MANSFIELD, PA – Community singers from high school age through senior citizen are invited to sing in the Mansfield University Festival Chorus for the upcoming spring semester. The Chorus is under the direction of Peggy Dettwiler.
The Chorus meets on Tuesday evenings in Steadman Theatre from 7 to 9 pm., with the first meeting on January 15. Participation in the rehearsals and performances is open to all persons at the university as well as area high school students and community singers. Singers only need to vocalize for placement in the soprano, alto, tenor, or bass sections. Sectional rehearsals will take place on Wednesdays from 4:30 to 5:20 pm. Volunteer members are encouraged, but not required, to participate in sectional rehearsals. Performances will be held on April 13 at 7:30 pm and April 14 at 2:30.
The chorus will prepare two major works, Gloria by Antonio Vivaldi and Jazz Gloria by Rob Landes. Vivaldi’s Gloria, sung in Latin, was composed around 1725 for mixed chorus with trumpet, oboe, strings, and keyboard accompaniment. The Jazz Gloria, composed by Landes in 1994, will be sung in English and features piano, bass, and drums. They will offer a great contrast between the settings of the same text.
The Festival Chorus is a mixed chorus of about seventy-five voices, which is open to all university students as well as community singers. Large-scale performances with orchestra and professional soloists have included Handel’s Messiah, Orff ‘s Carmina Burana, Haydn’s Creation and Mass in Time of War, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Bach’s Mass in B Minor, and the Requiems by Brahms, Fauré, Mozart, Rutter, and Verdi. The Festival Chorus has produced numerous CDs and cassette recordings.
Music should be purchased in advance at the Campus Bookstore. For more information, call Peggy Dettwiler at 570-662-4721 or write to pdettwil@mansfield.edu