FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GMChorale Media Contact: Sarah Hager Johnston
Media Inquiries: gmcmedia@gmchorale.org
General Inquiries: info@gmchorale.org
Media Phone: 860-676-2228
Website: www.gmchorale.org
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gmchorale @gmchorale
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gmchorale/
Mailing Address: GMChorale, P.O. Box 527, Middletown, CT 06457
Noted music scholar Neely Bruce to offer pre-concert talk for GMChorale's "Jephte" on April 29
Dr. Bruce will talk about Carissimi’s oratorio Jepthe and its place in music history, and will offer comments about the other music on the program, including Haydn’s Te Deum. Following the concert, members of the audience will be invited to get a closer look at the instruments and talk with the players.
MIDDLETOWN, CONN. (April 19, 2018) — To introduce its audience to the rare beauty and historical significance of the early Baroque oratorio Jephte, the GMChorale has invited noted music scholar Neely Bruce, professor of music at Wesleyan University, to offer a talk prior to the GMChorale's performance of the music on April 29, 2018.
Continuing a long tradition of performing choral masterworks for the greater Middletown community, the GMChorale, led by Artistic Director Joseph D’Eugenio, will present Jephte, the exquisite but rarely-heard oratorio by early Baroque composer Giacomo Carissimi (1605-1674), on Sunday, April 29, 2018, at 4:00PM, at the MHS Performing Arts Center in Middletown. The program will also include a selection of favorite Renaissance madrigals and the sparkling Te Deum by Franz Josef Haydn. The concert is the final program in the GMChorale’s “Resounding Voices” 2017-2018 season.
“Carissimi’s Jephte, composed at the very beginning of what we now call the ‘Baroque’ period in music, was one of the first oratorios to use the format familiar to us now in works such as Handel’s Messiah,” said Joseph D’Eugenio, the ensemble’s Artistic Director. “The story is told by a narrator in sung recitatives, interspersed with dramatic arias and choruses that expand on the story or offer points of reflection.”
The pre-concert talk by Neely Bruce, John Spencer Camp Professor of Music at Wesleyan University, will begin at 3:15 for all ticket-holders. Dr. Bruce will talk about the place in music history of Carissimi’s Jephte, the final movement of which he has described as "one of the most beautiful and moving choruses ever written." Dr. Bruce will also offer comments about the madrigal selections and Haydn’s Te Deum.
Following the concert, members of the audience will be invited to get a closer look at the instruments and talk with the players.
Tickets are on sale now at www.gmchorale.org and will also be available at the door.
EVENT DETAILS:
What: Talk by Neely Bruce, professor of music at Weslayan University, followed by a choral concert given by the GMChorale and professional orchestra, led by Artistic Director Joseph D’Eugenio.
Program: Jepthe by Giacomo Carissimi, Te Deum by Franz Joseph Haydn, and a selection of Renaissance madrigals.
When: Sunday, April 29, 2018; pre-concert talk at 3:15PM, concert at 4:00 PM.
Where: MHS Performing Arts Center, 200 La Rosa Lane, Middletown, CT
Accessible: Yes
Tickets: $15-$35. Discounted rates are available for groups of 10 or more.
Reserve Tickets at: www.gmchorale.org. Tickets are also available at the door on the day of the concert.
