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Matthew Lewis talks about the upcoming St. George's progam
Posted 9/30/2025
St. George's Choral Society will be performing works by Baroque and Classical masters, including Vivaldi, Salieri, Mozart, Michael Haydn and Pergolesi, on November 23 at 3 PM at Church of the Holy Apostles, Ninth Avenue at 28th Street in New York City. Matthew Lewis, Artistic Director for the group, shares his insights on these composers and the program.
Laura Daly: For this concert you have selected composers who overlap in style, era and influence, but with very different reputations and legacies. Can you tell us why you chose to group these composers into one program?
Matthew Lewis: Well, it really started with the Vivaldi Magnificat -- an incredible piece I have wanted to do for some time. It's not his most popular work and I'm not sure why. Once that piece was on the program, one thing led to another, and then we had Pergolesi and Salieri (continuing in the Italian style), which took me to other sacred works, including the Michael Haydn Te Deum and Mozart Mass in C.
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Rebecca Scott to retire after 38 years leading Cantabile Chamber Chorale
Posted 9/10/2025
Cantabile Chamber Chorale announces the retirement of its beloved founding Artistic Director, Rebecca Scott, after 38 years of visionary leadership. Her final performance, "Echoes of Spain: Part II," will take place on December 6, 2025, marking the culmination of a remarkable tenure that has shaped the ensemble's identity and inspired generations of singers and audiences.
Rebecca helped establish Cantabile Chamber Chorale in New Jersey in 1987, bringing a bold artistic vision and a deep commitment to community engagement. Over the decades, she expanded the ensemble's repertoire to include multicultural and contemporary works, premiered dozens of new compositions, and fostered collaborations with local choirs and emerging composers. She also curated programs that explored themes of environmental stewardship, sustainable living and cosmic wonder, encouraging audiences to engage with music as a lens for understanding our world and the universe.
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- Harold Rosenbaum hosts Sounds Choral on WWFM on Sunday, October 5 at 2 PM (rebroadcast Tuesday, October 7 at 3 PM). The show will focus on sublime contemporary choral music that Harold has conducted and recorded over the decades. For details, visit www.wwfm.org/show/sounds-choral. (2025-9-30)
- West Side Rag has an article about auditioning for and singing with the Central City Chorus. (2025-9-10)
- The Long Island Community Chorus is the new name for the group formerly known as the Rockville Centre Choral Society. (2025-8-21)
- Chorus life is the backdrop for Angels’ Blood: Murder in the Chorus, the debut novel from Roberta Mantell, the pen name of Roberta Hershenson, who covered arts and culture for The New York Times as an independent writer and photographer for more than two decades and sang with the Oratorio Society of New York and The Cecilia Chorus of New York for more than twenty-five years. For details about the novel -- a deep dive into a fictional chorus dealing with two simultaneous mysteries: the murder of a young soprano after a concert and a disputed new 1899 Requiem discovered in the conductor's home -- visit robertamantell.com/angels-blood-murder-in-the-chorus/. (2025-7-12)
- Khorikos released its latest album, Across the Open Spaces, on the Navona Records label on May 23. The album features works by
Mason Bates, Evelin Seppar, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Kala Pierson, Kile Smith and Anna Meredith. More details at www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6732/. (2025-6-14)
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- September 29, 2025: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for the New York City Otaku Choir, a new community ensemble dedicated to celebrating music from anime, video games and Asian pop and folk traditions—alongside contemporary choral repertoire.
- September 16, 2025: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for Skylands Chorale, a new SATB community choir in Ringwood, NJ.
- August 25, 2025: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for Mendelssohn Club of Albany. New Choir Directory listing for Octavo Singers of Schenectady. New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for Albany Pro Musica. New Choir Directory listing for Saratoga Voices. Thanks to Clark Cooper for suggesting these listings.
- August 20, 2025: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for Crescendo, a choir based in northwestern Connecticut.
- July 31, 2025: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for the St. Peter's Choir, a church choir in Essex Fells, NJ.
- June 16, 2025: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for NYCP Chorus, a newly-forming volunteer SATB ensemble affiliated with the New York Chamber Players Orchestra.
- May 15, 2025: New Choir Directory listing for Rock Voices Montclair, a community choir in Montclair, NJ singing only rock music.
- February 25, 2025: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for The Heights Vocal Ensemble, based in Washington Heights.
- January 10, 2025: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for The Goldenrod Chorale, a new 55+ community choir in Hoboken, NJ.
- November 4, 2024: VAN milestone: just entered the 20,000th listing into our concert database that dates back to January 1998.
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