BRATTLEBORO — Under the direction of Susan Dedell, the Brattleboro Concert Choir performs an inspiring and challenging repertoire, ranging from classic choral masterpieces to contemporary works.
The choir presents concerts twice a year.
Interested new singers are encouraged to contact Dedell through the Brattleboro Music Center at 802-257-4523 or [email protected]. Rehearsals begin Sept. 16 in Brattleboro.
This year's programs begin with music by Morten Lauridsen and John Tavener, as well as young composer, Ola Gjeilo.
Lauridsen composed Lux Aeterna, performed by the choir in 2012. For this program, the chorus will turn to his Nocturnes. “Everything Lauridsen writes is gorgeous, and the Nocturnes are stop-your-heart beautiful,” says Dedell.
The choir will also be singing one of the great works of Tavener, who died in 2013, performing his Svyati for chorus and solo cello, with guest cellist Judith Serkin. Svyati is a mixture of light and dark, haunting and transporting. The piece is unusual in that it uses the chorus as a reverberant sound chamber around a solo cello voice.
Dedell says she is excited to introduce area audiences to the choral works of Gjeilo: Luminous Night of the Soul, Dark Night of the Soul, and Serenity, when choral music is accompanied by string quartet and solo piano.
The concluding concert of the 2015-16 season will be the Rachmaninoff All-Night Vigil, a towering masterpiece of the unaccompanied choral literature. Dedell says she last conducted this in 2006, and returns to this music with great joy.