The North Country Chorus begins rehearsals for its spring 2023 concert onTuesday, January 17. Rehearsals are held every Tuesday at the St. Johnsbury
Academy Morse Center for The Arts, from 7:15 to 9 pm.
New singers, regardless of previous choral experience, are always welcome
to join this community chorus, now in its 75th year. The only requirements
for participation are a love for singing and a strong commitment to
rehearsals and the performances on May 6 and 7.
Under the direction of Alan Rowe, the chorus will be performing Considering
Matthew Shepard by Craig Hella Johnson. Using a multitude of different
musical styles and genres, this work is an oratorio to this “ordinary boy,”
who was murdered in 1998 and whose death brought international attention to
gay rights and hate crime legislation. In his foreword to the work, Daniel
Bara states that “this 105-minute narrative offers a sweeping and
multi-hued meditation on mankind’s predilection for cruelty toward those
who we view as different. But it resounds, unmistakably, with a rousing
affirmation for the redemptive power of love and gratitude as it encourages
us to recognize the beauty of our underlying oneness with each other. More
than a timely and poignant memorial for its namesake, the enduring art of
Considering Mathew Shepard is its power to reawaken and renew our love and
compassion for one another regardless of race, gender, orientation, or
religion….”
Several performances of Considering Matthew Shepard are available on
YouTube for those who wish to hear it prior to the first rehearsal.
The mission of the North Country Chorus is to introduce singers to the
larger choral masterworks along with staples of the choral repertoire and
bring them to the public. For more information and to register for the
chorus go to the website at northcountrychorus.org. Questions may be
directed to Alan Rowe at musicdirector@
802-748-5027.
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