BYU choirs

The choirs at Brigham Young University consist of four auditioned choirs: the Concert Choir, the Men's Chorus, the Women's Chorus, and the Brigham Young University Singers. Each choir is highly accomplished and performs from an extensive repertoire. Together, the choirs have recorded and released a total of 23 albums. The choirs perform throughout the academic year. Admission into each choir is by audition, carried out in the weeks leading up to the fall semester. Each ensemble requires a two-semester commitment.

There are other choral performing groups at BYU. For those that are connected with the Jazz Studies Department see BYU bands and ensembles.

Concert Choir

BYU Concert Choir conducted by Rosalind Hall

The BYU Concert Choir is a mixed chorus of approximately 90 men and women. This select group performs a wide variety of choral repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to modern, and all from memory. The choir was first organized in 1984 by Mack Wilberg, who has also written a number of songs and arrangements specifically for the ensemble. When Wilberg left BYU in 1999 to become an assistant conductor for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Rosalind Hall stepped in to conduct the Concert Choir.^{[citation needed]}

The choir has sung at the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) convention and with the Utah Symphony. The Concert Choir mostly performs in the de Jong Concert Hall on the BYU Campus, with an occasional trip to other local venues.

The choir has released two albums on Tantara Records: "All Creatures of our God and King" and "Beautiful River". The latter recording, featuring "Five Hebrew Love Songs" by Eric Whitacre, has been praised by singers.com saying that it "proves to us that the [BYU Concert Choir] is ready to take its place as one of the best mixed choirs in the world." ^[1] Recently, BYU Concert Choir had the opportunity to perform the premiere of two works by Mack Wilberg: "Till All Eternity Shall Ring,"^[2] and "Dances to Life."^[3]

Men's Chorus

BYU Men's Chorus conducted by Rosalind Hall

The BYU Men's Chorus, the largest collegiate male choir in the United States of America,^[4] originally started in 1901 at BYU as "Male Glee". Anthony C. Lund directed the choir until the 1920s; then the choir came under the direction of Florence Jepperson Madsen and her husband, Franklin Madsen, with short periods under William F. Hanson and John R. Halliday.^[5] In 1955 the Male Chorus became an official class at BYU, conducted by Dr. Ralph Woodward until his retirement in 1984. Dr. Mack Wilberg became conductor of the ensemble in 1984, and the name was then changed to Men's Chorus. Men's Chorus increased its reputation and gained fame through performances on the BYU campus and on short tours, as well as through nationally broadcast videos on PBS of "A Celebration of Christmas" (first broadcast in 1993), "A Thanksgiving of American Folk Hymns" (1995) and "Songs of Praise and Remembrance" (1999). In 1999, Wilberg was replaced by choral director Rosalind Hall, a native of Wales.^[4]

The choir has performed at the ACDA conventions, and performs frequently to sold-out audiences. Over 400 men audition for the choir yearly, with between 75 to 150 of them chosen to join the choir. The repertoire frequently includes Latin and classical pieces, folk songs from various countries, LDS music, and well-known American pieces.

The choir released two albums under the direction of Wilberg, released by Deseret Book Company: Shout With Glory - 1995, and Awake My Soul - 1997. In 2005 the choir released the CD, "Praise Him".^{[citation needed]}

The BYU Singers

BYU Singers conducted by Dr. Ronald Staheli

BYU Singers is a small, flexible group of approximately 40 musicians. Founded in 1984 by Ronald Staheli, the choir's repertoire encompasses a range of musical eras and styles, including Renaissance through contemporary choral music; also Broadway, the American songbook, spirituals, folk songs, and hymns. They have performed in Western and Eastern Europe, including the former Soviet Union, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Australia, New Zealand, Ghana, Benin, Togo and South Africa. The group also performs regularly in concerts throughout the United States and has appeared on national television in four programs created for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.^[6]

