Welcome to
Cappella Cantorum

 Cappella Cantorum

Please follow the links below for more information:

Upcoming Concert
Registration and Rehearsal Information
Future Concert Plans
About Cappella Cantorum
Choral Masterworks Performed Since 1970
Barry B. Asch, Music Director
Carnegie Hall Concerts
International Tour Concerts
Recent Concert Photos
Contact Cappella Cantorum


Upcoming Concerts

Cappella Cantorum Men's Chorus
Fantabulous Favorites From Five Years!

Cappella Cantorum Men’s Chorus 38 strong, will present a concert on Sunday, July 19, 7:30 PM in the Westbrook Congregational Church, Westbrook Center. The male chorus is conducted by Barry Asch and accompanied by Susan Sweeney. Fantabulous Favorites from Five Years will be featured: Alexander’s Ragtime Band,  Nessun Dorma, Men of Harlech, Rhythm of Life, Order My Steps & Selections from South Pacific.The Hill Top Four (Barbershop quartet) will be featured. Call (860) 434-9135 for advanced sale tickets. Advanced sale tickets are $12, also available at Homeworks, Old Saybrook; Celebrations, Deep River; and The Turning Page, Old Lyme. Regular tickets at the door are $15, children 12 and under are free. Call Barry Asch at (860) 388-2871 for information or if you have a group who would like to sponsor a concert.

Download the Poster (PDF)

Handel’s MESSIAH

Handel’s MESSIAH will be presented by Cappella Cantorum on Sat. Dec. 5, 8 PM and Sun. Dec. 6 at 3 PM in the beautiful acoustics of St. Mark R.C. Church, 222 McVeagh Rd., Westbrook. The 100 voice chorus, with professional orchestra and soloist will be directed by Barry Asch. For tickets call (860) 434-9135 or (860) 767-8452. A reception will follow the Sunday performance.

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Registration & Rehearsal Information

Handel’s MESSIAH Non-Auditioned Registration/Rehearsal on Monday, Sept. 14, in John Winthrop Middle School. Regular Monday night rehearsals in John Winthrop Middle School on Route 80, (exit 5, Rte 9) in Deep River. Late Registration, Sept 21, same time and place. Performances on Sat. Dec. 5, 8 PM and Sun. Dec. 6 at 3 PM in St. Mark R.C. Church, 222 McVeagh Rd., Westbrook. Information at 860-388-2871.

Summer Sings 2009
The annual program of Summer Sings, co-sponsored by Cappella Cantorum and Con Brio, provides an opportunity to enjoy choral works without the pressure of preparing for performance. It offers, as well, the experience to work with some nationally and internationally acclaimed conductors.

June 8 Steve Bruce
Con Brio
Mozart Requiem
June 15 Joe D-Eugenio
Middletown Chorale
Vivaldi Gloria and Schubert Mass in G
June 22 Ed Bolkovac
New Haven Chorale
Mozart Coronation Mass
August 3 Mackenzie Albert
Shoreline Community Chorus
Fauré Requiem
August 10 Marguerite Mullee
Kent Singers
Brahms Requiem
August 17 Barry Asch
Cappella Cantorum
Dvorak Stabat Mater

Summer Sings are held on Mondays, 7 p.m. registration, 7:30-9:30 PM singing, at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 56 Great Hammock Road, (CT 154) Old Saybrook. All singers are welcome to perform in this read-through of a classical work. Professional soloists will participate. The event is co-sponsored by two shoreline choral groups, Cappella Cantorum and Con Brio. An $8 fee covers the costs of the event. Scores will be available, and the church is air-conditioned. For more information call (860) 388-4110 or (860) 434-9135.

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Future Concert Plans

When Concert
April 2009 Mozart's "Requiem"
December 2009 Handel's "Messiah"
April 2010 Dvorak's "Stabat Mater"

About Cappella Cantorum

Cappella Cantorum is a non-audition community chorus with over 100 singers whose primary purpose is to learn, perform and enjoy great choral music, while striving for excellence and enrichment of its singers and audience. It provides singers from more than 20 Southeastern Connecticut communities with the opportunity to perform these works with a professional orchestra and professional or Cappella soloists.

