The Warwick Valley Chorale's rehearsals for its Spring 2020 season are underway.
WVC Concerts May 2020
'This season’s program, directed by Stanley Curtis and accompanied by Gail Johnson, is titled “Songs of Faith and Freedom.” The repertoire includes pieces from Pavel Chesnokov’s “Salvation is Created” to Mack Wilberg’s “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need” to Joel Raney’s “Hymn of Grateful Praise”, among others. The Warwick Valley Chorale will also be performing some of these pieces at Carnegie Hall on June 15, 2020.
The local performances will be rounded out with a wide selection of well-known songs, including “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” as well as the Warwick Valley Chorale’s commissioned piece “Down to the River to Pray” by Gwyneth Walker.'
Friday, May 15th, 7:00 pm, at the Grace Episcopal Church, 58 North Street, Middletown NY 10940.
Sunday, May 17th, 4:00 pm, at the Warwick Reformed Church, 16 Maple Avenue, Warwick NY 10990
Other highlights for the upcoming season include a return to Carnegie Hall on June 15,
"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.
