Director's Letter
Greetings!
It is glorious to be back in B012 with 43 talented singers! Yes, you read that right: we had record turnout this fall and admitted 22 new singers. Special appreciation to Sydney Williams, our enthusiastic VP, and Maggie Hyatt, our talented publicity chair. We are off to a great start with the students learning music quickly and sounding fantastic even through masks and double-masks. I am so proud of the students who persevered during the pandemic. All the challenges were worth it, and we’re now reaping the benefits.
We started the semester quickly with two rehearsals for Rotunda Sing and a performance of My Tears Ricochet and Loves Me Like a Rock. I’m crossing my fingers for our first concert, the Choral Showcase concert during Family Weekend. Our music has themes of hope, faith, and strength, and we will begin our segment with the blessing May It Be, taken from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Incidentally it was the last song we performed before the pandemic (for a memorial service) and was to be our first song to our alumnae and friends in our anniversary concert, and now will be the first we sing in a concert. Our second selection, Arnesen’s Even When He is Silent, is a powerful and poignant composition, “a work about hope in the darkest time of life. The text was written by a Jew hiding in Cologne, Germany, during World War 2 where the text was found scratched onto a wall.”Our final selection, Still I Rise, was inspired by the poem of the same title by Maya Angelou. The theme of hope and resiliency shines strong in this gospel style, rousing anthem. If you’re in Cville Friday, October 22, come by OCH at 8 PM and enjoy the music.
Our Candlelight Concerts will feature Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols, accompanied by professional harpist Anastasia Jellison. They will take place Friday, December 3, at 8 PM, and Saturday, December 4, at 3:30 in the UVA Chapel, and we hope you can join us. There will be a reception after the second concert. You will be hearing from our Alumnae Relations Chair, Iris Wu, about this as well as a gathering for alums and current members during homecoming weekend.
We would not be the excellent musical ensemble and warm community that we so enjoy without your continued support, for which we are most appreciative. The students will be contacting you soon during our annual fund drive, and we hope you will share some of your stories during your time in the Chorus. I know many of the students have thoroughly enjoyed the connections they have made with you through “Super Sisters,” and hope even more of you will become involved this year as we have a bumper crop of new students.
Again, thank you for being our awesome alums and friends, and for enriching us in so many ways!
Vdubz love,
KaeRenae