Voices of youth from across the state will ring from Mead Chapel on the Middlebury College campus on Saturday afternoon, May 5, at a special 1:00pm concert. Fifty students from grades six through nine will convene on campus on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning for rehearsals to prepare for the special spring concert. Tickets at the door are $6.00 for students and seniors; $8.00 for general adult admission; and $20.00 as a family maximum (cash/checks accepted).
Children selected for the Honors Choir from these schools (and their teachers) in Addison County and across the state and Connecticut River Valley are:
Beeman Elementary School, New Haven (Sarah Metcalf): Martha Bruhl;
Mt. Abraham Union High School (Megan LaRose): Anthony Clodgo, Fiona O’Neil, Rebekah Martin, Amelia Bruhl, Arianne Wilson, Genevieve Chiola, Harmony Taggart, Paige Parker;
Vergennes Union HS (Karen Jordan): Ellie Martin, Emma Duprey, Emma Gardner, Kyra Duggento, Laura Boelens, Lindsay Anderson;
Weybridge Elementary School (Sarah Metcalf): Bethany Palmer, Ella Fitzcharles, Ella Nagy-Benson, Laura Whitley, Nicole Palmer, Emee Lamb;
Charlotte Central School (Andrea Haulenbeek): Ashley Clark, Curren Simard, John Delisle, Katie Mahoney, Maya Townsend, Mira Kaplan, Morgan Schnell, Sabina Davis, Simone Holmes, Tatun Braun;
Hinesburg Community School (Jenny Cianciola): Ethan Cote, Jeremy Lang, Katya Marsh, Kimberly Cribari, Madison MacMahon, Marley Steen, Shianne Jimmo;
Good Shepherd Catholic School, St. Johnsbury (Janet Edmondson): Emma O’Reilly;
Upper Valley Music Center, Lebanon, NH (Becky Luce): Danyelle Goodwin, Elizabeth Hardt, Jessica Jones, Jossie Bourne, Omega Haehnel, Tess Snyder;
Woodstock Union HS/MS (Lisa Robar): Michaela Wimett, Shannon Herrick, Stephanie Hendrick, Kaelee Geno.
The theme of this year’s choir festival and concert is “Making Music.” Children will prepare uplifting and inspiring songs for treble voices including Felix Mendelssohn’s Laudate pueri Dominum (Praise the Lord, children) and music by six contemporary American composers: How Can I Keep from Singing? arranged by Gwyneth Walker; Where the Music Come From by Lee Hoiby; The Arrow & The Song by Joshua Shank; Lux Aeterna (Light everlasting) by Z. Randall Stroope; Sky-Born Music by Paula Foley Tillen; and Yo Le Canto Todo El Dia (I Sing to You All Day Long) by David Brunner.
The honor choir will be conducted by Michael Sanflippo. He is the Director of the Apprentice Chorus and teacher at the Newark Boys Chorus School (NBCS) in Newark, NJ where he instructs music theory and ear-training to the boys in grades 4-8 as well as serving as the Associate Music Director of the Concert Chorus. Sanflippo holds degrees from Philadelphia College of Performing Arts and the Teachers College at Columbia University in New York, as well as a choral conducting certificate from the Kodaly Institute in Hungary. Michael has been guest conductor and clinician at a number all-county, church, school, and community festivals choruses, and the ACDA division convention. He also serves as the Musical Director of Concord Singers in Summit, NJ, Musical Director of Harmony Singers in Wayne, NJ and Director of Music at the Community United Methodist Church in Roselle Park, NJ.
The choir will be accompanied by Vermont concert pianist and composer Diane Huling. She has performed throughout Europe and North and South America as a soloist and accompanist. Bringing music to her local community is also important to Diane, and among many community projects she has produced a community concert series in Montpelier, performed live on Vermont Public Radio, and founded and conducted the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra Society. She has also taught music at Johnson State and at Dartmouth Colleges.
This annual event, first held in 1999 at the University of Vermont, moves to various locations around the state from year to year and features students whom school, church and community choir directors nominate to participate. Choir directors are members of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). The Middlebury College Music Department’s choral activities program is pleased to help with hosting this year’s festival, which is organized by Susan Cherry, Vermont ACDA Board Member. For more information about the Vermont ACDA and festival, see www.vtacda.org.
# # #
in grades 6 – 9
Vermont ACDA 