Dear Friends:
Welcome to the 2017-2018 season of the Columbia Choral Society!
We had an amazing season last year! In October, we performed with the SC Philharmonic and then presented our own fall concert which featured the music of Brahms and Beethoven. Our spring concert, a collaboration with singers and musicians from Ridge View and Richland Northeast High Schools, received high praise from our audience. The young soloists and our Guthrie Darr scholarship winner, Michael N’twa, were truly inspiring examples of the next generation of singers. We concluded the season with a Piccolo Spoleto Festival performance of Jasmine Rhythms, an original piece written by Dick Goodwin, with text by Camden poet, Paddy Bell. Performed with Dick Goodwin’s Big Band to a packed house, this concert was a great success and wonderful way to end the season.
This year, we are looking forward to two concerts. In the fall, we will participate in another choral collaboration with singers from Chapin and Richland Northeast High Schools. Inspired by the solar eclipse, the theme of this concert is Darkness and Light. The program will feature works by twentieth century composers such as Morten Lauridsen, David Childs, Eric Whitacre, and Moses Hogan.
We will have two performances of this repertoire:
November 10 at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church (7:30)
November 12 at Centennial ARP Church (4:00)
In the spring, we’ll be performing Felix Mendelssohn’s Hymn of Praise, featuring guest soloists and instrumentalists. Prior to this concert, we’ll have our 2018 Guthrie Darr scholarship competition and hope to have our winner sing at the spring concert. Please make your plans now to join us on April 15, 2018, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church for a marvelous afternoon of music.
We have another exciting opportunity this season, as we have been invited to perform Haydn’s Theresienmesse (St. Theresa Mass) with Larry Wyatt in Barcelona in June. There is still time to enroll and take part in this magnificent performance!
It is an exciting time to be part of the Columbia Choral Society! Thank you for your continued support and participation. It’s going to be a great season!
Dr. Elizabeth M. Mears
Music Director
Columbia Choral Society