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2019-12-25 06:29:00
Monmouth Civic Chorus. Ryan James Brandau, conductor. December 22, 2019.
Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ. (Orchestra, Seat L6, $30). Program – Messiah and More. Artists Devony Smith, mezzo-soprano The New Jersey Youth Chorus, Trish Joyce, Director. Per my records, this was the sixth year that Lorinda and I celebrated our birthday together. For many years it was marked by attending the Christmas concert performed by the Monmouth Civic Chorus. Trying a selfie with the ultra wide angle camera on the iPhone 11. Compared to prior years’ programs, this afternoon’s concerts had a relatively heavy dose of Messiah, with a couple of arias (and a recitative) sung by the mezzo-soprano Devony Smith. Also on the program were several pieces by the NJ Youth Chorus Coriste – consisting of high school girls – who in some ways stole the show (in a good way). Several […]
2019-06-04 05:20:00
Monmouth Civic Chorus. James Brandau, artistic director. June 2, 2019.
St. Mary’s Church, Colts Neck, NJ. Preferred Seating ($30). Program – A Night at the Oper(ett)a. Accompanist – Jason Wirth. Monmouth Civic Chorus. This was taken after the first half of the program. The program consisted mostly of songs from operettas written by Gilbert & Sullivan, and the opera Dido and Aeneas by Purcell. For good measure the Hebrew Chorus from Nabucco and The Humming Chorus from Madama Butterfly, as well as The Flower Duet from Lakme were thrown in the mix. We just heard the Hebrew Chorus about a week ago, in Leipzig. While I enjoyed it very much, I thought their volume could be a bit louder. The song sounds simple enough, and the voices often sang in unison. Given what I heard this afternoon, I realized that perhaps it wasn’t that simple. I find this […]
2019-04-10 16:21:00
Monmouth Civic Chorus. Ryan James Brandau, conductor. April 6, 2019.
Axelrod Performing Arts Center, Deal, NJ. Premium Seating (Seat J115, $38). Program Carmina Burana: A Scenic Cantata (1935-1936) by Orff (1895-1982). Guest Artists Claire Leyden – soprano, Alex Guerrero – tenor, Marcus DeLoach, baritone. Roxy Ballet – Mark A. Roxey, director. The soloists get mentioned, the ballet company gets mentioned, and - certainly - the conductor gets mentioned in bold, but we can't tell who the composer is on the program. This is going to be a short report. As Anne remarked to me afterwards, I nodded off quite a bit during this concert. I have powered through long days and jet lags, but I “lost” terribly tonight. We saw this about ten years ago performed by the National Chorale, and my blog entry for that event would indicate I was reasonably familiar with the piece, I […]
2018-12-18 20:26:00
Monmouth Civic Chorus. Ryan James Brandau, conductor. December 16, 2018.
Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ. (Orchestra, Seat M2). Program – Joy to the World Artists Nola Richardson, soprano Matawan-Aberdeen Middle School Dolce, Nadine Greenspan, Director This is the third year of our tradition of attending this MCC Christmas concert with the Homs. While this year’s program has some overlap with prior years’ programs, there is enough new material to make the evening interesting. The biggest gripe is still with how poorly the chorus’s sound carried into our seating area. I checked our seats for prior seasons, they were all in this same general area. I wonder if other seating areas have similar issues. In contrast, the soprano’s voice came across very well. What she sang included a few selections from Handel’s Messiah, and her singing certainly was on the level of what I heard at NJ Symphony […]
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