GRINNELL SINGERS
John Rommereim, director
May 6, 2007 Concert Photos
Information
for Choir Members
2006
Balkan Itinerary
Over the last decade, the Grinnell Singers have
distinguished themselves as an ensemble that performs innovative
and adventurous repertoire from a wide variety of choral traditions.
Their concerts have included monumental works such as Tallis’s
Gaude Gloriosa, and his 40-part motet, Spem in alium,
Martin’s Mass for double Chorus, Barber’s Agnus
Dei, Handel’s Dixit Dominus, Britten’s
War Requiem, and both Rachmaninov’s Divine Liturgy
and his All-Night Vigil. In the last three years, they
have premiered eleven choral works. In 2006, they will be premiering
an extended unaccompanied work by the 2005 Pulitzer Award winner,
Steven Stucky. The Grinnell Singers received a grant from the
Meet the Composers foundation for this commission, in a consortium
that includes the Kansas City Chorale, the Phoenix Bach Choir,
and the Seattle Pro Musica.
The Singers will be completing a concert tour of Romania, Bulgaria,
and Istanbul in March of 2006. The tour will include the European
premiere of Steven Stucky's commissioned work, collaborations
with Romanian and Turkish choirs, as well as performances of Robert
Levin's new completion of Mozart's Grand Mass in C Minor with
a professional orchestra in Bucharest. In 1994 and 2002, the Singers
were honored to receive invitations to the regional ACDA convention.
In 1996, they performed with the Des Moines Symphony in the premiere
of Broken Ground, by Grinnell Professor Jonathan Chenette. During
that same year, they also performed their Carnegie Hall debut.
In the spring of 2000, they completed a concert tour of the Baltic
region, with concerts in Finland, Estonia, Russia, and the Czech
Republic, culminating in a concert with the Prague Radio Orchestra.
Kurt Snook, host of the Choral Tradition show on WOI radio wrote
of the Singers’ 2003 recording of Rachmaninov’s All-Night
Vigil:
Russian liturgical music is, like Russian iconography,
at once accessible and remote; an almost mystical union. It requires
a choir of consummate artistry to achieve the requisite spiritual
simplicity and depth of expression in performance. The Grinnell
Singers display just such artistry and maturity of interpretation
in their recording of the All-Night Vigil by Rachmaninov. It is
an altogether remarkable cd.
Click here to listen to Priidite, poklonimsia
Tsarevi nashemu Bogu (Come, let us worship God, our King)
(2.2MB). Click here to listen to Blagoslovi,
dushe moya, Ghospoda (Bless the Lord, O my soul) (4.3MB).
Please contact John Rommereim
for more information.
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