Singing (and Drumming) in the Global Community Festival (6/1/2010)
The choir was pleased to host a multicultural festival at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansdale on April 10, 2010. The workshop hosted two other area children’s choirs, the Princeton Girlchoir under the direction of Lynell Joy Jenkins, and the New Jersey Youth Chorale, under the direction of Trish Joyce. The three choirs rotated through a series of workshops with noted clinicians Rollo Dilworth, who worked with each choir on one of his arrangements and on singing spirituals and gospel music, Jack Kessler, who lead a session on Jewish Music, Joe Tayoun, who taught Middle Eastern Drumming, and several members of Svitanya, who taught singing in the Eastern European style. In the afternoon, all the choirs combined to rehearse some common music from the morning sessions, and at the end of the day, presented an informal concert that was open to the public.
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The Concert Choir was honored to perform for the Eastern Division Conference of the American Choral Directors Association on Friday, February 12, 2010 at the Church of St. Luke and the Epiphany in Philadelphia. Presenting an eclectic program titled Untraveled Worlds, the choir performed ethnic music from Bulgaria, Estonia, and Lebanon, a challenging work by Finnish composer Rautavaara titled Suite de Lorca, and Paul Halley’s Untraveled Worlds to finish the program. They were joined by Maurice Chedid on oud, Joe Tayoun on drums, and Allison Gillespie on violin, adding color and intensity to the performance.
It is said that music is the universal language and that was very clear from the reception that The Bel Canto Children’s Chorus received on its 2009 tour of Italy in July. The Chorus performed concerts in various villages and cities, including Camigliano, Norcia, Assisi, and Spoleto. The audiences greeted the performances with standing ovations, tears and great enthusiasm. Even though many of them were unable to understand the lyrics, the choristers’ faces and hearts were able to convey beautiful messages through the music.