CONCORA Connecticut Choral Artists
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For information on upcoming concerts, please visit the Concerts page.

CONCORA's 2018-2019 Season
Time & Place

Laramie, Wyoming: Considering Matthew Shepard
CONCORA and the UConn Chamber Singers presented the regional premiere of Considering Matthew Shepard by Craig Hella Johnson, marking the 20th anniversary of the Wyoming college student's brutal murder. This concert was the first in CONCORA's new Music with a Mission Project — concerts outside of our usual season which raise money to support local charities. Conducted by Jamie Spillane, Director of Choral Studies University of Connecticut, with Chris Shepard, piano.
Saturday, November 3, 2018, 7:30pm - St. John's Episcopal Church, Stamford CT
Sunday, November 4, 2018, 4pm – Asylum Hill Congregational Church, Hartford CT
Sunday, November 11, 2018, 4pm - Mechanics Hall, Worcester, MA
Saturday, April 6, 2019, 8pm - von der Mehren Recital Hall, UConn, Storrs CT
Friday, April 26, 2019, 7:30pm -
First Church of Christ, Congregational, New Britain, CT
 
Dublin, Ireland: Handel – Messiah
Handel’s masterpiece in its entirety, with CONCORA soloists and chamber ensemble.
Friday, November 30, 2018, 7:30pm – St. James's Episcopal Church, West Hartford CT
 
Lübeck, Germany: Buxtehude – Membra Jesu Nostris, BuxWV75
In this hauntingly beautiful work by Buxtehude, the feet, knees, hands, side, chest, heart and face of the crucified Christ are interpreted allegorically. CONCORA was joined by organist Christopher Houlihan.
Sunday, February 10, 2019, 4pm – Trinity College Chapel, Hartford CT
(Snow Date
 – Monday, February 11)

New York, New York: Great Broadway Choruses
CONCORA was joined by high school singers for a program of ensemble numbers from Broadway shows, including West Side Story, Parade, Purlie, Anything Goes, and Titanic.
Saturday, March 9, 2019, 7:30pm – Trinity on Main, New Britain CT
 
Weimar, Germany: J.S. Bach – Weimar Cantatas
In our annual Bach concert, we presented three of Bach’s most famous cantatas, written when he was court composer in Weimar.
Himmelskönig, sei willkommen, BWV182
Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV12
Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV21

Sunday, March 24, 2019, 4pm –  Immanuel Congregational Church, Hartford CT
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CONCORA Summer Festival 2018
Wonderful Town! A Bernstein Choral Centenary
Saturday, August 4, 2018
Bethany Covenant Church, Berlin CT

From July 29 - August 4, 2018 CONCORA and friends came together at the CONCORA Summer Festival to celebrate the life and works of Leonard Bernstein, a man who left his mark on the American musical landscape as a composer, conductor, pianist, educator, and humanitarian. Representing Bernstein's life in the theater, we sang music from West Side Story, Wonderful Town, Peter Pan, and Candide. We also performed an abridged version of Bernstein's Mass, one of the most significant choral works of the 20th century. ​​We hope you will be able to join us next year!

2017-2018 Season: Choral Masterworks

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An overflow audience responded quickly with comments:

We came all the way from Massachusetts to see you guys and let me say, well worth the trip. You guys were phenomenal. We go to concerts all the time and this was the best one we have been to!

I can't wait for the next concert! 

Wonderful, wonderful concert!! Thank you to CONCORA!


Wonderful performance - BRAVO!

It was fabulous. Thank you for a lovely afternoon.


I loved it! Every moment!

Congratulations, one and all! It was a beautiful concert & tribute

What a beautiful tribute to a wonderful person. Very happy to be a part of this.
​

I know your voices reached to the Heavens...and that Christine was listening.
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Members of the audience wrote to share their responses to CONCORA's performance of Bach's masterpiece:

What a fantastic performance. Not only was Bach's passion performed, the passion was felt by both the magnificent performers and the audience. Bach would have been proud!

What a gift you gave to so many! 

Incredibly beautiful concert... Musicianship at finest, could have listened even more. Will return. Thank you.


It was truly a magnificent and moving performance. There were so many exquisite moments, many of which literally moved me to tears.

A very emotional rendition! The voices, instrumentalists and theatre in moments were splendid. Great thanks to artistic director able to invoke such a response.

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What are those extraordinary beasts? Visit the season info page at this website to read about this and all the images of metalwork that have been used to promote CONCORA's 2017-2018 Masterworks Season.
People who attended wrote to us to say...

"What a wonderful experience: three masses (from Gregorian to modern) sung in a beautiful Gothic space."

"A breathtaking performance of the three different mass settings. I have done a lot of chanting and the men were magnificent! I loved that they were in another area of the church out of sight. Thank you!"