We especially encourage high school students and their parents to join us in making music together. Our wide mix of ages (from teens to folks in their 80s), along with a marvelous blend of voices, make our singing together a most joyful experience.

Our Music Director/Conductor, and one of Cappella's founders in 1970, is Barry B. Asch.

Cappella's Men's Chorus Concerts began in 1977. The group has performed to enthusiastic audiences throughout Connecticut. The Men's Chorus is available for fund-raising concerts or just for fun. To join or sponsor a concert, call 860-388-2871.

The Cappella Cantorum Tour Choir of 30 to 50 singers has visited Europe and Canada on tours combining sightseeing with concerts since 1981. Call 203-457-1456 for more information about receiving notification of 2009 tour plans.

For more information about Cappella Cantorum call 860-388-2871 or 860-334-3640.


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Performing Choral Masterworks Since 1970
Bach: Christmas Oratorio; Cantata No. 142; Mass in B Minor; Magnificat;
Passion According to St. John; Cantata No. 140.
Beethoven: Mass in C Major.
Bernstein: Chichester Psalms.
Bloch: Sacred Service.
Brahms: A German Requiem; Song of Destiny; Gypsy Songs.
Britten: Ceremony of Carols; Saint Nicolas.
Duruflé: Requiem.
Dvorak: Stabat Mater; Requiem
Fauré: Requiem.
Gershwin: Porgy and Bess.
Handel: Messiah; Judas Maccabaeus; Chandos Anthems; Israel in Egypt;Coronation Anthems; Samson; sacred chorus selections.
Haydn: Mass in B Flat Major; The Creation; Mass in D Minor; Mass in C Major; Mass in G Major; Heiligmesse.
Honegger: King David.
Kodaly: Te Deum.
Mendelssohn: Elijah.
Menotti: Amahl and the Night Visitors.
Mozart: Requiem; Vesperae Solennes de Confessore; Mass in C Major;
Regina Coeli; Magic Flute (selections); Te Deum.
Orff: Carmina Burana.
Pinkham: Christmas Cantata.
Poulenc: Gloria.
Puccini: Messa di Gloria.
Respighi: Laud to the Nativity.
Rossini: Petite Messe Solennelle.
Rutter: Gloria; Magnificat; great opera choruses, Requiem
Saint-Saens: Christmas Oratorio
Schubert: Mass in E Flat Major; Mass in G Major; Mass in A Flat Major.
Strauss, J., II: Die Fledermaus (ball scene).
Thompson: Frostiana.
Vaughan Williams: Toward the Unknown Region; Benedicite; Hodie.
Verdi: Requiem; opera chorus selections.
Vivaldi: Gloria; Magnificat.
Wagner: Opera chorus selections.

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Barry B. Asch
Music Director


Music Director/Conductor and co-founder of Cappella Cantorum, Barry B. Asch is a native of the Nutmeg State and graduated with a master of music education degree from Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford. He has attended workshops with Robert Shaw, Howard Swan, Michael Korn, and Sir David Willcocks. He has studied voice with Martha Oneppo, Martha King, Edward Hull, William Diard, and Leighton Phraner.

Barry served as music department chairman at Valley Regional High School, Deep River, Connecticut, where he taught for 31 years. Barry is choir director at the First Congregational Church in Essex and teaches workshops in vocal production and performance for Elderhostel. He has conducted enthusiastically received concert tours with Cappella performing in Belgium, England, Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, Czech Republic, Hungary, France, and Spain. During the summer of 2000, conductor Asch was part of the Conductors Master Class with Helmuth Rilling at the Oregon Bach Festival, and a participating conductor in the Dennis Keene Choral Festival at the Kent School in Connecticut. He received the Shoreline Arts Achievement Award in 2007 for a significant and ongoing cultural contribution to the Shoreline Community.

Professional organizations include the American Choral Directors Association, Music Educators National Conference, National Educators Association, and past board member of the Association of Connecticut Choruses.

