Letter from the Director: KaeRenae Mitchell

Happy Spring!

As I write this, the ladies are on a well-deserved Spring Break, for they have been working hard on bringing new music to life this semester (and attending classes!). We are excited to debut Bluebell, and to work with the instrumentalists soon. Our spring concert features the most instrumentalists we’ve ever had – 14 will be adding their unique sounds to ours! Our new girls will have learned 17 new pieces this semester, and our oldest members are only repeating four selections: the two closing numbers (of course) and two of my favorites, I Thank You God, and There Will Come Soft Rains. We will have a few surprises for you in our concert as well as the new repertoire which features works by women composers, lyricists, and poets, so please join us as we celebrate women and the University! We’d love to see you!

I think the best students at UVA are in VWC, and I feel so fortunate to work with them! Our Managing Board has been amazing, and has worked hard to secure additional funding from the Parents Fund, the Office of the Dean of Students, and the Vice Provost for the Arts to help produce this concert. We have many honorariums and other costs to cover and we’re appreciative of them! We are indebted to the Jefferson Trust for funding to commission the work, Bluebell, by Ola Gjeilo. I can’t say enough about our Managing Board and the enthusiasm and dedication they bring to the Chorus. We have already begun working on our 45th Anniversary Concert, Spring 2020! We will provide updates as we receive them. We are hoping for the weekend of April 3-5, and are keeping our fingers crossed to secure Old Cabell Hall when applications are open to us. We’ll send out a Save the Date soon!

Our Spring Concert, “Celebrating Women and the University” will take place on Jefferson’s birthday, Saturday, April 13, at 1 PM in Old Cabell Hall. For more information about the concert, please visit our website, and for tickets, visit the website of the Arts Box Office.  You are cordially invited to the reception following the concert – please see the article by Mary Katherine McCullough, our Alumnae Relations Chair, for details. Hope to see you there!

Vdubz harmony and love,

KaeRenae

Katherine (KaeRenae) Mitchell

Director