"A moving performance..."


"Congratulations on a marvelous performance. The sound was magnificent.   The setting was magnificent.  The contrast among the three compositions was wonderfully executed.  The program notes were enlightening." 

"I was so so so so pleased that Chris held the stillness for so long after the Martin Mass.... we all needed that long emptiness to breathe and find out if were still alive. I think everyone was rather stunned, in the best possible way."

"How lovely the concert of Masses was. My view straight down the aisle was fabulous - it felt as if I was back in England. I loved the first singing from the little Chapel which, although not quite as distant as it was for others in the audience, was lovely and most affecting. The Byrd and Martin were so well done, and carried off in effortless style from the point of view of the audience. It was my first hearing of the Martin, and it was really beautiful. Somehow the music in the Resurrection section seemed to convey feathery wings bearing Christ upward - fantastic writing effectively sung! My hat is off to you and all the singers for creating such magic."

Mozart: Requiem
Sunday, April 29, 2018, 4:00 PM
St James’s Episcopal Church, West Hartford CT

What is it about Mozart’s Requiem that makes it a perennial favorite? From the time it was completed in 1792 by Mozart’s student Franz Süssmayer, it has never been out of the repertoire. Perhaps the appeal lies in its sheer beauty and the intimacy, not always apparent in large-scale performances, with which Mozart sets this timeless text. With characteristic genius and grace, Mozart connects musical and spiritual realms, and by overlaying the natural restraints of neoclassicism with the passion of Romanticism, he depicts in music the peace of eternal rest alongside the bone-chilling fear of eternal torment.

Composed just as Mozart was reaching the height of his creative powers, the Requiem offers exquisite melodies, rich orchestration, and a dramatic sweep that remain compelling after more than two centuries.

The program also included Michael Tippett's Five Spirituals from A Child of Our Time, stunning arrangements of African-American spirituals that form the structural pillars of this World War II oratorio, much as Bach used chorales in his Passion settings.
CONCORA singer and Director of Operations Christine Laird passed away on March 16, 2018.  CONCORA's April 29 performance of the Mozart Requiem was dedicated to her memory. You may read a lovely tribute from Artistic Director Chris Shepard here:  CONCORA mourns the loss of Christine Laird.

Bach: Saint Matthew Passion

Sunday, March 25, 2018, 4:00 PM
Immanuel Congregational Church, Hartford CT

CONCORA has long been renowned for its masterful and moving performances of choral music by Johann Sebastian Bach. In March 2018, the ensemble presented the monumental Saint Matthew Passion, one of two surviving settings by Bach of the Easter Passion story. During his lifetime, Bach conducted the Saint Matthew Passion in Holy Week services several times, and it was presented by his Leipzig successor a few more times. But it was only with Mendelssohn’s revival of the work in 1829 that this music burst into the larger world, and it has remained a foundational masterpiece ever since. Calling for three choirs, soloists, and orchestra, the Saint Matthew Passion offers some of Bach’s grandest music, while exploring in the most intimate terms the very nature of faith and redemption.
Enjoy Chris Shepard's program notes for the Saint Matthew Passion:
concora_-_bach_st_matthew_passion_-_program_notes_by_chris_shepard_2018.pdf
File Size: 251 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Masses Ancient and Modern
Sunday, February 11, 2018
Trinity College Chapel, Hartford, CT

CONCORA returned for a third time to Trinity College Chapel, and again the ensemble performed to a capacity audience, presenting beautiful and inspiring settings of the ancient Mass text that soared beneath the Chapel’s spectacular Gothic arches.

The program opened with timeless Gregorian chant, in a complete presentation of Missa Orbis factor, one of the most highly-regarded mass settings of the Solemnes tradition. Renaissance polyphony was represented by the four-voice setting of 16th-century Tudor composer William Byrd, music that remains fresh after more than four centuries. In his Mass for Double Choir, Swiss composer Frank Martin fuses the linear textures of Gregorian chant with highly-charged choral polyphony in a setting that is in turns contemplative, exultant, somber, and glorious.

After CONCORA’s program of early music at Trinity College Chapel in 2016, one listener said, “This is singing on a par with Pomerium and the Tallis Scholars!”


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People who attended this concert wrote to say:

"The youth choirs were fabulous and the Mozart Requiem selection was spine chilling."

"We really enjoyed the concert ... CONCORA was great and the schools were impressive, too!"

Enjoy this video preview! Artistic Director Chris Shepard says: "One of the greatest joys of working with young singers is the opportunity to introduce them to new works for the first time. It reminds me of why certain works are 'masterworks' in the first place—their appeal is nearly universal, often from the very first contact."  Click on the video at right to listen to the whole message (less than 3 minutes).


