Choral Arts New England Announces 2015 Grant Recipients

The recipients of the 2015 Alfred Nash Patterson grants were selected from 47 proposals that were received by the February 28, 2015 deadline.

• Cantilena Chamber Choir of Lenox, Mass.
  For a concert in honor of Tanglewood Music center’s 75th anniversary that features works by composers who were Tanglewood composition fellows. Those composers include Lukas Foss, Elliot Carter, Michael Gandolfi, Thomas Oboe Lee, and John Harbison, among others. The performance is on May 14, 2016 in Lenox (date changed in January 2016).
• Chorus pro Musica of Boston, Mass.
  To support a 25-minute commissioned work for chorus and brass band by composer Andy Vores, called Spencer the Rover, which will be premiered at Sanders Theatre in Cambridge on March 12, 2016.
• CONCORA (Connecticut Choral Artists) of Hartford, Conn.
  To support an innovative semi-staged performance of J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion that includes innovative placement of singers and instrumentalists, supertitles, and visual aids, under the direction of CONCORA's new music director, Dr. Christopher Shepard. The performance is on March 20, 2016 in Hartford.
• Coro Allegro of Boston, Mass.
  For a collaborative project with Boston City Singers to expand Howard Frazin's The Voice of Isaac, an oratorio retelling the Abraham and Isaac story from Isaac’s perspective, to include adult voices. The expanded work will be performed at Sanders Theatre in Cambridge on March 13, 2016.
• Emmanuel Music of Boston, Mass.
  To support the work of Emmanuel Music to "rescue" Johann Sebastian Bach’s final passion, the St. Mark Passion, and perform it at Emmanuel Church on March 19, 2016. The performance will include a pre-concert conversation with scholars about the project. Free tickets will be made available to certain Boston-area students.
• Journey Song Charitable Trust of Kensington, N.H.
  For a "Celebration of Hospice Music" on November 15, 2015 at the Congregational Church of Exeter, N.H., featuring the compositions and arrangements of singer and composer Peter Amidon, which are meant to bring the comfort of vocal music, both secular and sacred, to those nearing the end of life.
• Lorelei Ensemble of Cambridge, Mass.
  To support the commissioning of two new works by Tim Takach and Bryan Christian, to be premiered on December 18–19, 2015 at Marsh Chapel, Boston University, as part of Lorelei Ensemble's first Christmas program, called “Of Such Virtue."
• Master Singers of Worcester of Worcester, Mass.
  To support a concert that celebrates Armenian musical heritage and commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The performance, on October 25, 2015, at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, will include works by Armenian composers, a commissioned work from Stephan Barnicle, and the Requiem for the Living by the American composer Dan Forrest.
• Vermont Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association of Burlington, Vermont
  To support the “Gather at the River” conference in Hanover, NH on June 26–27, 2015, which consists of workshops, seminars and performances open to all choral musicians, culminating in a performance by all participants of Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem.
• Wescustago Youth Chorale of Yarmouth, Maine
  To support hiring a one-year Development Coordinator, who will pursue fundraising opportunities that were identified through a strategic planning process to promote long-term growth and of music and outreach programs.
• Women in Harmony of Portland, Maine
  For a performance of Diane Benjamin’s Where I Live (A Breast Cancer Oratorio), for women’s chorus, soloists, strings, piano, and percussion, on May 20–21, 2016, at St. Luke's Cathedral in Portland, Maine. The concert will be conducted in partnership with the Cancer Community Center in Scarborough, Maine.

Choral Arts New England also continues support of Blue Heron Renaissance Choir of Auburndale, Mass., for recording the Peterhouse Partbooks (fourth year of a four-year grant).

Grants will be presented at the Awards Ceremony on November 8, 2015.