Published: November 05, 2009 09:16 am      

Concerts by Berea College Concert Choir Nov. 7 and 8

The Berea College Concert Choir and Chamber Singers, Stephen Bolster, conductor, will present two performances of the annual fall concert on Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. in Gray Auditorium on the Berea College Campus. The choirs will be accompanied by Ryan Shirar on the piano.

The concert is open to the public, and there is no admission charge.

The concert begins with an international focus, featuring first a group of Scandinavian choral pieces by composers Toivo Kuula (Finland), Pen Indrehus (Norway) and Michael Bojesen (Denmark), and Latin American music (Canciones por las Americas) by Sid Robinovitch. The first half concludes with a group of pieces by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), in honor of the 200th anniversary of his birth. The group will include the famous motet Richte mich, Gott, as well as famous arias and choruses from his well-known oratorio Elijah.

Following a brief intermission, The Chamber Singers open the second half of the program. The ensemble will perform a short prayer, and then sing a group of modern madrigals set to Elizabethan texts by the American composer Jean Berger (1909-2002), in honor of the 100th anniversary of his birth.

The concert will conclude with the full choir performing a new arrangement of the Stephen Collins Foster classic, “Hard Times,” and a group of spirituals arranged by contemporary African-American composers, including “Lil David,” “Play on Yo’ Harp,” “There is a Balm in Gilead” and “In Dat Great Giddin’ Up Mo’nin.”

The Berea Concert Choir is a mixed ensemble of approximately 60 singers who perform a variety of music, both sacred and secular, from a range of historical periods. The Chamber Singers is a select group of 16-20 choir members that specialize in renaissance and 20th Century vocal chamber music. Formed in 1949, the Berea Choir has years given inspirational performances in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia.

Dr. Stephen Bolster is former chair of the Berea Music Department, who in addition to directing the Choir and Chamber Singers, teaches voice, vocal methods and conducting. He holds music degrees from Dartmouth College, the University of North Carolina and the University of Colorado and has done post-doctoral study at the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati.