Chorus of Westerly
Encyclopedia
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
. It is one of the few choruses in the nation which has children singing alongside adults for every performance of its season (regardless of work or difficulty). Members of the Chorus come from all over Rhode Island and southeastern Connecticut, with some members coming from as far as Middlesex and Norfolk counties in Massachusetts. As part of its typical season, the Chorus will present two "classical" concert series (one in November and one in May), a series of Christmas Pops concerts in December, seven performances of "A Celebration of Twelfth Night" in January (a musical and theatrical event based on an originally written stage play set in medieval times), an a cappella or guest concert series in March, and Summer Pops, a large outdoor performance held in Westerly's Wilcox Park for audiences of 25,000 each June. For its classical and pops events, the Chorus performs with "The Boston Festival Orchestra" - an informal collection of professional orchestral musicians from the Boston Musicians Association and from across Rhode Island.
Over its fifty-two seasons, the Chorus of Westerly has performed many of the most important choral works ever written, from J.S. Bach's Mass in B Minor to William Walton's Belshazzar's Feast. In recent seasons, the Chorus has performed Duruflé's Requiem, Mozart's Mass in C Minor, Vaughan Williams's Hodie, and Honegger's King David. The Chorus has also given the American premiere performance of several British choral works of the past century. This list includes "Songs of the Fleet" by Charles Villiers Stanford, "Lux Aeterna" by William Mathias
William Mathias
William Mathias CBE was a Welsh composer.-Brief biography:Mathias was born in Whitland, Carmarthenshire. A child prodigy, he started playing the piano at the age of three and composing at the age of five. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Lennox Berkeley, where he was elected a fellow...
, "Birthday Madrigals" by John Rutter
John Rutter
John Milford Rutter CBE is a British composer, conductor, editor, arranger and record producer, mainly of choral music.-Biography:Born in London, Rutter was educated at Highgate School, where a fellow pupil was John Tavener. He read music at Clare College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the...
, "Mass of the Sea" by Paul Patterson and several other works of George Dyson, Patrick Hadley and Gilbert Vinters.
In the summer months, the Chorus holds a series of choral workshops, open to the public to participate, at Camp Ogontz in Lyman, NH. In July, two workshop sessions, each a week in length, are presented. The sessions have been directed over the past two decades by Richard Marlow
Richard Marlow
Richard Kenneth Marlow is an English choral conductor and organist. He was Organ Scholar and later Research Fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge. He studied with Thurston Dart, writing a doctoral dissertation on the 17th-century virginalist, Giles Farnaby...
(former organist and choirmaster of Trinity College, Cambridge), Sir David Willcocks (former choirmaster of King's College, Cambridge and The Bach Choir, London), Herbert Bock, and most recently by David Hill
David Hill (choral director)
David Hill , is a choral conductor and organist. His most high profile roles are as Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers from September 2007, and Musical Director of The Bach Choir from April 1998. He was previously Organist and Director of Music at St John's College, Cambridge, in succession to...
(of the BBC Singers, the Bach Choir) and James Litton
James Litton
James Litton directed the American Boychoir from 1985 to 2001 and is widely recognized as one of the leading choral conductors of the day.-Overview:...
(former director of the American Boychoir). In August, a third week of singing is held at Ogontz, this one, led by George Kent, is specifically for the children and teenagers of the Chorus to help prepare them for the upcoming season of music.
The Chorus has toured three times internationally, including two tours to Great Britain and one tour to Italy. As part of its tours, the Chorus has performed in Westminster Abbey, King's College Chapel, Canterbury Cathedral, the cathedrals of Milan and Florence, Saint Mark's Basilica (Venice), Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican (including the singing of high mass), and performed the Dvořák Requiem with the Westminster Choir as part the closing concert of the 1987 Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds.
Since 1969, the Chorus has rehearsed and performed in what is now the George Kent Performance Hall. The building (and its main nave/hall), renowned for its exceptional acoustics, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Originally, from 1889 through 1969, Kent Hall was Westerly's Immaculate Conception Church. From the mid-1970s through 1990, the building was home to the Westerly Center for the Arts. When the Center for the Arts organization folded in 1991, the Chorus purchased the building and renamed it the Chorus of Westerly Performance Hall. In September 2005, the Chorus completed a $2.5 million renovation and expansion project on the facility thanks to the support of a community capital campaign. The facility was rededicated at that time as the George Kent Performance Hall.
On June 16, 2011, George Kent announced his retirement from his post with the Chorus of Westerly effective at the end of the ensemble's 53rd season in June 2012. The Chorus of Westerly is currently undergoing a search process for its second music director.
Summer Pops
Since 1981, the Chorus of Westerly has presented and performed in one of Rhode Island's largest free outdoor music events, Summer Pops. Held in Westerly's Wilcox Park, an historic Victorian strolling park operated by the Westerly Public Library, the event annually attracts over 25,000 annual residents. The program features an hour long pre-show event featuring local musicians and dancers followed by the main program featuring the entire Chorus, 55 members of the Boston Festival Orchestra, the Newport Artillery, church bells from the local Episcopal church, and a fireworks show by the Grucci Company of long island. Summer Pops was started as both a send off and thank you concert prior to the ensemble's 1981 concert tour to Great Britain. Because of its local popularity and early success, the Chorus of Westerly has continued to present the program at the start of summer (usually in late June) every year since 1981.Artistic Leadership
The Chorus of Westerly was founded in 1959 by George Kent. Kent has served as music and artistic director of the Chorus since its founding. Kent will step down and retire from his post on June 30, 2012. A search is currently underway by the Chorus for its second music director.In addition to his current position with the Chorus, current director George Kent is organist and choirmaster at Christ Episcopal Church, Westerly, RI, and Professor of Music at the University of Rhode Island. Previous posts include time as assistant music director and acting music director of the Rhode Island Philharmonic. Kent also toured extensively throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with acclaimed trumpet player Edward Tarr and recorded several albums with Tarr for trumpet (Tarr) and organ (Kent). Kent was the receipient of a Martha Baird Rockefeller Grant in 1968 which allowed him to study with Sir David Willcocks at King's College, Cambridge.
Kent's awards during his tenure with the Chorus include: Rhode Island's Governor's Arts Award (1988), the Award for Excellence in Music from the South County Center for the Arts (1998), the Lifetime Achievement Award from Choral Arts, New England (1999) and the History Maker’s Salute Award from the R.I. Historical Society (2001).More recently, Mr. Kent received the Arts & Business Council of Rhode Island’s Award for Individual Achievement (2004) and was named a distinguished alumni by New England Conservatory (2003). In May 2006, Mr. Kent received the prestigious Pell Award. The Pell Awards honor Senator Claiborne Pell and recognize artistic excellence both in Rhode Island and nationally. In 1996, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from New York’s General Theological Seminary for his outstanding contribution to church music in America.