Listen to the men of CONCORA in their first rehearsal of "Shenandoah" arranged by Marshall Bartholomew. This brief video of the second and third verses gives a hint of what the performance on November 18 was like ... spine-tingling.

CONCORA Sings Extraordinary Masterworks
Saturday, November 18, 2017
​St Thomas the Apostle Church, West Hartford, CT

Continuing a long tradition of inclusion and outreach, CONCORA was joined by gifted choirs from Bristol, Ledyard, and Litchfield to present a program of favorite movements from choral masterworks large and small, including three movements from the Mozart Requiem. For many of the young singers, this concert was their first opportunity to collaborate with professional musicians, and their first experience with this enduring repertoire and with singing in an acoustically resplendent space like St Thomas the Apostle Church. The concert itself is inspiring and enriching for listeners, too, as a member of the audience said of the 2016 edition of this Extraordinary Concert: “What a treat to sit and be bathed in glorious sound. The young voices were so fresh and clear and the ensemble sound quite breathtaking. The variety of musical offerings was a delight to the listener and perfectly suited to that grand space.”



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Where may one find this austerely beautiful candelabrum? Visit the season info page at this website to read about this and all the images of metalwork that have been used to promote CONCORA's 2017-2018 Masterworks Season.

Here's what some members of the audience had to say about this performance:

"Beautiful, moving, delicate AND powerful..."
"Wonderful!"
"Stunning!!"
"Very powerful performance!"



Enjoy this video preview from CONCORA's Artistic Director Chris Shepard as he explores Brahms' musical depiction of a "journey to heaven" in the German Requiem.
Listen to CONCORA's performance of Brahms Nänie as recorded in concert on November 4, 2017, at Saint John's Episcopal Church, Stamford.

Brahms: Requiem
Sunday, October 15, 2017
South Church, New Britain, CT
and
Saturday, November 4, 2017

Saint John's Episcopal Church, Stamford CT

CONCORA opened the 2017-2018 season with one of the most enduring works in the choral repertoire, Brahms’ A German Requiem. Brahms’ setting, unusual among Requiems for its use of biblical verses instead of the austere Latin liturgy, is beloved for its messages of comfort, hope, blessing, and rest. The performance (sung in German) was of the “London Version” of the Requiem, an arrangement for choir and four-hand piano that Brahms himself prepared for more intimate presentations of the work. The program also included a lesser-known Brahms choral masterwork, Nänie, a poignant, achingly beautiful, but ultimately consoling elegy. Artistic Director Chris Shepard led the singers of CONCORA, with soprano Louise Fauteux, baritone Chai-lun Yueh, pianists Eric Trudel and Cihan Yücel, and oboist Libby van Cleve.

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Comments from the delighted audience:

"It was a beautiful concert! Would gladly have listened to another hour of those gorgeous voices and the well-chosen repertoire." 

"Exquisite program...I just closed my eyes in some passages to let myself soar through these passionate renditions. The soloists were spectacular, and Chris Shepard is just sublime. This is my second CONCORA-based experience...it is easy to fall in love with such an ensemble!”

“The Festival Chorus's renditions gave me goose bumps!”

VIDEO FEATURE: The public concert with which the Summer Festival concludes is the most visible part of our week together. But what goes on during the rehearsals, behind the scenes? CLICK HERE to read an article about how it all works, then enjoy this video recorded during a mid-week rehearsal.

J.S. Bach, Magnificat: "Sicut locutus est"
CONCORA Summer Festival Choir in rehearsal August 2, 2017
Chris Shepard, Artistic Director   Allan Conway, Piano

CONCORA Summer Festival 2017:
Exploring the Great Choral Masterworks
Saturday, August 5, 2017
Bethany Covenant Church, Berlin CT


The 2017 CONCORA Summer Festival, the 19th in the series culminated in a public concert on Saturday, August 5, at 4:00pm, when the Festival Choir presented the repertoire they had perfected during a week of rehearsals.

The 2018 Summer Festival will be the 20th edition; this is sure to be a special event!

Learn more about CONCORA's Summer Festival HERE.





2016-2017 Season: Inspired by Tradition

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In its review of CONCORA's performance of this program in Worcester, Massachusetts on April 23, the Worcester Telegram described the experience as “Stunning... intoxicating... enthralling... beguiling... soaring.”
In this brief video preview, CONCORA's Artistic Director Chris Shepard explains how Bach "recycled" some of his best music in ways that you might find surprising. Did Bach do this merely for efficiency's sake? Or did Bach perhaps know that this music was indeed "first rate," as Chris describes it, and thus relished opportunities to perform it again, and perhaps ensure that it would be remembered?

