Spring 2009 concert info

The singers of the Huntsville Master Chorale are excited about the upcoming concert. We will be premiering a composition written for the Chorale by local composer, Bryan Page. He was commissioned by the Chorale to compose an extended piece in honor of Hannah Marguerite Wright and Gregory Marshall Wright, Junior for the joy they bring to their parents' hearts. We wish for more children who bring joy to their parents' hearts (and elicit commissioned choral music).

The exciting work is titled Songs of Love and Loss. We singers are glad we learned to count in kindergarten. We need that skill as we try to keep up with Bryan Page's notes and rhythms. He has thrown us a real challenge as he continually changed the meter. He has scored the music to the love poems of E. E. Cummings, a challenge within itself. We have grown to the task and are enjoying its demands. It has an unusual combination of instruments for accompaniment - the horn, the harp and the cello.

The title of Bryan's commissioned work could not be more fitting for this spring concert. This will be the last concert conducted by our director, Tom Dooling. He is leaving us for Texas. Now how can that be? Tom has selected a fresh and varied program to compliment Bryan's commissioned work. Some are familiar, like Robert Burns' My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose and Lauridson's Dirait-on from his Chanson des Roses. You’ll be humming that melody for a week. His favorite selection is Songs Eternity by Stephan Paulus. This contemporary piece contrasts the women's voices with the piano, and Sharon Keffer will shine as she plays a duo role with the vocal sounds.

There will be farewell songs, like the musical setting of Major Sullivan Ballou's last letter home before his Civil War death. Another will be Dan Forrest's Oread Farewell, premiered in 2007. We singers can dedicate that one to our director.

We’re looking forward to the concert. Put the date on your calendar: April 24, 7:30 PM at Covenant Presbyterian Church on Drake Avenue in Huntsville (map to location). You, the public, are welcome. Come celebrate with us.