Monmouth Civic Chorus

The Monmouth Civic Chorus (MCC) is a community chorus in Monmouth County, New Jersey, USA. The mission of Monmouth Civic Chorus is to offer a diverse repertoire of choral music to the community in an environment that promotes individual and collective artistic growth and encourages mutual support and camaraderie. MCC was established in 1949, is recognized by national and community awards, and draws its members primarily from the Monmouth County community. Performances encompass choral classics; premieres; rare and contemporary music; musical theater, opera, and operetta; the annual December concert featuring selections from Handel's Messiah and well-known holiday music; Christmas carols and small-ensemble performances around the community; and collaborations with arts partners. MCC has performed on tour in many European countries, and at numerous performance venues in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.

Monmouth Civic Chorus in concert at the Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, New Jersey (2003)

In addition to concerts, MCC performs a variety of community outreach events, and gives scholarships to high school seniors of outstanding vocal promise.

History

William Gordon Pagdin founded the Monmouth Civic Chorus in 1949. The Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance was the Chorus's first performance, in May, 1950 at the Carlton Theater (now the Count Basie Center for the Arts) in Red Bank, New Jersey. MCC's second performance, in January, 1951, was Handel's Messiah (Handel) MCC continued to perform G&S and sacred works under the direction of its founder until 1962.

When Felix Molzer took the baton as conductor of MCC, he brought his background as director of the Vienna Boys' Choir and professor of music in Vienna. He added operettas and musicals to the stage repertoire, and expanded concert performances to new stages, among them the then-Garden State Arts Center with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Lewis.

William R. Shoppell, Jr., a music educator and church musician, became MCC's conductor in 1973. Under Shoppell's direction, the performance schedule grew from a classical concert in the fall and a staged musical in the spring, to two concerts and a show in 1982/83. By 1987/88, the season increased to three concerts plus a stage production. MCC began touring out of state under Shoppell's direction in 1981, which led to performing tours of Europe, to be continued under subsequent directors.

Upon Shoppell's retirement in 1991, Dr. Mark Shapiro was appointed Artistic Director. MCC recorded two CDs under Dr. Shapiro's direction, and increased its presentation of new music, including premieres, and innovative approaches to traditional music. MCC received the ASCAP/Chorus America Alice Parker Award for the March 2007 world premiere of Jorge Martin's Stronger Than Darkness, an adaptation of his opera Before Night Falls, based on the memoir by Cuban dissident Reinaldo Arenas.

Dr. Ryan James Brandau was appointed Artistic Director beginning with the 2012/13 season, upon the departure of Dr. Shapiro, who became the Music Director of the Cecilia Chorus of New York. Dr. Brandau's arrangements of holiday favorites are featured in the Christmas Suite performed annually in December, and on MCC's CD, A Merry Little MCC Christmas, released in 2014. Dr. Brandau prepared MCC for a performance of Mahler's 8th Symphony by invitation at Carnegie Hall with the Canterbury Choral Society in November 2017.

Repertoire

Premieres

MCC has performed regional and world premieres, including:

  • Bound for Glory by Rollo Dillworth, with the Canterbury Choral Society, November 2017, world premiere at Carnegie Hall
  • Brooklyn Bones by Alvin Singleton, text by Patricia Hampl, and The Wallabout Martyrs by Gilda Lyons, text by Walt Whitman; March 2011, world premieres
  • Golden Gate, a contemporary musical by Richard Pearson Thomas and Joe Calarco, May 2008, world premiere of semi-staged version
  • I Sing the Body Electric by Brooklyn-based composer and conductor Vince Peterson, April 2010, dedicated to Dr. Mark Shapiro
  • Sécheresses (Droughts) by Francis Poulenc, June 2003, world premiere of English translation by Dr. Mark Shapiro
  • Sphaera (Bubble) by French composer Guillaume Connesson, May 2009, North American premiere
  • Stronger Than Darkness, a Cuban-American concert opera by Jorge Martin, March 2007, world premiere of concert version

Innovations

MCC has performed innovations such as new concert formats and commissions, including:

  • Vespers Fusion concert, May 2015, integrating selections from Vespers by Vespro della Beata Vergine (Monteverdi) and Vesperae solennes de confessore (Mozart) into one performance
  • I Have a Dream concert, March 2013, honoring the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s iconic speech, and the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, through music, historical readings, and dramatic re-enactment
  • Lincoln Bicentennial Tribute concert, February 2009, presented free of charge, with songs, narrative, skits, and quotes by Abraham Lincoln
  • Concert portraits of the lives and works of great artists, with dramatic skits and readings, including William Shakespeare, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, and Franz Liszt
  • Fill My Dreams, Stir My Soul by Paul Siskind, June 2001, based on MCC's student poetry contests with the winning poems set to music and performed by MCC, with a grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation

