August 17, 2020: In a press release today: "The Warwick Valley Chorale has announced with regret that it has cancelled its Fall 2020 season and will not be performing its traditional Holiday Concerts this December. At this point, the Chorale plans rehearsals for its next season to begin in late January 2021."
I was very sorry to hear of the passing of Stanley Curtis.
It was a great pleasure for me to come to Warwick and meet Stanley, along with the members of this enthusiastic group. I’m glad I had the opportunity to sit with him and chat during dinner. I felt that he was a very special person, and we had a nice chat about Music, and about life.
I send my best wishes for the future of the choir. Hopefully at some point we shall cross paths again.
Warm wishes and condolences,
Henry M
PS Please be well and take care of yourselves during this viral crisis. I send all of you my blessings and good wishes.
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From Gwyneth Walker:
I am overcome with grief in reading your email. Words fail me at this moment.
Thank you for letting me know about Stanley's passing. I keep you, Stanley and all of your chorus in my heart.
Gwyneth
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From Ivo Antognini -
Thank you very much for telling me about Maestro Curtis' death.
I'm so sad about this 🙁
I remember him very well, his humanity, his love for choral music.
He certainly was a good man with a big heart.
I'm sure that he changed the life of many people and this is the most important thing.
The picture with him that I have in my Carnegie Hall album has now an even more value.
Please bring my regards to the choir and thanks again for informing me.
IVO ANTOGNINI
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From "Songs of Love: Stanley Curtis in Recital" - a concert given at SUNY Orange on January 31, 2016:
From an LP recording of the concert of Handel's Messiah in December 1968 by the Vassar College Choir and Amherst College Glee Club featuring Stanley Curtis, Tenor:
The Warwick Valley Chorale has suspended its Spring 2020 season and plans to restart in September
to begin preparing for the Fall choral season.
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Special notice - August 27, 2020:
Vienna Tomesheski Aubert created a special spot on FaceBook for raising funds for the WVC:
"For my birthday this year, I'm asking for donations to Warwick Valley Chorale Inc. I've chosen this nonprofit because their mission means a lot to me, and I hope you'll consider contributing as a way to celebrate with me. Every little bit will help me reach my goal.
"The concerts, directed by Stanley Curtis and accompanied by Gail Johnson, featured musical selections ranging from Henry Mollicones's cantata, 'A Christmas Celebration,' to Ed Legeski's choral revue, 'I Love Christmas,' featuring many classic holiday favorites."
Professor Mollicone (https://henrymollicone.com) was the guest conductor for the performance of his "A Christmas Celebration" at WVC's concert on Sunday, Dec. 15th, at 4:00 pm at St. Stephen RC Church.
Stanley Curtis, Zoey Savale, and Henry Mollicone apre-concert, Dec. 15, 2019.
Photo by Chris Hart
Click here to see Roger Gavan's article in the Warwick Advertiser about WVC's Dec. 15 concert.
WVC members are ready for their December 2019 concerts. photo by Ed Bailey
See the articles about our December concerts in the Warwick Advertiser - click here,
Click here for an article about the composer and conductor, Jim Taylor, of The Cambridge Songs.
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"This season’s repertoire, directed by Stanley Curtis and accompanied by Gail Johnson, literally represents 1,000 years of song. The Cambridge Songs Suite No. 2 was composed in 2018, using 11th century lyrics (whose original tunes have been lost) to create an exciting and gorgeous modern cantata. The Warwick Chorale will join the composer’s own choruses to sing the world premiere of this work at Carnegie Hall in June."
Click here and take a look back at WVC's Fall 2018 season:
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A look back at WVC's 75th anniversary year: Fall 2015 and Spring 2016
featuring two world premieres.
The WVC participated in a world premiere performance in Carnegie Hall on May 28th, 2016,
of Ivo Antognini's A Prayer for Mother Earth.
Members of the Warwick Valley Chorale getting ready to enter Carnegie Hall.
Stanley Curtis, the Conductor of the Warwick Valley Chorale, congratulates the composer, Ivo Antognini,
on the marvelous score for his A Prayer for Mother Earth.
Dr. Curtis along with 65 other members of the WVC joined
about 150 other choristers from New Jersey, North Carolina, Texas and Switzerland
in Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium accompanied by the composer on piano and the New England Ensemble.
Andrew Crane masterfully conducted the performance to a standing ovation from the audience.
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"Our next New York City appearance will be on May 28, 2016 as the central chorus performing the world premiere of Ivo Antognini’s A Prayer for Mother Earth, at Carnegie Hall. This will be followed by two local concerts in early June, 2016 featuring the same piece, a glorious modern “oratorio for life” with lyrics in English that are drawn from Native American prayers, Saint Francis of Assissi and Archpriest Grigori Petrov, among others. In our local concerts we will also sing a selection of American Spirituals arranged by John Rutter, plus a few other surprises."
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Gwyneth Walker's arrangement of Down to the River to Pray, premiered by the Warwick Valley Chorale at their December 2015 concerts and by popular demand was performed again at WVC's June 2016 concerts in Middletown and Warwick:
Down to the River to Pray - Performance on Dec. 13, 2015
Audio by Tom Venable and video by Rachel Rosen
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Click here to see highlights from WVC's recent seasons: in Orange County, New York City and the world.
