|
Welcome to |
|
|
|
Welcome to |
|
|
Please follow the links below for more information:
Cappella Cantorum Men’s Chorus featuring music of Civil War and Phantom
Cappella Cantorum Men’s Chorus Concert will be presented Sun. June 9, 7:30 PM in St. Paul Lutheran Church, 56 Great Hammock Rd., Old Saybrook. The male chorus is conducted by Barry Asch and accompanied by Deborah Lyon. Selections include: Phantom of the Opera Selections and A Civil War Medley, Battle Hymn, When Johnny Comes Marching Home, Gospel and Spirituals. Tickets $15, available at Homeworks, Old Saybrook, Celebrations, Deep River, at the door or call 860-526-1038. Children under 12, free.
Download the Event Poster
Annual MESSIAH Singalong or Listen, at the Kate
MESSIAH Singalong or Listen, sponsored by Cappella Cantorum, Sun., Dec. 15, at 4 PM in The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Art Center, Old Saybrook, CT. Singers Rehearsal time is 3:30 PM. There is a $10 fee. Professional soloists will perform the Christmas Section of Messiah. The audience is invited to sit in the back, witness the short rehearsal and the Singalong. Tickets, Box Office, 877-503-1286 www.thekate.org day of performance, no reserved seats.
SummerSings, a summer
choral series co-sponsored by Cappella Cantorum and Con Brio Choral Society,
provides informal opportunities to sing great choral music with Connecticut choral
conductors and soloists.
Informal! Open to all, no advance registration. Just come and enjoy singing!
Monday
evenings
Register 7pm, Sing 7:30
– 9:30 pm
$8 fee includes a borrowed score for the evening, but please bring your own score if you have one.
|
June 17 |
Requiem Wolfgang Mozart |
Barry Asch |
|
June 24 |
Lux Aeterna |
Mark Singleton |
|
July 1 |
Broadway Choruses |
Kristine Pekar |
|
July 29 |
Messa de Gloria |
Steve Bruce |
|
August 5 |
The Creation (selections) |
Rachel Allen |
|
August 12 |
G & S Choruses |
John Dreslin |
St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church
56 Great Hammock Road
Old Saybrook, CT
For more
information and details, download
the flyer, visit www.conbrio.org or www.cappellacantorum.org, or phone:
(860) 767-9409 or (203) 245-6947.
| When | Concert |
| December 1 and 2, 2012 | CAROLS AND LULLABIES, Christmas in
the Southwest, Conrad Susa FROSTIANA, Randall Thompson |
| April 7 2013 | REQUIEM, Giuseppe Verdi |
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 2013 tour plans.
For more information about Cappella Cantorum call 860-388-2871.
Top of the Document
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.
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, Leighton Phraner and currently with Patricia Schuman.
Barry
served as music department chairman at Valley Regional High School, Deep River,
Connecticut, where he taught for 31 years. Barry was choir director at the First
Congregational Church in Essex for 45 years and taught 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 CT.
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
Direction of Cappella Cantorum for its first sixteen years. They reside in Old
Saybrook.
