CT Choral Society Will Begin 20th Season At St Rose

The Connecticut Choral Society, led by its new director John Robert Liepold, will begin its 20th anniversary season with a holiday concert on Friday, December 10, at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Newtown. The program begins at 8 pm. It will be repeated at the church on Sunday, December 12, at 3 pm.

Highlights of the program include Francis Poulenc’s Gloria and Quatre Motets Pour le Temps. This year marks the composer’s 100th birthday. The soprano soloist is Susanne Peck and the organist is Joseph Jacovino, with accompaniment by the Connecticut Choral Society Orchestra.

Other featured numbers are Bach’s Gloria (from the Mass in B minor) and several holiday carols and songs, including Rachmaninoff’s Bogoroditse Devo, Franz Biebl’s Ave Maria, “I Wonder As I Wander” and “There is a Balm in Gilead.”

Mr Liepold, a New York resident, comes to the Connecticut Choral Society with a rich background in choral arts. He is a former director of the highly successful University of Virginia’s Men’s Glee Club, and is currently director of choral music at the Dalton School in New York, manager of the Concert Series at St Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue, director and conductor of the Grace Choral Society in Brooklyn Heights, and a member of the faculty at the Mannes School of Music.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $7.50 for children and students on Friday night, and $15 for all seats on Sunday. They are available at Drug Center in Newtown, New To You in Southbury, and Woodbury Drug Store in advance. For additional information, call 263-7603 or 800/555-5250.