CONCORA Summer Festival

Year: 
2016
Date(s): 
July 24–30, 2016
Location: 
Bethany Covenant Church, 785 Mill Street, Berlin, CT
Shakespeare’s Legacy. April 2016 marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, so it seems fitting to honor his singular contribution to the vocal repertoire by featuring some settings of his most famous lines in CONCORA Summer Festival 2016.
 
Ralph Vaughan Williams had a particular affinity for Shakespeare’s words. We will feature two of his works based on the Avon Bard’s plays: “Serenade to Music” adapted from The Merchant of Venice, and “In Windsor Forest,” settings of texts by Shakespeare and his contemporaries from Sir John in Love, Vaughan Williams’ opera about Falstaff.
 
We will also sing several smaller choral settings of Shakespeare’s texts by composers John Rutter, Emma Lou Diemer and Erik Neilsen, who has had a long relationship with CONCORA.
 
We will finish with a wonderful setting of Shakespeare’s “Songs and Sonnets” by jazz pianist George Shearing, offering proof that the words of
England’s greatest poet transcend time.
 
Rehearsals are Sunday afternoon, Monday evening, Wednesday evening, Friday evening, and Saturday morning. The public concert is at 4:00 PM on Saturday, July 30.

Festival tuition is $190. CONCORA offers Choral Scholarships to qualified high-school and college-age students.

Contact telephone: 
Contact email: 
Connecticut