Mad River Chorale
Serving our Community Through Song
The Mad River Chorale (MRC) has been inspiring singers and audiences for over 30 years. We are a welcoming non-auditioned community chorus that performs concerts twice a year, in December and in the Spring. The MRC’s goal is to provide members an opportunity to sing a rewarding and challenging repertoire and to give our audience the experience of, and knowledge about, wonderful choral music.
Holiday Concert Program on Saturday Dec 14th and Sunday Dec 15th
Mary Jane Austin, the MRC’s music director, has selected the choral works for our Dec. 14th and 15th concerts this coming semester.
Our major piece will be J.S. Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio” (BMV 248) in English that was first performed in 1734. We will sing Part 1 (of the six parts) that describes the birth of Jesus accompanied by rich instrumentation: a string quintet, two oboes, two flutes, three trumpets and timpani!
The second half of the program will continue to make use of these instruments with Holst’s “Christmas Day” (a medley of familiar Christmas Carols), and an SATB version of Edward Elgar’s “The Snow” with words by his wife, C. Alice Elgar. We will sing a cappella Anton Bruckner’s “Ave Maria” and two traditional carols arranged by Robert Shaw and Alice Parker, “My Dancing Day” and “Masters in the Hall”.
And of course, we will finish with the Hallelujah Chorus sung by both chorus and the audience accompanied by trumpet and timpani. It should be glorious!
Rehearsals begin at Harwood Union High School on Monday, Sept. 9th at 7pm. If you are interested in singing, go to our “For Singers” page.
The Mad River Chorale is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Your donation helps the MRC to include instrumentalists – strings, harp, brass, and/or soloists – to accompany the chorale, enriching the experience for everyone. Thank you for considering! The button below takes you to our Square site.