FARMINGTON – The UMF Community Chorus will present their spring program, “A Celebration in Music,” at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, May 2 and 3 p.m., Sunday, May 3, at the Old South Church in Farmington. The ensemble brings University of Maine at Farmington students, faculty and staff together with community members to bring the best of classical choral performances to Western Maine.
Directed by Bruce McInnes, the spring program is a celebration of noteworthy anniversaries for renowned composers. The concert will open with the celebratory chorus “The Heaven’s Are Telling” from “The Creation,” in observance of the 200th anniversary of the death of Franz Josef Haydn.
Marking the 350th anniversary of Henry Purcell’s birth, the chamber choir will sing two of his verse anthems: “Rejoice in the Lord Always” and “Lord, How Long Wilt Thou be Angry.” Some of the less familiar “Messiah” choruses will be performed in memory of the death of George Frideric Handel, with tenor Daniel Woodward as the soloist in the recitative. This will be followed by the motet “Hear My Prayer,” with soloists Laura Grams and Jane Parker, to honor the 200th anniversary of the birth of Felix Mendelsohn.
The program will close with four spirituals: “Elijah Rock,” arranged by Jester Hairston; “Little Innocent Lamb,” arranged by Marshall Bartholomew; “Soon I Will Be Done,” arranged by William Dawson; and “Sweet Home,” arranged by Wendell Whalum, with soprano Lisl Fuson as soloist. Patricia Hayden will provide organ and piano accompaniment for the program.
In addition to conducting the UMF Community Chorus, McInnes also directs the Mastersingers USA, a men’s chorus of alumni from Amherst College, Yale University, Pacific University and University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, as well as from his choirs at Grace Church in New York. He has conducted choirs at Harvard University, Sarah Lawrence College, Rutgers University and Columbia University. He has been a professor at Amherst College, Pacific University, University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire and Sarah Lawrence College, and more recently served as dean of the conservatory at the Cleveland Institute of Music. A Fulbright scholar at the Université de Paris where he studied with Nadia Boulanger, Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Cochereau and Darius Milhaud, he holds an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and completed his graduate studies at Yale University. McInnes also serves as choir director at the Old South Church in Farmington.
Both concerts are open to the public and are $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and free for UMF students with I.D. Tickets will be available at Mickey’s Hallmark in Farmington and at the door at both performances. For more information, please contact the UMF Department of Visual and Performing Arts at 207-778-7072, or at robin.palmermosher@maine.edu.
