The Monmouth Civic Chorus performs its Messiah and Christmas Oratorio program 4 p.m. today at the Count Basie Theatre. Visit the group's website for more information.
The Arcadian Chorale also performs at 4 p.m. today at Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Church, 705 Second Ave., Asbury Park. The group is performing holiday favorites, including some in Spanish. For more information visit the group's website or call 732-775-0030.
--C.
www.theandofone.blogspot.com
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Showing posts with label Monmouth Civic Chorus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monmouth Civic Chorus. Show all posts
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Monmouth Civic Chorus' 'Messiah'
Note: I've added ticket information at the end of this post.
The Monmouth Civic Chorus presents its annual Messiah, with orchestra, 4 p.m. this Sunday, Dec. 19, at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank. The group presents the traditional Christmas portion (Part 1) plus the "Hallelujah" chorus. They'll also perform selections from Bach's Christmas Oratorio. Featured this performance in a column in the Asbury Park Press recently.
Soloists are Elisa Singer and Silvie Jensen, sopranos, David Kellett, tenor, and Andrew Cummings, baritone. Conductor is MCC director Mark Shapiro.
The MCC is one of my favorite groups in the area, and I've said so in the Asbury Park Press many times--ambitious, creative, well-rehearsed, highly organized. Artistically, Shapiro is first rate and the group's administrative machine seems a model for other regional ensembles. I haven't agreed with every choice the group has made, but on the whole, it obviously offers a positive experience for its members and some terrific performances for audiences.
--C.
www.theandofone.blogspot.com
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Tickets are $45 and $25 with discounts for seniors, groups and students. Tickets are available at the group's website, www.monmouthcivicchorus.org, or by calling 732-933-9333. The audience is encouraged to bring nonperishable foods to donate to Lunch Break.
The Monmouth Civic Chorus presents its annual Messiah, with orchestra, 4 p.m. this Sunday, Dec. 19, at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank. The group presents the traditional Christmas portion (Part 1) plus the "Hallelujah" chorus. They'll also perform selections from Bach's Christmas Oratorio. Featured this performance in a column in the Asbury Park Press recently.
Soloists are Elisa Singer and Silvie Jensen, sopranos, David Kellett, tenor, and Andrew Cummings, baritone. Conductor is MCC director Mark Shapiro.
The MCC is one of my favorite groups in the area, and I've said so in the Asbury Park Press many times--ambitious, creative, well-rehearsed, highly organized. Artistically, Shapiro is first rate and the group's administrative machine seems a model for other regional ensembles. I haven't agreed with every choice the group has made, but on the whole, it obviously offers a positive experience for its members and some terrific performances for audiences.
--C.
www.theandofone.blogspot.com
On Facebook
Tickets are $45 and $25 with discounts for seniors, groups and students. Tickets are available at the group's website, www.monmouthcivicchorus.org, or by calling 732-933-9333. The audience is encouraged to bring nonperishable foods to donate to Lunch Break.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Cantori New York in 'Eight Cellos'
Mark Shapiro and Cantori New York present a concert accompanied by an ensemble of eight cellos 8 p.m. Saturday, May 15 at the Church of the Holy Trinity, 316 East 88th St., New York.
Shore-area concert-goers know Dr. Shapiro from his work with the Monmouth Civic Chorus. I have written about and praised the MCC many times but I have yet to make it to a Cantori New York program. It doesn't look like I'll make it to this one either, but the program itself sounds terrific and I wish I could be there.
It's refreshing and tantalizing to see an ensemble of eight cellos touted in a press release that does not include mention of the "Bachianas Brasilieras No. 1" of Villa Lobos. Instead, we have a program entirely of new works by Arvo Pärt, Piotr Moss, Ivan Moody, Erol Gurol and Nicolas Bacri. Vocal soloists will mezzo-soprano Rachel Calloway and soprano Ariadne Greif.
Buy tickets to the concert through the group's website or call 212-439-4758 for more information.
--C.
www.theandofone.blogspot.com
Sunday, May 9, 2010
APP on Live Music in New Jersey
An editorial in the Asbury Park Press from May 1 sparked a lively retort from a member of the Monmouth Civic Chorus, printed in the paper the following week as a guest editorial. The writer of the response, Jenni Blumenthal, was ticked that in extolling the virtues of live music in New Jersey the editorial didn't mention any of the local classical groups.