Top of the Document
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
2013 Verdi Requiem (John Rutter Conducting)
Cappella Cantorum is sponsoring a concert tour from Ireland, Wales and England
in 2013. This will be a 2 week tour starting in Killarney, including Dublin, a
stop in Wales to sing with a Welsh Men's Chorus and ending in London. The guest
conductor for the tour is Kevin Buno, director of music and at Guilford High
School and the guest accompanist will be Joyce Baxter who accompanies both the
Choral Club of Clinton and has just recently been appointed accompanist for the
Shoreline Chorale. The dates of the trip are June 27th to July 10th. If
interested, email Pat Hill at
phill2003mad@yahoo.com
Cappella Cantorum’s performance of Verdi “REQUIEM,” took place on Sunday, April 7, 2013 in John Winthrop Middle School, Deep River. Barry Asch conducted the professional orchestra, soloists: soprano-Sarah Callinan, mezzo soprano-Cynthia Mellon, tenor-Brian Cheney and bass-David Pittsinger and Cappella Cantorum. Bios and photos of our exceptional soloists:
 Sarah Callinan |
 Brian Cheney |
 Cynthia Mellon |
 David Pittsinger |
| Soprano Sarah Callinan, a 2009 and 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition Regional Finalist, sings Norina in Don Pasquale with Cape Cod Opera, Gilda in Rigoletto with Salt Marsh Opera and Marie in La fille du régiment with Connecticut Concert Opera this season. She made her role debut as Amina in La sonnambula and appeared as the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute with Salt Marsh Opera in her 2011-2012 season. Her recent engagements include Frasquita in Carmen in her Michigan Opera Theatre debut; Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute in Boston Lyric Opera’s supplementary performances; Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro with Mississippi Opera. Ms. Callinan has won several vocal competitions including the Jenny Lind Competition, the 2006 Connecticut Opera Guild Competition, and the Friday Woodmere Music Club Competition. The Amici Competition awarded her "Most Promising Coloratura," and she was a finalist in the Bel Canto Vocal Scholarship Competition. Ms. Callinan, a native of Worcester, Mass., attended the Hartt School of Music, graduated magna cum laude from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music and a Performer’s Certificate in voice. | Brian Cheney is emerging as one of opera’s most versatile, and exciting tenors. The protégé of legendary tenor, Jerry Hadley, Mr. Cheney is quickly gaining national acclaim for his portrayal of characters such as Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Rodolfo in La Boheme, the Duke in Rigoletto, Candide in Candide and Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress. The Classical Voice of North Carolina wrote, “Tenor Brian Cheney's portrayal of Don José was the most effective dramatic and vocal realization of character in the production.....this excellent singer revealed a voice of amazing power and great beauty. The Daily Gazette in Albany, N.Y., reviewed his recent performance of the Messiah: "Tenor Brian Cheney was a revelation. Cheney's voice was like spun gold...Not just a gorgeous voice, Cheney showed imagination as he altered his colors or use of vibrato." Mr. Cheney has performed numerous times as a soloist at Carnegie Hall with his most recent performance in 2013 performing a world premiere and U.S. premiere of Hungarian music with the American Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Leon Botstein. | Cynthia Mellon, mezzo-soprano, received her vocal training at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the University of Connecticut. While in Ohio, Ms. Mellon performed with The Cleveland Orchestra and the Robert Page Singers. Here in Connecticut she has appeared with Connecticut Opera, and has sung principal roles with New Britain Opera, Opera Theatre of Connecticut, Connecticut Choral Artists (CONCORA) and Simsbury Light Opera. The Hartford Courant noted that Ms. Mellon’s portrayal of the Sorceress in CONCORA’s presentation of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas was “sung with electrifying vocal and visual effect.” On the concert stage, Ms. Mellon has been a featured soloist with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Hartford Chorale, Greater Middletown Choral, Stonington Chorale Society, Concert Choir of Northeast Connecticut, Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, Manchester Symphony, Farmington Valley Symphony Orchestra and Bristol Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Mellon is a soloist and section leader at Memorial United Methodist Church in Avon, and sings as a member of the High Holy Days ensemble at Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford. When not singing, Ms. Mellon is a certified veterinary technician at Advanced Veterinary Care in Farmington. She and her husband Rick share their home with their daughter Montana and more than twenty animals. | Bass-Baritone David Pittsinger is one of the most sought after artists of his generation. His celebrated performances have made him a favorite with critics, audiences, and conductors alike. His appearances with the Metropolitan Opera have included broadcast performances as The Friar in Verdi’s Don Carlo, Trulove in The Rake’s Progress, Achilla in Giulio Cesare, Colline in La Boheme, and as The Speaker in the Met’s first HD broadcast of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Pittsinger’s 2009 season began with his first Broadway appearance as Emile de Becque in the Tony award-winning production of South Pacific. Mr. Pittsinger has received Artist of the Year awards from New York City Opera (Don Giovanni, Figaro and Orlando); Florida Grand Opera (Tosca, La Sonnambula), Pittsburgh Opera (Boito's Mefistofele and Gounod's Faust). He also holds a master's degree from Yale University. |
Write us at:
Call us:
Claudia Epright, Cappella Cantorum's President, at (860)
526-1038, cepright@truevine.net
Or
Barry Asch, Music Director, at 860-388-2871,
barryasch@comcast.net
Updated 6/22/2012
