Southern Delaware Chorale to perform May 7 at Indian River High School
The Southern Delaware Chorale will present "How Can I Keep from Singing" Sunday, May 7, at 4 p.m.at Indian River High School in Dagsboro. The concert features three of the organization's performance groups, the Southern Delaware Chorale, the Southern Delaware Treble Ensemble and the Southern Delaware Ensemble. The concert highlights choral repertoire that explores the joys of music. The music comes from a variety of genres, time periods and choral traditions.
The largest piece the chorale will be performing is Ralph Vaughan William's “Serenade to Music” with text by William Shakespeare. Written in 1938 to honor conductor Sir Henry Wood, “Serenade to Music” was originally scored for 16 professional soloists and orchestra. The work is approximately 13 minutes long and contains large solo sections interspersed with dense choral texture.
The remainder of the music is shorter choral works ranging from Baroque literature to Broadway ballads. SDC Artistic Director Joseph Shortall is very excited to be conducting “My Spirit Sang All Day” by Gerald Finzi. "The piece pays special homage to Finzi's wife Joyce Black by consistently reiterating 'O my Joy.' This piece is a great challenge for our ensemble, but it has wonderful harmonies that are so enjoyable to sing," he said.
Assistant Director Sarah Rose is equally excited about the challenging yet rewarding repertoire on this program. She said, "The selection I am looking forward to singing is the traditional shape note hymn, ‘Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal.’" In additional to the repertoire listed above, the chorale will also be singing “Make Them Hear You” from the musical "Ragtime" and Gwyneth Walker's arrangement of “How Can I Keep From Singing.”
Indian River High School is located at 29772 Armory Road, Dagsboro. Tickets are $20 for adults and $8 for students, and can be purchased at the door, or at southerndelawarechorale.org or 302-260-7022.
The Southern Delaware Chorale is having auditions Saturday, May 6, for the Lee Mitchell Scholar program. Recipients of the scholarship receive free private voice study for a year and participate in the chorale's concert season. All junior and senior high school students are eligible to participate in the program. For more information, go to southerndelawarechorale.org.
