2008-2009 Season

Directions to Concerts

All VOICES venues are wheelchair-accessible.

In the event of inclement weather on concert dates, please call 609-637-9383 or check our web site for announcements.

Download or print our season brochure!

VOICES Chorale  2008-2009
Our 21st season includes three Christmas concerts, the Haydn Lord Nelson Mass with the Newtown Chamber Orchestra, and a June “American Songbook” concert featuring Thompson’s Frostiana and excerpts from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. And now tickets can be ordered online!

December 2008

"Nowell! Nowell!"

Featuring (subject to change):

Also featuring harp, piano, English horn and handbells!

We invite you join us for our three performances:

January 2009

SING FOR THE CURE

VOICES Chorale
Sotto Voce

J.A. Kawarsky, Conductor

With members of Pennsbury High School Choirs, Jason Vodicka, Conductor
Narrators and soloists from Congregations Beth El and Kol Emet
Featuring Mezzo-Soprano Lucia Bradford and
American Idol Star Anwar Robinson
VOICES Artistic Director Lyn Ransom will be a guest singer and soloist

American Idol Star Anwar Robinson

Sing for the Cure ® is a unique musical experience of humanity’s journey through breast cancer. Conceived from the stories of patients, spouses, children, and the medical community, this piece features chorus, soloists and narration.

The chorus will be augmented by choirs from Pennsbury High School, Jason Vodicka, director, as well as soloists Lucia Bradford and Anwar Robinson (of American Idol fame!), as well as narrators from the host congregation and community at large.

Proceeds from the concert will benefit the Princeton Breast Cancer Resource Center, based at the Princeton YWCA, which serves Mercer and Bucks counties.

Dr. J.A. Kawarsky,
Conductor

Mezzo-Soprano Lucia Bradford

VOICES

March 2009

VOICES Young Composers and Family Concerts

Winners of 2008 Children's Music Composition Contest

VOICES Chorale
Sotto Voce

Winners of our 21st annual Children's Composition Contest!

Lyn Ransom, Andrew Monath,
Conductors

Ryan Brechmacher,
Piano

Families, friends, and the general public are invited to join the winners of the 21st Children’s Music Composition Contest and the VOICES Chorale in our VOICES Young Composers concert.

For VOICES’ annual Music Composition Contest, children ages 5-12 are invited to compose a piece of music with a vocal element. Each submission are reviewed by an established composer. Many children perform their own pieces at the concert.

Ticket Ordering Information
Tickets may be ordered online up to the day prior to the concert, or purchased at the door. You may also call 609-637-9383 and leave your contact information to receive a return call to complete the ticket purchase.

25% discount with NJ Arts Pass at New Jersey venues!

All tickets may be purchased online in advance, up to the day prior to the concert. All advance ticket orders are on a "will call" basis and will be held for you at our concert box office. Please print your online receipt as proof of purchase. Thank you for your order!

Monday, March 30, 7:30 p.m., Music Together, 225 Pennington-Hopewell Road, Hopewell, New Jersey 08525

Tuesday, March 31, 7:00 p.m. at Chandler Hall Assisted Living Facility, 99 Barclay Street, Newtown, PA 18940

April 2009

In Harmony with Haydn!
Featuring Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass and other works.

A joint concert of
the Newtown Chamber Orchestra and VOICES Chorale

Russell Hoffman, Conductor

Lyn Ransom, Conductor

Both Lyn Ransom of VOICES and Russell Hoffmann of the Newtown Chamber Orchestra will conduct in these concerts. Four outstanding soloists are featured:

Katherine Wessinger, soprano

Biraj Barkakaty, countertenor

Jack Zamboni, tenor

David Fryling, bass

The Newtown Chamber Orchestra, in its nineteenth year, is a highly acclaimed ensemble performing both period and contemporary chamber works. Its mission is dedicated to educating audiences to classical and modern chamber music, promoting new chamber works by contemporary composers, and encouraging young musicians of the community. The all-professional orchestra premiers commissioned works, hosts an annual Young Musicians Competition, and features solo performances by local as well as internationally known artists. As a non-profit organization, the Newtown Chamber Orchestra relies on grants, sponsorships, subscribers, patrons, and contributions from the business community, as well as an advertising section of its program book.

In 1798, Haydn's reputation was at its peak, but his world was in turmoil. Napoleon had won four major battles with Austria in less than a year and was now marching through Europe, striking fear into the hearts of all who felt they might lie in his path. It was a time of great uncertainty for all. Haydn felt moved to compose a mass in a minor key - reflective of the pervasive anxiety abounding. This new mass was completed in 53 days, during which time Haydn received news of the great victory of Nelson over the French at the Battle of the Nile. As we hear the trumpets in this Mass in d Minor, or as he titled it Missa in Angustiis (Mass in Time of Anxiety) we hear them as a call to war and also a call to victory. Two years later, Haydn had the opportunity to perform this mass for Admiral Lord Nelson himself, and it is this performance that created the alternate name “Lord Nelson Mass” for this wonderful work of Haydn.

Also on the program are Handel's Zadok the Priest; two Mexican Baroque motets performed by Sotto Voce, VOICES' chamber group, and the orchestra; and Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3, performed by orchestra alone.

Saturday, April 25, 2009, 8:00 p.m. at the St. Paul Roman Catholic Church, 214 Nassau Street, Princeton, NJ

Sunday, April 26, 2009, 3:00 p.m. at the Community Crossing Church, Newtown, PA

June 2009

American Songbook

VOICES Chorale
Sotto Voce

Soloists

Featuring Randall Thompson’s Frostiana, George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, and favorite folk songs and spirituals

Third Concert Added!

Ticket Ordering Information
Tickets may be ordered online up to the day prior to the concert, or purchased at the door. You may also call 609-637-9383 and leave your contact information to receive a return call to complete the ticket purchase.

25% discount with NJ Arts Pass at New Jersey venues!

$3 DISCOUNT FOR ADVANCE TICKET ORDERS PRIOR TO DAY OF CONCERT!

All advance ticket orders are on a "will call" basis and will be held for you at our concert box office. Please print your online receipt as proof of purchase. Thank you for your order!

Friday, June 5, 2009, 8:00 p.m. at the Pennington Presbyterian Church, 13 South Main Street, Pennington, NJ

Saturday, June 6, 2009, 8:00 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Ewing, 100 Scotch Road, Ewing, NJ 08628
(Concert to benefit the 1867 Sanctuary Restoration Fund!)

Sunday, June 7, 2009, 3:00 p.m. at the Anchor Presbyterian Church, 980 Durham Road, Route 413, Wrightstown, PA 18940

2009 Summer Sings

If you or someone you know is a singer with some music reading skills, please join us this summer for informal read-throughs of choral masterworks. This summer we will offer singing nights in Hopewell, New Jersey, and in Wrightstown, Pennsylvania. Soloists, pianists, conductors and printed music are provided. There is a suggested donation at the door.

Thursday, July 16, 7:30 p.m., Carl Orff, Carmina Burana, Anchor Presbyterian Church, 980 Durham Road (Route 413), Wrightstown, PA 18940

Thursday, August 6, 7:30 p.m., Gabriel Fauré, Requiem and Cantique de Jean Racine, Music Together, 225 Pennington-Hopewell Road, Hopewell, New Jersey 08525

Auditions for new singers can be scheduled before and after the sings—call Sandy Duffy, membership chair, at 609-799-2211 for an appointment.