BYU Singers is the only choir to sing at all three of America's top choral conventions in the same year.^[7] They were invited to open the ACDA Convention in Los Angeles in 2005,^[6] and were recently one of four collegiate choirs invited to perform in San Antonio, Texas for the first conference of the National Collegiate Choral Organization in 2006. Jo-Michael Scheibe, former president of ACDA Western Division, has said of the choir, "If I had to settle on just one adjective for [the] ensemble, it would be `stunning'! I am not alone in this opinion . . . [the] group's ability to change the choral sound within the variety of musical styles was simply astounding. The combination of superb musicianship and flexibility produced some of the finest musical sound ACDA has ever heard."^[8]

In April 2009, the BYU Singers attended the Cork International Choral Festival where they were awarded the PEACE Award. The PEACE Award "is awarded to a choir who touched the hearts’ of all who heard them and exemplified the intentions of the trophy’s benefactors, the P. E. A. C. E. Movement, Cork. . . Festival audiences are many and varied. They are represented not just by those who attend the Gala Concerts and Competitive Sessions, but by those who listen to choirs in their church visits, and informal performances throughout the week of the festival." ^[9]

BYU Singers has been featured on eight solo recordings, including two collections of works by Eric Whitacre, and on several other recordings with the combined choirs at BYU. Singers.com has praised the group saying, "the Brigham Young University Singers present a captivating performance of vocal music...and enthralls audiences of every kind." ^[1]
It is reported that at the Hal Leonard’s Conductor’s craft convention in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2009 that Eric Whitacre said something to the effect of "'Eric Whitacre, the complete a capella work' album by the BYU singers is the best and most complete album of my music ever to be recorded."

Women's Chorus

BYU Women's Chorus conducted by Jean Applonie

The BYU Women's Chorus is made up of about 180 singers and performs a large number of concerts throughout the year. Formerly conducted by a number of different faculty and graduate student, since 2005 the choir has now come under the direction of Jean Simons Applonie, who also founded and conducted the Utah-based women's choir Viva Voce. When Applonie became the director of the BYU Women's Choirs in 2004 she became the first faculty member to serve as its director. Prior to that it had been directed by graduate students.^[10]

The Women's Chorus was featured with the Wind Symphony on BYU's 2006 Homecoming Spectacular^[11] and its subsequent worldwide broadcast on KBYU-TV.

In 2008 the choir released its first solo recording "Wondrous Love" and has appeared on several albums featuring the combined choirs.

Past choirs

The BYU Madrigal Singers were formed in 1951 under the direction of John R. Halliday. Halliday (1911–1988) had bachelor's and master's degrees in music from BYU and a Ph.D. from Eastman School of Music.^[12] He had also for a time been assistant director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir under J. Spencer Cornwall.^[13] For the 10 years prior to the forming of the Madrigal Singers, Halliday had been the director of the BYU band. The Madrigal Singers toured extensively during the 1950s. The BYU Oratorio Choir was formed in 1961, also under Halliday's direction, with the goal of performing oratorios, cantatas and the like. Other BYU singing groups organized between 1951 and 1975 included the BYU Chamber Choir, the Golden Age Singers, the BYU A Capella Choir, the BYU Opera Workshop Chorus, and Scola Cantorum.^[14]

The choirs in a combined setting

The choirs perform together frequently throughout the year with a combined total of over 500 singers. Together, they perform a cappella, accompanied by keyboard or with the BYU Philharmonic. They have performed Mahler's Second Symphony,^[15] Fauré's Requiem, Orff's Carmina Burana, and a variety of masses. Occasionally, the choirs are invited to provide music for a session of General Conference,^[16] which is broadcast around the world. The combined choirs, along with the philharmonic, are featured in four hour-long PBS broadcasts: Thanksgiving of American Folk Hymns, Celebration of Christmas, Songs of Praise and Remembrance, and The Pilgrim's Journey Home.