Barry is married to Wilma Brewer Asch who served as Executive Director of Cappella Cantorum for its first sixteen years. They reside in Old Saybrook.


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Carnegie Hall Concerts

Cappella Cantorum has performed in concerts at Carnegie Hall since 2000 by invitation from MidAmerica Productions. These concerts were as follows:

2000 Duruflé: Requiem
2001 Mozart: Requiem
2002 Rutter: Requiem (John Rutter conducted)
2003 Beethoven: Mass in C
2005 Faure: Requiem

 

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International Tour Concerts

Plans for Cappella's Concert Tour 2009: Our next great adventure will start in Florence, Italy and make its way to Venice. We will then set sail for the Adriatic Sea, stopping in ports along the way. Ports we will visit include Spitt, Kotor, Montenegro, Durres, Albania, Dubrovnik, Ploce and Pula.

Our director will be Tahme Adinolfi who heads the Music Department at Guilford High School and is well known throughout Connecticut for her contribution to choral music in the shoreline area. Joan Cook, recently retired from directing the Mystic Chorale from Westerly, Rhode Island, will be joining us as accompanist. She has also been the accompanist for the Eastern Connecticut chorus from New London.

The Cappella Cantorum Concert Tour has visited Europe and Canada on tours combining sightseeing with concerts on 10 tours, since 1981.

For further information about next year's trip, please call Pat Hill (203-245-2887) or email her at phill2003mad@yahoo.com. Because it is a concert tour, we really want to emphasize that singers are given preference when applying. Pat is the Tour Director and the Tour Committee is, as follows, all members of Cappella. Ralph & Mimi Griffin, Gail Carlisle, Dot Davis, Sandy O'Day, Audrey Meyer, Sue Origlia, Karl Stofko, Phyliss McClelland, David & Judy Kitson, Betsy Steele.

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Recent Concert Photos & Dates
 
Cappella Cantorum Men's Chorus Concert Dates 2008
Sunday, June 15 7:30 pm Concert at St. Paul Lutheran Church
Saturday, August 23 2:30 pm Aaron Manor, Essex
Sunday, August 24 3:00 pm Concert at the First Congregational Church of Madison
Sunday, October 5 3:00 pm Essex Meadows
Saturday, October 11 4:00 pm Dennis Union Church, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Saturday, November 22 7:00 pm First Congregational Church, Granby
This list includes four community outreach programs.


Cappella Cantorum Men’s Chorus drawing inspired in St. Paul Lutheran Church
in a 2005 concert, drawn by Madeleine Favre of Deep River.

Hill Top Four, Barbershop Quartet
Hill Top Four
From L to R: 1st tenor, Len Dongweck; lead, Bob Johnson; baritone, Alan Macgregor
and bass, Dale Dickinson

ELIJAH, by Mendelssohn was presented by Cappella Cantorum on Sunday, April 6 at John Winthrop Middle School in Deep River. The 100 voice chorus, with professional orchestra and soloists was directed by Barry Asch. Soloists: Soprano, Susan von Reichenbach; Mezzo Soprano, Abigail Nims; Tenor, David Finley; Baritone, Richard Lalli. A reception followed the performance.

Elijah Performance
Cappella's Elijah, Full House

Elijah Soloists and Conductor
The Four Soloists & Conductor
From L to R: Soprano, Susan von Reichenbach; Mezzo Soprano, Abigail Nims;
Conductor, Barry Asch; Baritone, Richard Lalli; Tenor, David Finley.
"Elijah" was presented on April 6, by Cappella Cantorum at John Winthrop
Middle School, Deep River, to a full house and a standing ovation.


Contact Cappella Cantorum

Write us at:
Cappella Cantorum, Inc., P.O Box 714, Essex, CT 06426

Call us or email:
Doris Mackay, Cappella Cantorum's Board President, at (860) 739-7236, doris.mackay@snet.net
Or
Barry Asch, Music Director, at 860-388-2871, barryasch@comcast.net

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Updated 3/17/2009