Festive Bach Cantatas!
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Immanuel Congregational Church, Hartford CT

CONCORA has long been renowned for its masterful and moving performances of choral music by Johann Sebastian Bach. In 2017, the ensemble presented three glorious choral cantatas with professional choir and soloists, and members of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra:

Wir Danken dir, Gott, BWV29
Singet dem Herrn ein Neues Lied, BWV190
Gloria in excelsis Deo, BWV191.


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A member of the audience commented, "“We so enjoyed the concert! The Requiem was beautiful and the madrigals lovely. The new ’Ah, Sunflower’ was terrific - I even pictured large fields of sunflowers and a huge single one raising its head to the sun. I was impressed by how many women composers were represented. The concert was a respite ... Thank you so much - a real treat!"
Enjoy a recorded excerpt from that memorable concert!
"In remembrance" from Requiem by Eleanor Daley (b. 1955) Recorded in concert at Trinity College Chapel on March 19, 2017 by CONCORA, directed by Chris Shepard

Making the Old New
Sunday, March 19, 2017
Trinity College Chapel, Hartford CT

CONCORA again performed to a capacity audience in Trinity College Chapel, with a program of Renaissance choral music paired with newer music inspired by the originals. Motets and madrigals by Renaissance “top forty” composers such as Morley, Vecchi, and Tallis contrasted with and complemented choral music by renowned contemporary composers William Hawley, Eric Whitacre, and Martin Sedek, whose "Ah, Sunflower" suspended time and brought the golden glow of midsummer to a dark and drippy mid-winter afternoon. The concert featured Eleanor Daley’s haunting Requiem, perfectly suited to this remarkable space. The performance by soprano soloist Jennifer Ferrand-Kelly was mesmerizing and memorable.
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Those who attended this concert responded warmly:

"We enjoyed the unique and engaging way that this concert was conceived and executed. It was nothing short of inspiring!"

"Magnificent from beginning to end."

"Loved the settings and the small groups performing.
A truly memorable experience!"

Art & Music
Sunday, February 12, 2017
The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford CT

A blizzard did not prevent a sold-out audience from reveling in an afternoon of art-inspired choral music. To celebrate the recent beautiful renovation of the Wadsworth Atheneum, CONCORA presented a program at the museum with repertoire inspired by the artwork itself. Small ensembles sang in the various galleries, with music related to the artworks in each room. The concert featured the premiere of a commissioned choral work by Connecticut composer  Ellen Gilson Voth, "Of Distant Skies," inspired by the monumental painting Mount Etna from Taormina by Hartford-born Frederic Church. The event concluded with a concert by the full choir in the stunning Morgan Great Hall.
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Connecticut Magazine recommended
"Christmas with CONCORA" as a top pick for
"Holiday Music Performances
to Get You in the Spirit of the Season!"

Here's a little audio gift from CONCORA!
"We wish you a Merry Christmas"
arranged by Arthur Warrell (1883-1939)
Performed by CONCORA with Artistic Director Chris Shepard
Recorded in concert on December 10, 2016
First Lutheran Church, New Britain

Christmas with CONCORA:
Favorite Christmas Carols
Saturday, December 10, 2016
First Lutheran Church, New Britain CT

In the half century since Oxford University Press released the first volume of its popular sets of Carols for Choirs, these sparkling Christmas carol settings have become essential to the choral holiday repertoire. CONCORA presented a sleigh-full of these immortal a cappella carol arrangements by Sir David Willcocks, John Rutter, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and others. And in keeping with the “Christmas with CONCORA” tradition, the audience sang along with CONCORA in a number of beloved Christmas carols.
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A member of the audience was inspired to write, “What a treat to sit and be bathed in glorious sound. The young voices were so fresh and clear and the ensemble sound quite breathtaking. The variety of musical offerings was a delight to the listener and perfectly suited to that grand space.”

Extraordinary Shakespeare
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Saint Thomas the Apostle Church
West Hartford CT

Continuing a long tradition of inclusion and outreach, CONCORA joined several extraordinary Connecticut high school choirs to present a program of choral settings of texts by William Shakespeare, marking the 400th anniversary of the playwright’s death. CONCORA welcomed choirs from:
Glastonbury High School-- Ethan Nash, Conductor
Greenwich High School-- Patrick Taylor, Conductor
Guilford High School-- Kevin Buno, Conductor
Hall High School, West Hartford-- Lorri Cetto, Conductor
Manchester High School-- Ed Tyler, Conductor

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CONCORA office

860-245-8090
​contact@concora.org

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CONCORA
c/o South Church
90 Main Street
New Britain, CT 06051
  • Concerts
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    • Artistic Leadership
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    • Education & Outreach
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