One of the most frequent combinations is Concert Choir with Singers. Together, these choirs have performed numerous works including Robert Cundick's The Redeemer, Johannes Brahms' "How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place," from Ein deutsches Requiem,^[17] William Walton's Belshazzar's Feast,^[18] Eric Whitacre's "Her Sacred Spirit Soars," and most recently, Edward Elgar's "Lux Aeterna".

Discography

• A Thanksgiving of American Folk Hymns (BYU Combined Choirs & Philharmonic - 1994) - available on CD and DVD
• A Celebration of Christmas (BYU Combined Choirs & Philharmonic - 1995) - available on CD and DVD
• The Redeemer (BYU Concert Choir, Singers & Philharmonic - 1996)
• We Sing of Christ (BYU Singers - 1997)
• All Creatures of Our God and King (BYU Concert Choir - 1999)
• Live at Carnegie Hall (BYU Singers - 1999)
• Songs of Praise and Remembrance (BYU Combined Choirs & Philharmonic - 2000) - available on CD and DVD
• Songs of the Soul (BYU Singers - 2000)
• I Believe this Is Jesus (BYU Singers - 2001)
• Eric Whitacre: The Complete A Cappella Works (BYU Singers - 2003)
• The Road Home (BYU Combined Choirs - 2003)
• Echoes of the Sabbath (BYU Combined Choirs & Philharmonic - 2003)
• My Redeemer Lives (BYU Singers - 2004)
• Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, "Resurrection" (BYU Philharmonic & Combined Choirs - 2005)
• Praise Him (BYU Men's Chorus - 2005)
• The Restoration Oratorio by Merrill Bradshaw (first recorded in 1974; remastered and released as CD in 2005; BYU Combined Choirs & Philharmonic)
• Beautiful River (BYU Concert Choir - 2005)
• The Secret of Christmas (BYU Singers - 2007)
• Brigham Young University Choirs and Eric Whitacre 2 (BYU Singers, Concert Choir & Women's Chorus - 2008)
• Wondrous Love (BYU Women's Chorus - 2008)
• Live and Kicking (BYU Men's Chorus - 2009)
• O Peace of Christ (BYU Singers - 2010)
• The Pilgrim's Journey Home (BYU Combined Choir & Philharmonic - 2010)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Review of CDs by BYU Choirs, Dec 2006
2. ^ "News Release: BYU Barlow Endowment hosts performance of four new works honoring Joseph Smith Nov. 18" from the BYU News website
3. ^ "News Release: BYU Concert Choir to perform works by Whitacre and Wilberg March 18" from the BYU News website
4. ^ ^{a b} Jackie Fletcher, "Brigham Young University men's choir to perform", Dixie Sun News, March 21, 2007
5. ^ Dr. Ralph Woodward obituary, Daily Herald, 9/8/2005
6. ^ ^{a b} "News Release: BYU Singers to open this week's American Choral Directors Association Convention" from the website
7. ^ "Y. singers to finish a 'grand slam' tour", Deseret News, Oct 29, 2006
8. ^ BYU Performing Arts Management Website
9. ^ http://www.corkchoral.ie/index.php/participation/competition-results.html
10. ^ BYU Magazine, Spring 2009, p. 17
11. ^ BYU news release
12. ^ Oral History interview with Halliday jointly sponsored by the BYU archives and BYU Alumni Association Emeritus Club
13. ^ a history of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
14. ^ Ernest L. Wilkinson and Leonard J. Arrington, ed., Brigham Young University: The First 100 Years (Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1975) Vol. 3, p. 388–391
15. ^ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009SRXC6
16. ^ Saturday Afternoon Session, May 2008 http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=d861558fcc599110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1
17. ^ http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/48624 Forum uncovers Brahms' requiem
18. ^ http://byunews.byu.edu/archive07-oct-belshazzar.aspx William Walton's “Belshazzar’s Feast” to be performed at BYU Nov. 9-10

External links

• Concert Choir Website
• Men's Chorus Website
• Singers Website
• Women's Chorus Website
• Rosalind Hall
• Ronald Staheli