Choral Society Preparing For New Season;

Auditions Available For All Voices

SOUTH BRITAIN — The Connecticut Choral Society (CCS) under the direction of Eric Dale Knapp will begin its fall concert rehearsals on Monday, September 8, at 7:30 pm, at the South Britain Congregational Church Parish Hall.

Registration begins at 7 pm. CCS invites singers in all voice parts to attend its first rehearsal. Auditions will begin September 8 and continue through the month by appointment only. Call 206-7186 or visit the group’s website, CTChoralSociety.org, to arrange a time.

The church and its parish hall are at the corner of Route 172 and East Flat Hill Road in the South Britain section of Southbury.

The Choral Society’s two “Candlelight and Carols” concerts will be performed Friday, December 12, at Trinity Church in Newtown, and Saturday, December 13, at North Congregational Church in Woodbury. Program highlights will include A Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten, two settings of O Magnum Mysterium, and Dancing Day by John Rutter.

The Connecticut Choral Society is made up of more than 60 auditioned singers from over 20 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.

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

In July, Artistic Director and Conductor Eric Dale Knapp led the Olympic Festival Orchestra and Chorus in Beijing – an international chorus of over 600 singers with a 90-piece symphonic orchestra – in a concert of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. This concert was presented in celebration of the 2008 Beijing Olympics as the finale of the Perform in Harmony with Olympic Spirit Festival. Next summer will find Mr Knapp in Vienna, Austria, 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 a grant from the Connecticut Commission on Arts and Tourism, a state agency, for operations support. In addition, CCS is funded by contributions, grants and underwriting from our loyal supporters, businesses, and financial institutions in the region.