Connecticut Choral Society Open To New Members

SOUTHBURY — The Connecticut Choral Society (CCS) under the direction of Eric Dale Knapp have begun spring concert rehearsals and announce that openings are still available for singers who would like to join the group for its spring concert.

Auditions will continue through the end of January by appointment only. Call 203-206-7186 or visit the group’s website, CTChoralSociety.org to arrange a time.

There are openings in all voice parts. CCS rehearsals each Monday evening in the parish hall of South Britain Congregational Church, on Route 172 at the corner of East Flat Hill Road.

Connecticut Choral Society (CCS), Inc. is made up of more than 60 auditioned singers from 19 area towns. Founded in 1980, CCS is committed to providing a music resource for Connecticut, encouraging the singing and performance of choral music of high artistic quality, and stimulating greater appreciation and enjoyment of choral music.

CCS performs locally several times each year and has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, toured internationally, and has performed on network television.

The Choral Society’s spring concert, “A Concert of Psalms,” will feature music from the Renaissance to the 21st Century based on Psalm texts. The program includes Schubert’s Psalm 23, Palestrina’s Sicut Cervus, Rutter’s Psalm 150, and other settings. The music will elicit both the meditative and celebratory nature of the Psalms.

CCS will be joined by Litchfield County Children’s Choir for the concert, which will be performed at Naugatuck Congregational Church at 2 pm on Sunday, April 27.

In July, Mr Knapp will lead the Olympic Festival Orchestra and Chorus – an international chorus of more than 600 singers accompanied by a 90-piece symphonic orchestra – in a concert in Beijing of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. This concert will be presented in celebration of the 2008 Beijing Olympics as the finale of the Perform in Harmony with Olympic Spirit Festival.

Summer 2009 will find Mr Knapp in Vienna, as artistic director and conductor of the International Haydn Festival – 2009. At least eight towns in Connecticut will be represented by CCS members who will sing in these performances.

This season, CCS has received grants from the CT Commission on Arts and Tourism (for general operating expenses) and the Connecticut Community Foundation (to underwrite the musicians for our spring concert). In addition, CCS is funded by contributions, grants and underwriting from supporters, businesses, and financial institutions in the region.