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 18 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 choir requires a two-semester commitment.

The BYU Concert Choir

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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 is well known for their distinguished, warm and innovative sound. The choir was first organized by Mack Wilberg in 1984 who has also written a number of songs and arrangements specifically for the ensemble. When Mack Wilberg left BYU in 1999 to became an assistant conductor for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Rosalind Hall stepped in to lead the Concert Choir.

The Choir has sung at the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) convention and with the Utah Symphony. Concert Choir mostly performs "at home" in the de Jong Concert Hall on BYU Campus, with an occasional trip to other local venues. The Choir has released two albums on Tantara Records entitled "All Creatures of our God and King" (Wilberg) and "Beautiful River" (Hall). The later 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." [http://www.singers.com/choral/byusingers.html Review of CDs by BYU Choirs, Dec 2006] ] Recently, BYU Concert Choir had the opportunity to perform the premiere of two works by Mack Wilberg: "Till All Eternity Shall Ring," and "Dances to Life."

The BYU Men's Chorus

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The BYU Men's Chorus, the largest collegiate male choir in the United States of America [http://sun.dixie.edu/index.php?pg=story&storyid=2360 Jackie Fletcher, "Brigham Young University men's choir to perform", "Dixie Sun News", March 21, 2007] ] , originally started in 1901 at Brigham Young University (BYU) as "Male Glee". Anthon C. Lund directed the choir until the 1920s; then the choir came under the direction of Forence Jepperson Madsen and her husband, Franklin, with short periods under William F. Hanson and John R. Holliday. In 1955 it became an official class at BYU, and in 1958 it adopted the current name "Men's Chorus".

The choir did not become well known until the 1980s, when Mack Wilberg (now the music director for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir) helped it gain a reputation for innovative sound and excellent performances. In 1999, Wilberg was replaced by esteemed choral director Rosalind Hall, a native of Wales.

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 180 to 230 of them chosen for the choir. The repertoire frequently includes Latin and classical pieces, folk songs from various countries, LDS music, and well-known American pieces. In 2005 the choir released the CD, "Praise Him", with Rosalind Hall as director and has appeared on several recordings featuring the combined choirs.

The BYU Singers

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BYU Singers is a small, flexible group of approximately 40 musicians. Founded in 1984 by Ronald Staheli, this choir has become one of the finest and most respected collegiate choirs in the United States. Their repertoire spreads extensively across all eras and styles of music, but especially in forgotten or rarely performed works.

The Singers have traveled all over the world including Western Europe, the Baltic states, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Ghana, the United States and most recently South Africa. [http://byunews.byu.edu/release.aspx?story=archive05/Jan/singers "News Release: BYU Singers to open this week's American Choral Directors Association Convention" from the website] ] . The BYU Singers were the first and only choir to sing at all three of America's top choral conventions in the same year. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20061029/ai_n16811608 "Y. singers to finish a 'grand slam' tour", "Deseret News", Oct 29, 2006] ] . They were invited to open the ACDA Convention in Los Angeles in 2005, and were recently one of four collegiate choirs invited to perform in San Antonio, Texas for the first annual National Collegic Choral Organization in 2006. Jo-Michael Scheibe, 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." [ [http://pam.byu.edu/similarpage.asp?title=BYU%20Singers BYU Performing Arts Management Website] ]

BYU Singers has been featured on five solo recordings, including a collection 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."

The BYU Women's Chorus

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The BYU Women's Chorus is made up of about 180 singers and performs a large number of concerts throughout the year. Until recently, this choir was mainly conducted by graduate students but is now under the direction of Jean Applonie, who also conducts the Utah-based choir "Viva Voce". Since having a consistent conductor appointed, the Women's chorus has been improving dramatically and has recently gained a large fan base. They have become well respected for their energetic, shimmering sound.

The Women's Chorus was featured with the Wind Symphony on BYU's 2006 Homecoming Spectacular and its subsequent worldwide broadcast. The choir will soon be releasing its first solo recording and has appeared on albums featuring the combined choirs.

The choirs in a combined setting

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

One of the most frequent combinations is Concert Choir with Singers. Together, these choirs have performed numerous works including Robert Cundick's "The Redeemer", William Walton's Belshazzar's Feast, and most recently, Eric Whitacre's "Her Sacred Spirit Soars."

Notes

External links

* [http://concertchoir.byu.edu Concert Choir Website]
* [http://menschorus.byu.edu Men's Chorus Website]
* [http://singers.byu.edu Singers Website]
* [http://womenschorus.byu.edu Women's Chorus Website]
* [http://www.encoreartsmanagement.com/rosalind_hall.html Rosalind Hall]
* [http://singers.byu.edu/conductor.html Ronald Staheli]