Berkshire Choral Festival E-Newsletter March 2009

BERKSHIRE CHORAL FESTIVAL
BOARD NEWS

Five members of BCF’s Board of Trustees retired at the recent annual meeting in New York City, including chairman Michael McNaught (front right), who has served on the board since its inception in 1982. Other retirees were John Rindlaub (2001-2009, center), George Longstreth (1997-2009, front left), David Lindsay (1990-2009, back left; singer since 1982), and Lo-Yi Chan (1997-2009, back right). We thank them for their many years of service!

Newly elected to the board members are Glenn Broman, Sherwood Gorbach, John Ruby, and Jeannette Taylor.

Also at the annual meeting, long-term singer Amy Fine was elected Chair of the Board of Trustees. A college instructor and free-lance editor living in Bethesda, Maryland, Amy is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and New York University School of Law. She will be celebrating her 25th year at BCF in 2009 and has served on the Board of Trustees since 1996.

Message to choristers from the Chair:

“It is my great privilege to have been chosen to serve as the Chair of the Board of BCF. This wonderful organization has been part of my life for twenty-five years, bringing me music, friendship, and tremendous joy. We have seen many changes since BCF’s founding, and we have challenging times ahead of us. The Board and staff are dedicated to carrying out BCF’s mission of educating choral singers and promoting choral music. With the support of our loyal alumni and new members of the BCF family, I have every confidence that we can continue to do so.”

♫

FOCUS ON: Bach’s St. Matthew Passion

The St. Matthew Passion of Johann Sebastian Bach, often called the greatest setting of the Passion story in western music, will be the repertoire for Week V in Sheffield, August 9-16, with the concert on August 15. It will be sung in German. Although Bach composed his towering masterpiece in 1729 and revised it in 1745, the St. Matthew Passion was all but forgotten for nearly a century, until Felix Mendelssohn presented the work in a famous Berlin concert in 1829. This led to a rediscovery of not only this piece, but also of all of Bach’s compositions.

Gary Thor Wedow, Baroque specialist, will be our guest conductor for the week. Gary has been with us most recently for Bach’s B Minor Mass, Handel & Mozart in our Santa Fe venue, and an unforgettable Opera Evening in Sheffield featuring excerpts from William Tell, Aida, and Mascagni’s Iris.

Soloists are Sanford Sylvan, baritone, Amy Burton, soprano; Laura Vlasak Nolen, mezzo-soprano, and Christòpheren Nomura, baritone, with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra.

There are still vocal spots available. Apply Here Online!

Follow this link to see what other openings we have in the 2009 concert season: http://www.choralfest.org/sing/choristers/chorister_openings.php