Voices from the College and
local communities singing together
Love to sing? Join us!
The College-Community Chorus comprises Middlebury College students, staff and faculty, and singers from towns and villages throughout Addison County and across the lake in New York State. The Chorus, numbering nearly 100 singers, is open to all singers (high school age and up) without audition. We assume you can follow along a musical score and sing a melody accurately.
Regular rehearsals: Sunday / Tuesday evenings,
7-8:30pm, Mead Chapel
Fall 2009 rehearsals begin Tuesday, September 8;
new members welcome to join through September 27.
2009/2010 season
A Thanksgiving Celebration
Saturday, November 21, 7:00 pm
Burlington First United Methodist Church
Sunday, November 22, 3:00 pm
Mead Chapel, Middlebury College
Annual Messiah Sing
Sunday, December 20, 2:00 pm
Middlebury Congregational Church
A Choral Potpourri
A Special Concert on Mother's Day
Sunday afternoon, May 9, 2010, 3:00 pm
Mead Chapel, Middlebury College
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Our Thanksgiving 2009 program features music of noted British composer-conductor John Rutter, including his vibrant settings of texts from psalms 100 and 47, O Be Joyful and O Clap Your Hands, alongside his stirring Gloria! Also included is Make a Joyful Noise by 20th-century Welsh composer William Mathias. The program highlights selections from G. F. Handel's splendid Dettingen Te Deum (We Praise Thee, O God).
Songs of our hope, peace, and love include Blessed are the Peacemakers by Middlebury College professor Peter Hamlin; Set Me as a Seal by Concordia College composer-conductor René Clausen; and the serene anthem Grant us Thy Peace by Felix Mendelssohn. We reprise two pieces from our past Thanksgiving concerts by contemporary American composer Stephen Paulus, Hymn for America and Pilgrims' Hymn.
Our program concludes with Vermont composer Gwyneth Walker's setting of the Quaker song How Can I Keep from Singing, and the rousing gospel song Rejoice! by African-American composer Jeffery Ames.
The Chorus is conducted by Jeff Rehbach, now in his tenth season leading the group, and accompanied by George Matthew, Jr., who also serves as carillonneur of Middlebury College.
For more information, please contact Jeff Rehbach at 443-5811 rehbach @ middlebury.edu or Barbara Merz, Chorus Manager, at 443-5356 merz @ middlebury.edu
The Chorus also sponsors the annual Middlebury Messiah Sing , held each December, open to all singers and players for a delightful afternoon of community music making.
The origins of the Community Chorus date back more than 150 years when the Middlebury Musical Institute, a choral group, was established. Today the Chorus is open to all singers, without audition, including members of the local community and students, faculty, and staff of the College. We count on participants to carry a tune accurately and to follow along a musical score, and we pledge to foster excellent musicianship through our rehearsals and performances. Recent concerts have included works of Brahms, Faure, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Randall Thompson, Jean Berger, John Rutter, George Gershwin, and Morten Lauridsen.The Chorus is directed by Jeff Rehbach, and accompanied by George Matthew, Jr, who is also is the College's distinguished master carillonneur.
All photos on the College Community Chorus pages
©Ernest R. Longey and used with permission