More Info: www.gmchorale.org or gmcmedia@gmchorale.org
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The GMChorale – Established as the Greater Middletown Chorale, the GMChorale has become one of New England’s finest and most engaging choruses since its founding in 1977. As it completes its 41st season, the GMChorale is celebrated for its innovative symphonic choral presentations, and often performs with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, and other professional ensembles. Under the inspired leadership of Joseph D’Eugenio, now in his twentieth season as the ensemble’s Artistic Director, the 80-voice Chorale performs a wide range of choral repertoire, from beloved masterworks to newly commissioned pieces. GMChorale crowned its two European concert tours as the only choir providing music for the Sunday noon mass at Venice’s extraordinary Basilica San Marco. Alchemy, the GMChorale’s new semi-professional vocal chamber ensemble, established and directed by Joseph D’Eugenio, has already seen great success with concerts of early to contemporary music, both a cappella and accompanied, in a variety of settings. Under Maestro D’Eugenio’s leadership, the GMChorale has commissioned and premiered new choral works by leading composers including Gwyneth Walker, Eugenie Rocherolle, Peter Niedmann, Colin Britt, Ellen Gilson Voth, Lee McQuillan, and Henry Mollicone. In 2011, the GMChorale commissioned Connecticut Grammy nominee and composer, Sarah Meneely-Kyder, to create Letter from Italy, 1944 with the libretto by her sister, poet Nancy Meneely. In 2013, the GMChorale premiered the new oratorio in Middletown, Connecticut. The Chorale commissioned Karyl Evans to create a documentary of the oratorio’s historic background and creative process that was narrated by Meryl Streep. The stunning result, Letter from Italy, 1944: a New American Oratorio, earned an Emmy for its director in 2016. In May 2017, the GMChorale collaborated with The Hartford Chorale to perform Letter from Italy, 1944 with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford. Joseph D’Eugenio directed the semi-staged production, its professional soloists, the 200 singers of the combined Chorales, and the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in a memorable performance.
Joseph D’Eugenio – Joseph D’Eugenio is currently in his 20th year as GMChorale’s Artistic Director. Under his baton, the GMChorale celebrated its 40th anniversary season in 2016-2017 with concerts featuring Duruflé’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, the Hartford premiere of Sarah Meneely-Kyder’s oratorio Letter from Italy, 1944 with the Hartford Chorale and Hartford Symphony Orchestra, and the premiere season of Alchemy, the new semi-professional vocal chamber ensemble of the GMChorale. For more than two decades as conductor and clinician, D’Eugenio has led choruses and orchestras in preparation and performances of the great choral masterworks with orchestra. In 2009, D’Eugenio was named Conductor of the Year by the Connecticut Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. As guest conductor, D’Eugenio has led many workshops and festivals, including the CONCORA (Connecticut Choral Artists) Summer Festival in 2015. D’Eugenio has instructed choral groups at various schools, colleges, and universities, including Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. An accomplished pianist and organist, he has been Director of Music at First Congregational Church, Cheshire, Connecticut since 2003, where he oversees the church’s music program. An accompanist of the first rank and in demand by concert artists, D’Eugenio frequently accompanies song recitals and professional choral organizations, including CONCORA and VOCE. With undergraduate and graduate degrees in music from The Hartt School and the Universities of Hartford and Connecticut, he maintains a busy private piano studio.
Neely Bruce – Neely Bruce, Professor of Music and American Studies at Wesleyan University, is a composer, conductor, pianist and scholar of American music. His undergraduate degree is from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa; he received his DMA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has been visiting professor and artist-in-residence at Middlebury College, Bucknell University, the University of Michigan, and at Brooklyn College. He is the chorus director for Connecticut Opera, and, with his wife Phyllis, co-director of music at South Congregational Church in Middletown, Connecticut. For more information, visit www.neelybrucemusic.com
GMCHORALE CONTACTS
GMChorale Media Contact: Sarah Hager Johnston
Media Inquiries: gmcmedia@gmchorale.org
General Inquiries: info@gmchorale.org
Media Phone: 860-676-2228
Website: www.gmchorale.org
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gmchorale @gmchorale
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gmchorale/
Mailing Address: GMChorale, P.O. Box 527, Middletown, CT 06457
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Artistic Director Joseph D'Eugenio
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The Greater Middletown Chorale in concert
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The GMChorale is partially funded by generous grants from the following: the Community Foundation of Middlesex County; the Middletown Commission On The Arts; The Marjorie Jolidon Fund of the Greater Hartford Chapter, American Guild of Organists; and Connecticut’s Department of Economic and Community Development, Connecticut Office of the Arts which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
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