Chorale in rehearsal.
“To life! To life! L’Chaim!” With these words of the classic Jewish toast of celebration, the Chester River Chorale opens their spring concert celebrating American music with Jewish roots.
The Chorale will offer three performances this spring: An evening concert on Saturday, March 31 at 8 p.m., will be followed by two performances on Sunday, April 1, at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. All performances will be at the Garfield Center for the Arts at the Prince Theatre. Tickets are $15 for general admission, $7 for students, and free for children under twelve with a ticket.
Borrowing its title “L’Chaim! To Life!” from the song in “Fiddler on the Roof,” sung here with special Mid-Shore lyrics, the concert heralds spring in a celebration of life and features the Alexandria Kleztet, an authentic klesmer band known throughout the Mid-Atlantic region for its exciting and innovative arrangements of traditional Eastern European Jewish music and original compositions drawing on jazz, classical, world beat, rock and other musical genres.
The program offers some of the great American music of Jewish origin. Liturgical Hebrew settings, classic songs of the Yiddish theater and Broadway, and popular standards from the pre-WWII era will be performed by a cast of 85 voices, led by Chestertown Cantor Gary Schiff and many talented soloists from the Chorale and the Chester Chamber Singers.
Alexandria Kleztet band featured in the program.
Some of the composers and their works include excerpts from Leonard Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms” and George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess;” Sholom Secunda’s most popular song, “Bei Mir Bist Du Sheyn,” which brought instant fame to The Andrew Sisters; and heartfelt love songs, such as Jerome Kern’s “Long Ago and Far Away” and “Begin the Beguine,” by Cole Porter, the only non-Jewish composer on the program who sought and gained fame by emulating the style of his more successful Jewish colleagues.
The Chester River Chorale is directed by Douglas D. Cox and accompanied by pianist Sammy Marshall, who continues to work with the Soldiers Chorus of the United States Army Field Band where he served with Cox for 12 years.
Under their leadership, membership in the Chorale has grown significantly, standing-room-only audiences have become the norm, and a third concert, “Independence Forever!”, kicking off the Chestertown Tea Party, has been added to the traditional annual schedule of winter and spring concerts.
Chorale members are amateur singers from the Mid-Shore region who rehearse Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. at Heron Point of Chestertown. No audition is required.
The Chester River Chorale is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization funded in part by the Kent County Arts Council and by an operating grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive. The CRC’s Mission is to provide opportunity and inspiration for amateur singers to strive for artistic excellence. CRC performances entertain diverse audiences and enrich the cultural life of the community. For more information, visit www.chesterriverchorale.org or call 410–810–1438.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
2 p.m. and 5 p.m
Tickets:$15 for general admission, $7 students, free for children under twelve
Garfield Center for the Arts at the Prince Theatre
210 High St
Chestertown, MD 21620
410 810 2060
[email protected]
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