Chorale Connecticut‘s concert, Voices in Praise, is a significant and ambitious undertaking. The program is an alliance of several faiths - in particular those of Islam, Judaism and Christianity. This collaboration celebrates our universal voice by sharing our artistic expressions of spiritual praise. Our heartfelt appreciation goes to Cantor Dorothy Goldberg and Aida Mansoor for their guidance and support. Together, we have created a tapestry of chorale pieces with instrumental accompaniment and poetry readings featuring  Handel’s Praise the Lord from Judas Maccabaeus , Neil Ginsberg’s Hine Ma Tov, and Moses Hogan’s Hear My Prayer; classical Sitar music with readings of Rumi and Hafiz’s poetry.
This repertoire has given the Chorale members the opportunity for the first time to sing classical music of praise originating from the Hebrew and Christian psalms. Also for the first time, we have rehearsed in quartet style joining voices from different sections.

Chorale Connecticut’s spring concert applauded the gifts of life that nature brings. Fittingly, the date was May 1, 2010 and on that merry day the musical selections included in part Mi’kmaq Honour Song, a chant captivating the sounds of birds, wolves and chipmunks; Mayday Carol; Down by the Riverside, as well as two of William Blake’s songs. We celebrated spring with Dorothy Barnhart, Chorale Connecticut singers, Patricia Altieri and The Concert Choir from DePaolo Middle School at First United Methodist Church in Meriden. A promised evening of whimsy and fine music making.

The world of Silver Screen and Broadway - holiday favorites tickles your fancy and silent Sprites dance to your delight. This Chorale Connecticut performance shifted our emphasis away from the traditional to spotlight the familiar, evoking shared memories. You, our faithful and generous audience, inspired us to seek diversity in our themes, challenging the formats of past performance while continually striving for excellence in vocal harmony.

The preparations for this program offered unique challenges. The pitches and rhythms of the concert versions of these popular holiday songs were quite different and their harmonies complicated. Balancing these difficulties while perfecting the beauty of each work is what we loved best about our rehearsals.The music allowed the fullness of ha­­rmony to descend and embrace the audience.

Our May 9, 2009 concert brought a patriotic theme to our repertoire.
“Of Thee We Sing” included a well known medley of George M. Cohan pieces as well as the moving “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “In Flanders Field”.

For this stirring performance, Chorale Connecticut was proud to share the stage with the Southington High School Jazz Ensemble directed by Jeff Shaw. (hear them)

“In Joyous Spirit” is a multicultural choral experience.
Our singers successfully faced the challenge of perfecting the text for our Spanish, Hebrew, and Latin songs.
This concert consists of a collection of Spanish Carols and Lullabies from the Southwest with special accompaniment provided with harp, guitar, and the marimba. Our gifted harpist, Susan Knapp Thomas has performed with us several times, the most recent in December, 07, when she accompanied our Ceremony of Carols and mesmerized us with her harp solo. We are happy to include for the first time Richard Provost on guitar
and James Shuman on marimba and vibraphone. They complete the ensemble for these gorgeous Spanish songs.

Our 2008 winter concert was held on Saturday Dec. 6 at 7:30 pm
and Sunday Dec. 7 at 4:00 pm, at the First United Methodist Church
in Meriden, as we evoked memories of your warmest Christmas moments from years past.

We celebrated with selections including the medley
"American Christmas" by Z. Randall Stroope,
"O Magnum Mysterium" by Tomas Luis da Victoria, and
"Ave Maria" Franz Biebl. 

For the children and those young at heart, we performed several seasonal favorites such as "Twas the Night Before Christmas" by Moore and "Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer" by Marks.

Chorale Connecticut began its 11th concert season on May 5, 2007 with a musical program based on the "Love" theme. Selections ranged from 16th-17th century selections to music by modern composers such as Stephen Chatman, Elton John and Gwyneth Walker. Broadway favorites and a medley of Gershwin tunes were also featured. The concert was performed at the First United Methodist Church in Meriden. A special reception followed the concert at the Augusta Curtis Cultural Center.

We also offered selections of popular holiday favorites including “It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”, “Ding Dong Merrily on High”, “Once in Royal David’s City” and “Three Kings of Orient”.  This section included The First United Methodist Church Hand Bell ensemble and costumed surprises. A special holiday reception followed the concert.

For this performance, Chorale Connecticut was elated to feature:
• Beverly Myers (Soprano) from New York City,
  Master singer and teacher
• Laura Mashburn (Mezzo-Soprano)
• Wayne Rivera (Tenor)
• Ted Stasiuk (Bass)
• A fifteen-piece professional chamber orchestra