Con Brio, the shoreline area’s renowned all-auditioned chorus pictured above, will present its spring concert on Sunday, April 28, at 4 p.m., at Christ the King Church in Old Lyme. The newly-formed Con Brio Youth Choir will join the chorus to perform the feature work, John Rutter’s 2003 Mass of the Children.
Con Brio members are excited about this new youth choir, jointly sponsored by Con Brio and the Community Music School, because it promises to spread the singing of wonderful music among our children. Dr. Stephen Bruce will conduct the concert. Lisa Feltes of Old Lyme, pictured below, prepared the youth choir.
Soloists Danielle Munsel Howard, soprano, from Guilford and John Dominick III, bass, who made his Carnegie Hall debut singing Mozart’s Requiem last December, will join the Con Brio Festival Orchestra and Associate Music Director and keyboardist Susan Saltus to create another inspiring concert.
The first half of the program will feature Rutter’s Mass, a Latin Mass in five movements combined with other English texts in such a way that one is brought from morning through to evening. Commentator John Bawden says that the Mass is one of Rutter’s “finest and most moving works,” especially because the children’s choir has a central part to play. “It is they, not the adults,” he says, “who are heard at the very outset and their role throughout is integral to the overall concept of the Mass.”
Rutter wrote his Mass two years after losing his young son. It was first performed in New York City in 2003 and in 2005 was performed in Newtown, Conn.
The second half of the program features a collection of songs sharing the theme of love on the water. William Hawley’s 10-part madrigal, “Io Son La Primavera,” takes advantage of the surround-sound acoustics of Christ the King. Several of Aaron Copland’s Old American Songs, including “Long Time Ago” and “Zion’s Walls,” will be performed with their original orchestration.
James’ Erb’s arrangement of “Shenandoah” beautifully captures the flow of the river. Britten’s “Old Joe Has Gone Fishing,” from his opera Peter Grimes, celebrates the 100th anniversary of Britten’s birth. Jonathan Quick’s arrangement of Loch Lomond conveys the poignancy of the soldier at war. Rossini’s La Passeggiata, ed. by Kenneth Jennings, offers a boating adventure. Rossini’s well-known William Tell Overture is arranged for chorus by Julie Eschliman. The concert closes with Rutter’s thrilling arrangement of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, with the audience joining in the final chorus.
This concert is anticipated to be an uplifting one as spring is welcomed and celebrated with young people.
Tickets are $25 and available from any Con Brio member, through the website, www.conbrio.org, or by calling 860.526. 5399.
Christ the King Church is located at 1 McCurdy Road, Old Lyme, Conn.