Master Chorale To Present 10th Anniversary Concert

The Connecticut Master Chorale (CMC), under the direction of Tina Johns Heidrich, will present a special 10th Anniversary Concert on Saturday, May 16, at 8 pm. The performance will be at St Rose of Lima Church, 46 Church Hill Road in Newtown.

The concert will feature highlights from the Chorale’s first ten years and reflects the variety of complex and entertaining music that critics and audiences alike have come to expect from the group since it was founded by Ms Heidrich in 1999.

The Chorale has performed over 250 works in ten languages for its ever-growing and enthusiastic audiences, and felt that it was important to ask these supporters to assist them in choosing selections for this concert by voting on the group’s website for their personal favorites.

The performance will include opera choruses from Aida and Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi, music by G.F. Handel and Ralph Vaughan Williams, along with Russian folk songs and other ethnic numbers. Works by John Rutter and Andrew Lloyd Webber will provide striking musical contrast to Adiemus and Diamond Music by Karl Jenkins and the compositions of John Williams from Star Wars and Amistad.

Also on the program is the samba-flavored “Santo” from Glenn McClure’s A Caribbean Mass, featuring the crowd-pleasing steel drums that have been so popular over the years in CMC’s Annual Holiday Prelude Concerts.

CMC is an ensemble of 55 professional-caliber vocalists in celebrating its tenth year of singing in western Connecticut. In addition to their regular three-concert season, CMC has performed by invitation at the White House, Lincoln Center and three times at Carnegie Hall. They have also performed as guests of Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra and West Point Military Academy.

The concert will be accompanied by Joseph Jacovino, Jr. on keyboards and the Connecticut Master Chorale Orchestra.

Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. Call 743-0473 or visit CMChorale.org for information or ticket purchase.