Contact:
Angela Wende, marketing@cychoirs.org, cell:267-265-3165
Commonwealth Youthchoirs Announces Third New Commission, with Premiere at Gala Concert
Philadelphia, PA, May 13, 2010—Commonwealth Youthchoirs (CY) has
announced its third commissioned choral work. The Cap and Bells,
written by composer Dominick DiOrio, will premiere at Commonwealth
Youthchoirs’ Sixth Annual Gala Concert at the Kimmel Center on
June 6, 2010.
CY Executive Director Susan S. Ashbaker said, “We are thrilled to
premiere our third commission in three years. It’s gratifying for
our young organization to contribute to the choral music repertoire,
but it’s especially meaningful to us to offer our young singers
the opportunity to sing music written especially for their voices. This
experience will stay with them all their lives.” Mark Anderson,
Music Director of CY member-choir Pennsylvania Girlchoir, added,
“The Cap and Bells is delightful! We will have a wonderful
time learning and performing this charming piece!” The Cap and
Bells is sponsored by Dr. Gloria Schrager in honor of her grandsons,
Josh and Ben Schrager. “Keystone State Boychoir (KSB) has been a
positive influence in the lives of my grandsons. I thank
Commonwealth Youthchoirs for offering me the opportunity to show my
appreciation by sponsoring this year’s commission.”
This lovely poem by William Butler Yeats, “The Cap and the
Bells”, is set conversationally between the Jester (tenors and
basses) and the Queen (sopranos and altos) with the narration by all
singers, and bubbles along with enthusiasm and vigor. A lively
flute part adds color and drive. The melody is reminiscent of a
folk melody that lingers in one’s ear long after hearing.
“I am so delighted to be working on this project,” said
composer, DiOrio. “This poignant rhyming tale is an
excellent way to have the children in PG and KSB become engaged with a
piece of great poetry.”
Composer and conductor Dominick DiOrio is Director of Choral Activities
and Assistant Professor of Music at Lone Star College-Montgomery.
He is pursuing the DMA at Yale University, where he received his MMA in
2009. Recent awards include the Aidan J. Kavanagh Achievement
Prize from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, in recognition of
distinguished intellectual achievement (2009) and the Young New
Yorkers’ Chorus Nathan Davis Prize in Composition (2009), among
others. Mr. DiOrio’s work is published with Alliance,
Lorenz/Roger Dean, and Oxford.
Commonwealth Youthchoirs’ Gala Concert will also feature
international opera star Lauren Flanigan and Broadway star, Alison
Fraser as special guests. Their performance will include songs with the
choirs as well as solos, fitting the Gala theme, BROADWAY BOUND.
The June 6 Gala Concert at Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center for
the Performing Arts marks the sixth such event for Commonwealth
Youthchoirs (www.cychoirs.org). Now in its ninth year, the organization
provides exemplary choral music education and performance opportunities
for over 300 young singers, aged eight through eighteen, representing
five counties in the greater Philadelphia area, who sing with one of
its two member-choirs, Keystone State Boychoir (www.paboychoir.org) and
Pennsylvania Girlchoir (www.pagirlchoir.org). Tickets for the concert
will be on sale at the Kimmel Center Box Office, Broad & Spruce
Streets, by calling 215-893-1999, or by going to their website
www.kimmelcenter.org.
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Commonwealth Youthchoirs, Inc. 35 W. Chelten Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19144 – 215-249-1762 – www.cychoirs.org
