Headin’ for the Big Apple for Memorial Day Weekend? Stop by Carnegie Hall to Root for Dook & Bull City Singers!
“When Rodney Wynkoop was invited to conduct a choral piece for a Memorial Day concert at Carnegie Hall, he knew he would find no better singers than the ones he could bring with him. ‘Usually when one is invited to conduct on this particular series, they advertise nationally for singers,’ Wynkoop says. ‘They asked me if that’s what I wanted, but I preferred to bring my own group. This is a wonderful opportunity to show people in New York the great choral music we have in the Triangle, as well as a chance for these Duke students to perform in one of the world’s finest concert halls.’
“Wynkoop, Professor of the Practice of Music at Duke University, is also Director of Chapel Music, Director of the Duke Chorale and Chapel Choir, and Conductor and Artistic Director of the Choral Society of Durham. He will lead 150 members of these groups, accompanied by the New England Symphonic Ensemble, in Ralph Vaughan Williams’ ‘Dona nobis pacem’ on Sunday, May 28, at 8:30 p.m. The program will also include other choruses from around the United States performing Mozart’s Mass in c minor.
“Wynkoop’s singers will return to the stage to participate in Beethoven’s ‘Choral Fantasy,’ the last piece of the evening. ‘I chose Vaughan Williams’ ‘Dona nobis pacem’ because I find it especially appropriate for Memorial Day weekend,’ says Wynkoop. ‘It is a powerful work that honors those who have died in war and makes an impassioned cry for peace. I think it will make a major impact on anyone who hears it.’
“Although this will be Wynkoop’s first conducting engagement at Carnegie Hall, it is not the first time he has appeared on stage there. ‘I sang in Carnegie Hall when I was a college student,’ he says. ‘We performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony under Leopold Stokowski. It was an unforgettable experience for me, and I hope this will be exciting and inspiring for the members of the Duke Chorale and Chapel Choir.’
“The Duke Chorale is a group of 50 undergraduate and graduate students who perform a diverse repertoire from the 16th century to the present day. They perform several concerts each semester at Duke, including the annual Christmas concert that typically collects over 2,000 pounds of food for the Durham Community Kitchen. The Duke Chapel Choir consists of 150 singers, including students and community members. It performs every Sunday in Duke Chapel. The Choral Society of Durham is recognized as one of the Southeast’s finest symphonic choruses. The group has performed with the North Carolina Symphony and at the Southern Division convention of the American Choral Directors Association.”
(From Duke Press Release, posted 5/24/06.)
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Mauceri Gets the Nod in Winston-Salem: The Distinguished American Conductor Is Named Chancellor of the NC School of the Arts
CHAPEL HILL, NC – John Mauceri, Director of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra in Los Angeles and Music Director of the Pittsburgh Opera, has been elected Chancellor of the North Carolina School of the Arts by the Board of Governors of the 16-campus University of North Carolina. UNC President Erskine Bowles placed Mauceri’s name in nomination [May 12] during the board’s regular… meeting. Mauceri, 60, will assume his new duties July 1, succeeding Gretchen Bataille, who has served as interim chancellor since Wade Hobgood stepped down from the post in June 2005.
For the NCSA’s announcement, with links to UNC’s press release and the Maestro’s resumé and bio, see http://www.ncarts.edu/announcement/ [inactive 8/09].
(From UNC and NCSA Press Releases, posted 5/14/06.)
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Mallarmé to Fold Its Tent after 2006-7 Season
After twenty-four years of music making, the Mallarmé Chamber Players are striking their final chord in June 2007. The organization’s founding director, Anna Ludwig Wilson, has announced her retirement at the end of next year’s performing season, and Mallarmé’s board of directors has decided to disband the group.
“Mallarmé was created from Anna’s wonderful vision of how music could serve a community, and its successes owe so much to her unflagging energy and commitment, we couldn’t imagine anyone filling her shoes,” said board president Celia Dickerson.
The nationally acclaimed Durham-based ensemble of about two dozen professional musicians was founded in 1984 as a non-profit organization dedicated to expanding cultural awareness and bridge-building in the area’s diverse racial and ethnic population. The group, whose motto is “Music Among Friends,” offers an annual series of public performances along with numerous educational appearances in schools and institutions.
In collaboration with the Music Teachers Associations of Durham and Chapel Hill, the Durham Arts Council, and the Durham Junior League, Mallarmé began offering annual chamber music workshops for gifted young musicians in the area in the mid ‘90’s. In 2005, Mallarmé assumed sponsorship of the Mallarmé Youth Chamber Orchestra, directed by Yoram Youngerman, a Mallarmé violinist on the music faculty at UNC-Greenville. This group will continue operations under its own board of directors.
While pursuing its educational mission, Mallarmé also has been a strong supporter of new musical compositions, especially from North Carolina artists. In its 23 years it has commissioned and premiered works, by Robert Ward, Stephen Jaffe, T.J. Anderson, Bo Newsome, Jennifer Stasack, Roger Hannay, William Banfield, Anthony Kelley, Gabriela Franck, Penka Kouneva, Derek Bermel, Harold Schiffman, Dan Locklair, J. Mark Scearce, Rodney Waschka, Allen Kranta, and Roberto Sierra, among others.
Mallarmé’s concerts are designed with imagination and wit, typically showcasing unusual instruments in mixed ensembles, and often incorporating other art forms such as dance, poetry, story-telling, mime, and even a professional Chinese Yo-Yo demonstration. Its performers have won crucial acclaim both locally and nationally, as they have toured on performance throughout North Carolina, in California, Washington DC, Kentucky, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Switzerland and Vietnam.
“Mallarmé’s departure will be a real loss,” said board vice-president Florence Nash, “not only because they’ve played beautiful music and widened our awareness, but because they’ve made music a wonderful tool for social good.”
Mallarmé’s 2006-2007 season will be a rich and full one, according to Anna Ludwig Wilson, sending the organization out with a bang. For information on Mallarmé performances and upcoming activities, check their website at www.mallarmemusic.org” [or click here].
(From MCP Press Release, posted 5/14/06.)
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