Come sing with the Classic Choral Society
Highland Mills Janiece Kohler is celebrating her twentieth year as director of Classic Choral Society, and she will mark this milestone with a program offering music the singers will enjoy as much as the audience. “I’m excited to invite singers from throughout Orange County and the mid-Hudson to join us this season,” said Kohler. “It would be wonderful to once again see members who have taken some time off, and it’s always a great joy to meet new singers.” The fall program features choruses from J. S. Bach’s Cantata #140 “Wachet Auf, Ruft Uns Die Stimme” (“Wake Up, the Voice Calls to Us”) which was written for Advent, the season of preparation for Christmas; and Antonio Vivaldi’s “Gloria” as it was originally intended - for women’s voices. In addition to these classics, two contemporary composers’ work will be performed, including Bob Chilcott’s “On Christmas Night.” This work, which was only recently released for public performance, is made up of eight carol settings that follow the sequence of the Christmas story - from the fall of Adam through the promise of a child’s coming and the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, to the birth of the baby Jesus. “This program is designed to provide a fulfilling experience for choral musicians at all levels of expertise, and once again we will be working with many of the finest orchestral musicians in the Hudson Valley,” said Kohler, “I encourage anyone passionate about singing to join us on Monday evenings.” Rehearsals Rehearsals begin Sept. 19 from 7:30-9:45 p.m. at the Blooming Grove United Church of Christ, Route 94 at Old Dominion Road, Blooming Grove. The Classic Choral Society, established in 1959, is a non-profit, community chorus of adult singers dedicated to the study and performance of great choral works. Since 1992, it is under the direction of Janiece Kohler. To see the chorus in action, visit YouTube.com, where one segment of a recent performance of Brahm’s “Requiem” has attracted more than 5,700 views. For more information, call 845-928-6462 or visit www.classicchoralsociety.org.