with chamber orchestra and included the crowd favorite sing along of the “Hallelujah Chorus” as well as several well-known Christmas carols. This always popular Holiday Concert was held at the St Augustine Cathedral Basilica.
The October First Friday Concert (October 16 at 7 pm) at the Cathedral Basilica featured the St. Augustine Chamber Singers, directed by Kathleen Vande Berg and the St. Augustine Youth Chorus, directed by Kerry Fradley. The concert was presented by over sixty singers and accompanied by Barbara Mattingly and Henry Keating with instrumentalists Joe Yorio on clarinet and Jack Miller, percussionist.
The concert was entitled “This Pretty Planet” and included songs extolling the beauty of the earth as well as those concerning stewardship of the earth and its resources. Poetry by Langston Hughes, Edna St. Vincent Millay and Archibald Lampman were sung in settings by contemporary composers. Eatnemen Vuelie, Song of the Earth, which was featured in the movie, Frozen, was performed featuring the Scandinavian musical expression, yoiking. A concert highlight was the klezmer favorite, Gonna Get Through This World, by Woody Guthrie featuring klezmer-style clarinet and a refrain for everyone to sing.
The Romanza Festivale of the Arts presented the St. Augustine Youth Chorus in the closing concert of the Romanza 2016 Chamber Music Series on Saturday, May 14, 2016, from 12 to 1 p.m. The Chorus performed under the baton of Kerry Fradley and was joined by local favorites, Vivace!. The free concert took place at Ancient City Baptist Church.
The Youth Chorus sings annually in the St. Augustine Community Chorus Christmas Concert at the Cathedral Basilica, and has been performing at Disney World for the last three years. This concert was entitled, “Fly!,” and featured music “above the clouds.” Joining the Chorus are Kris Kelly, Jane Mathis, and Greer Sullivan, who make up the trio, Vivace!
The North Florida Women’s Chorale, directed by Kerry Fradley, is one of the premier vocal ensembles on the First Coast. The 40 voice chorus draws singers from the Jacksonville, Ponte Vedra and St. Augustine communities. Saturday’s (May 9th, noon) program included songs of inspiration and hope, both sacred and secular . American hymns, spirituals and joyful songs from many cultures were presented including Wondrous Love, Psalm 23 (Stroope), Amazing Grace, Gwyneth Walker’s Love is a Rain of Diamonds and How Can I Keep from Singing. Brittany Maroney, cellist, was the guest artist. She accompanied the chorale and also presented a solo work.
Piano: Kathleen Vande Berg
Flute: Christina Mincek
Oboe: Ashley Floyd
St Augustine Community Chorus Annual Pops Concerts was on Saturday & Sunday
The 100 voice strong Chorus was pleased to present its yearly Pops Concert entitled By George!…and Cole, Stephen and Lenny too! This was a fun program with favorites from Gershwin, Porter, Sondheim, and Bernstein! Under the direction of Michael Sanflippo, chorus members performed Broadway hits and movie favorites from Candide, Porgy and Bess, Anything Goes, West Side Story, Into the Woods and other crowd favorites.