Cantata Singers Anniversary Season Wrap-up
The Cantata Singers 2013-2014 Anniversary Season Celebrating Five Decades of Choral Music in the Southern Tier
Our 50th anniversary performance season began with an amazing start with "The Festival of the Inn" featuring La Fiesta de la Posada by Dave Brubeck. With help from the Dan Paul trio and the Youth and Children's choirs of the Church of St. Mary Our Mother, the church was rockin'! A large and very appreciative audience braved our first big snow of the winter to help us launch our anniversary season.
The season continued on Saturday, March 1, at 7:30 pm with a wonderful performance before a large and very appreciative audience! The highlights of the Cantata Singers Celebration: Fifty Years of Concerts and Commissions concert were most certainly the first and most recent new music commissions. Warren Benson's Score of Praises received excellent reviews from singers and audience members alike and Will Wickham and Martha Horton's collaboration on Each Song is a Journey, dedicated to former singer Lou Sand, was a huge hit! A standing ovation brought the singers back for an encore of Franz Biebl's Ave Maria which is becoming a standard feature in the Cantata Singers repertoire!
Our season concluded wonderfully on Sunday, June 1st with a performance of the incomparable Mass in B minor by JS Bach accompanied by full orchestra. A large and very appreciative audience was moved to a standing ovation even as the final echoes of the Dona nobis pacem were fading. A truly excellent experience for all involved. What a great way to celebrate a 50th anniversary!
50th Anniversary Season Concert Programs: The Festival of the Inn; 50 Years of Concerts and Commissions; JS Bach Mass in B-minor
Our deepest and most heartfelt thanks to everyone who made our 50th anniversary season so memorable and successful! From singers to audience to committees and volunteers, you all contributed immensely to making the year what it was. Soli Deo gloria!
Special Commemorative Anniversary program still available!
Thanks to the efforts of the Cantata Singers 50th Anniversary Committee, we have published a history of the organization since the first concert in the spring of 1964. The booklet includes pictures and history from past seasons, information about previous directors and where they are now, along with follow up stories about winners of our long running Young Performers Competition. You can get your copy by phone or email using the “contact us” information on our website.
To help defray the cost of printing we respectfully suggest a donation of $5 per copy.
50th Anniversary Commemorative booklet available to order here
Click here to download a full size Festival Bach, Golden Anniversary Edition poster!
Special Commission Dedication In Memory of Lou Sand
Lou Sand, a long time singer and supporter of the Cantata Singers, was also a friend to everyone she ever met. For Lou life was truly a journey to be savored and enjoyed and her time with the singers was a big part of that journey. Therefore, it is with honor and great pleasure that the Cantata Singers, along with Lou's family and friends, dedicate! Each Song is a Journey to her memory. Sing on, Lou!
Lou Sand Memorial Fund
was made possible by a generous matching gift from the family of Lou Sand.
Additional support was provided by
Loueda & Brian Bleiler, Tony & Pat Ciccariello, Patrick & Robin Fitzgerald, Gene Heber, Dorothy Hoos, Martha Horton, Tony & Jean Papandrea, Lee Kiesling, Merrill & Lydia Lynn, James & Virginia Shippy, Cynthia Terry, David & Pat Hauser
50th Anniversary Committee
Dorothy Hoos, Martha Horton, Cora Range, Judy Sheasley