It didn't mention classical music at all in fact, local or otherwise. I suppose as a classical music fan, I should be offended by that. But the fact is, I'm used to it. The Monmouth/Ocean media and general population overlook classical music. It's very difficult to generate an audience for it, even if you're a world-class outfit like the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra or the Opera New Jersey. That's why theaters in Monmouth County aren't even on the radar for groups like Opera New Jersey. That's why the 50-summer run of the Metro Lyric Opera could halt without any public outcry and without attempt to replace it. That's why NJSO now limits its performances here to an educational "Best Of ..." series of one-hour concerts--the NJSO is bending over backward to cultivate an audience because the culture for appreciating classical music just doesn't exist here.
When the media talk about live music, they are generally talking about longtime pop radio celebrities of one stripe or another, names that can fill thousands of seats at a shot. But that's just not who we are musically, nor is it who we want to be. I don't expect everyone to be a classical music and jazz fan. But most of the live music that happens here is in yet another category: hundreds of small local bands that are touring and may exist as a performing unit only for a year or two. But even that rich, vital culture of bands and clubs that host them gets barely a whipser of mention in this APP editorial. Instead the writer mentions only the big theaters and arenas and the acts that can fill them. The most commericial kind of musical experience.
While some current pop stars, like Lady Gaga, make the list, most of the names mentioned by the APP writer are stars in their 60s and 70s who've turned gray playing their hits of 30 years ago. Classical and jazz traditions exist to continually reinvent the past, but pop rock does not. It exists in the moment and then quickly fades into memory. As a group, what these artists have to offer is notalgia for a time when their music was relevant. There's nothing wrong with that. But if we're trumpeting the musical vitality of New Jersey, citing the living dead as an example is hardly the way to go about it.
--C.
www.theandofone.blogspot.com
It didn't mention classical music at all in fact, local or otherwise. I suppose as a classical music fan, I should be offended by that. But the fact is, I'm used to it. The Monmouth/Ocean media and general population overlook classical music. It's very difficult to generate an audience for it, even if you're a world-class outfit like the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra or the Opera New Jersey. That's why theaters in Monmouth County aren't even on the radar for groups like Opera New Jersey. That's why the 50-summer run of the Metro Lyric Opera could halt without any public outcry and without attempt to replace it. That's why NJSO now limits its performances here to an educational "Best Of ..." series of one-hour concerts--the NJSO is bending over backward to cultivate an audience because the culture for appreciating classical music just doesn't exist here.
When the media talk about live music, they are generally talking about longtime pop radio celebrities of one stripe or another, names that can fill thousands of seats at a shot. But that's just not who we are musically, nor is it who we want to be. I don't expect everyone to be a classical music and jazz fan. But most of the live music that happens here is in yet another category: hundreds of small local bands that are touring and may exist as a performing unit only for a year or two. But even that rich, vital culture of bands and clubs that host them gets barely a whipser of mention in this APP editorial. Instead the writer mentions only the big theaters and arenas and the acts that can fill them. The most commericial kind of musical experience.
While some current pop stars, like Lady Gaga, make the list, most of the names mentioned by the APP writer are stars in their 60s and 70s who've turned gray playing their hits of 30 years ago. Classical and jazz traditions exist to continually reinvent the past, but pop rock does not. It exists in the moment and then quickly fades into memory. As a group, what these artists have to offer is notalgia for a time when their music was relevant. There's nothing wrong with that. But if we're trumpeting the musical vitality of New Jersey, citing the living dead as an example is hardly the way to go about it.
--C.
www.theandofone.blogspot.com
Friday, April 30, 2010
Monmouth Civic Chorus
The Monmouth Civic Chorus twice performs a program called American Folk in Middletown. Metropolitan Opera stage director Eric Einhorn will help direct the semi-staged concert, with conductor Mark Shapiro leading the ensemble. The group will blend full-choir arrangements of folk tunes with members' memories of music from important moments in their lives.
The first performance is 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 1 and the second is 4 p.m. Sunday, May 2. Both are at the Middletown Arts Center, 36 Church St., Middletown. Tickets are available at the door, costing $25 for adults, $22 for seniors and $5 for students. For more information call 732-933-9333 or visit the group's website.
--C.
http://www.theandofone.blogspot.com
The first performance is 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 1 and the second is 4 p.m. Sunday, May 2. Both are at the Middletown Arts Center, 36 Church St., Middletown. Tickets are available at the door, costing $25 for adults, $22 for seniors and $5 for students. For more information call 732-933-9333 or visit the group's website.
--C.
http://www.theandofone.blogspot.com
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