Rare and Contemporary Music

Rare and contemporary music performed by the Monmouth Civic Chorus includes:

Musical Theater, Opera, and Operetta

MCC has performed musical theater, opera, and operetta, either fully staged, semi-staged, or in revues, including:

Choral classics

Among the choral classics performed by the Monmouth Civic Chorus are:

Collaborations

Guest artists

MCC has worked with numerous vocal soloists, directors, and composers who have moved on to the world stage, several of whom are profiled on the Chorus website. Guest artists featured in MCC concerts and solo recitals include mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano Barbara Dever, bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green, soprano Angela Meade, soprano Jo Ellen Miller, soprano Jody Sheinbaum, tenor Steven Tharp, and soprano Donita Volkwijn. Eric Einhorn, a director at the Metropolitan Opera and many other stages, directed MCC in the premiere of Golden Gate, a musical by Richard Pearson Thomas and Joe Calarco. Tony winner Victoria Clark led a master class for musical theater singers to benefit MCC in 2009.

Collaborative performances

MCC has collaborated with orchestras, choruses, production companies, and dance companies, including:

  • Cabaret for Life, October 2009 and April 2017
  • Canterbury Choral Society, November 2017, at Carnegie Hall
  • Cathedral Symphony Orchestra, December 1985, at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Newark, NJ
  • Manhattan Philharmonic, May 1989, November 1990 and May 1991, at Carnegie Hall
  • Monmouth Conservatory of Music Children's Opera Chorus, April 1997 and June 2000
  • Monmouth Symphony Orchestra, March 1994
  • New Jersey Bach Festival Orchestra, December 1993, at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Newark, NJ
  • New Jersey Chamber Singers Children's Chorus, June 2001
  • New Jersey Gay Men's Chorus, December 2007
  • New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, November 2001, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, NJ
  • New Jersey Youth Chorus, December 2017
  • Raritan Valley Youth Chorale, June 1994
  • Roxey Ballet, April 2019
  • Westfield Symphony Orchestra (now New Jersey Festival Orchestra), September 2006

Awards

MCC is the recipient of two awards:

  • 2008 ASCAP/Chorus America Alice Parker Award, awarded to one North American chorus annually for programming significant recently composed music that expands the mission of the chorus and challenges the chorus's audience in a new way.[1]
  • 2010 Spinnaker Award for Arts and Culture from the Eastern Monmouth Area Chamber of Commerce [2]

Recordings

The Monmouth Civic Chorus has produced three recordings on CD:

  • A Merry Little MCC Christmas, released November 2014
  • An MCC Christmas, well-known holiday carols (sold out)
  • Grace Notes, selections from choral classics

Tours

The Monmouth Civic Chorus has performed on tour in numerous European countries. Highlights include singing in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican in Rome, the Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiori in Florence, St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, the home of Edvard Grieg in Norway, and St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. Tours under the direction of William R. Shoppell, Jr. took MCC to Austria and Germany in 1984, the British Isles in 1987, and to Austria, Switzerland and Italy in 1990. MCC toured Eastern Europe in 1993, directed by Dr. Shapiro, and Scandinavia in 1996, under the baton of then-Assistant Conductor Steven Russell. Dr. Brandau led the chorus on a tour of the Republic of Ireland in 2015, and the Baltic States in 2018.

Organizational structure

MCC is a not-for-profit organization with no office and no paid administrative staff. All administrative aspects of running the chorus are performed by volunteers. The elected board of directors, consisting largely of singing members, is responsible for developing and implementing the long-range plan, overseeing the group's fiscal health and grant compliance, responding to the needs of the director and members, and maintaining productive relationships with the audience and community.

MCC's programs are made possible in part by Monmouth Arts through funding from the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Additional funding is received from individual and corporate donors, foundation grants and matching gifts. MCC has an Endowment Fund as a permanent income source, and a Sostenuto Society for donors who have included the Chorus in their estate planning.

MCC is a member of Chorus America and the New Jersey Choral Consortium.

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References
  1. Stack, Pauline (June 10, 2008). "ASCAP "ADVENTUROUS PROGRAMMING" AWARDS TO BE PRESENTED AT CHORUS AMERICA CONFERENCE IN DENVER". ASCAP. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  2. Eastern Monmouth Area Chamber of Commerce, 19th Annual Spinnaker Awards Announced, archived from the original on 22 August 2011, retrieved 30 March 2011
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