Please click to access our Advertising Order Form and Sample Ad Form.  The samples are helpful visual references for ad sizes and corresponding prices, and they also offer suggestions for content.

The last possible day to submit ads is October 24!  This is a significant source of revenue for us, so please make the most of the opportunity.

Thank you!

Maria Joseph

Chorus leaves audience wanting more

Salisbury Singers give impressive holiday concert

By John Zeugner TELEGRAM & GAZETTE REVIEWER

The Salisbury Singers fashioned an impressive early jump on the holiday season last night with a concert titled “The Brilliance of Bach.” Music Director Michelle Graveline ingeniously found a way to pack her 81 singers into the front of the sanctuary of Trinity Lutheran Church and still provide room for the dozen musicians of The Bach Consort of Worcester as accompaniment, with Lynne LaComfora on the harpsichord.

The enormous, vaulted vertical space of the church posed some acoustic challenges for this concert celebrating the 325th anniversary of Bach’s birth, but nonetheless was an impressive vessel for the joyous monumentality of the music.

The opening Motet, “Lobet den Herrn” was probably written as a singing accompaniment to the choir’s slow-walking entrance, a kind of prelude to the formal cantata that Bach, incredibly, generated weekly for his church’s Sunday services. Under Graveline’s always exacting and precise command the piece served as a brilliant warmup for both chorus and audience to adjust to the sound-spaces of Trinity Lutheran. The conclusion was a superbly rendered spiraling “Alleluia!” displaying the chorus’s articulation and space-filling power.

The second selection featured Trinity organist John Weit, above and behind the large audience, at the church’s massive organ. He played the “Organ Chorale Prelude: Nun Komm Der Heiden Heiland,” BWV 659, a stately and complex piece with strong resonances from Dietrich Buxtehude, as well as monastic plainsong. The organ’s power from the back of the church seemed a perfect rejoinder to the chorus’s opening thunder from the church’s front. It was a dizzying illustration of Bach’s unbelievable facility spinning music effects.

Bach’s cantata for the first Sunday of Advent, the actual “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland,” BWV 62, concluded the first half of the concert. It began with a wonderfully realized chamber orchestra string prelude, followed by the chorus’s stout enunciation of the Savior’s birth and subsequent worship of the Lord.

The next four movements were handled by soloists accompanied by the Bach Consort, with the chorus silent. The splendid, extensive program notes were invaluable in grasping the cantata, with full text in German and translations provided. Tenor Stanley Wilson precisely articulated the 2nd movement’s celebration of the miracle of Christ’s birth, with, occasionally, Wilson sacrificing heft for enunciation. The orchestral support was spacious and fluent. Bass-Baritone Steven Small capably threaded through the third movement recitative and deftly, if quietly, delivered the 4th movement aria, “Streite, siege, starker Held.” Soprano Elisabeth Gondek was joined by Margaret Tartaglia, mezzo-soprano, for the joint recitative 5th movement, and then the chorus wound things up with a majestic, vault-filling “Praise be to God the Father … for ever and in eternity!” One longed to hear more from the chorus, a desire partially fulfilled in the concert’s second half.

After the intermission Graveline took up Bach’s familiar cantata BWV 140, “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme,” – “Awake, the watchmen call to us …” with interior movements detailing the brides awaiting-their-bridegroom story strangely spliced in. The chorus handles the 1st, 4th (tenors only) and final 7th movement. Soloists handle the rest culminating in stirring 3rd and 6th movement duets by Small and Gondek. The first duet was preceded by a violin solo masterfully rendered by Peter Sulski. The second duet featured accompaniment from the Bach Consort’s spot-on woodwind section. But it was the chorus that thrilled the audience, especially in the conclusion, lushly thundering out Bach’s familiar hymn music that pulled the audience into a standing ovation. It did seem the talented chorus was a bit short-changed. One longed to hear more from them. Doubtless Graveline, a thoughtful classicist, wanted to keep her various elements balanced, and faithful to Bach’s directives, but as the sublime comic Zero Mostel asserted: “When you’ve got it, baby, flaunt it. Flaunt it!” The Salisbury Singers clearly have got it. Next time, let them dominate.

Worcester – “Requiem and Remembrance” was the title of the thoughtfully conceived program presented by the Salisbury Singers and guest artists on Sunday afternoon in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit at Assumption College. The requiem segment of the program was Maurice Duruflé’s “Requiem,” and the “Remembrance” segment consisted of four songs by contemporary Canadian composers.

Michelle Graveline, conductor, and the Salisbury Singers opened the program with “Remember,” a song by Stephen Chatman on a poem by Christina Rossetti, which mourns a lost love. This was sung a cappella with a lovely rich tone and clear enunciation of the words. Eleanor Daley is the composer of the second piece, “For the Fallen,” which reflects on war and its losses. The chorus was joined in this piece by a solo trumpet and solo cello, unfortunately played with inaccurate intonation which detracted from the rich harmonies sung by the chorus. Stephen Hatfield’s piece, “All Too Soon,” was a remembrance of home and was poignantly sung. 

The fourth of the group of Canadian songs was “Song for the Mira” sung by the Worcester Children’s Chorus, and what a delightful little group they were! 

Conducted by Jennifer Kane and accompanied by Malcolm Halliday on piano and Lydia Consilvio on oboe, the young people sang in tune, with precise rhythm, and with a pleasing relaxed tone. Working with their talented conductor to produce more focused vowel sounds will help them to improve. It was a wonderful experience for this group to sing on a concert program with adults and a perfect training ground to prepare future singers for choruses in the area. Kudos to all involved in this arrangement. 

Christopher Walters was the guest conductor for the Duruflé Requiem which was accompanied by the Salisbury Chamber Orchestra and organist William Ness. Kyle Siddons provided the baritone solo within the third and eighth sections of the Mass, and the Worcester Children’s Chorus sang the “Pie Jesu” segment with poise and sensitivity. Overall, the Salisbury Singers gave a competent performance, with good dynamic shadings and phrasing. However, the soprano section of the chorus did not meet the high standard set by the altos and the male voices, often sounding tentative and strained. They will need to work diligently to match the fine singing of their colleagues. Entrances in all voices, which were precise in the group of Canadian songs, were not always secure in the Requiem, so one needs to look at the baton technique of the conductor. Walters has a very unobtrusive and fluid conducting technique, which bodes well for relaxed singing, but he must be certain that the beat is precise and clear for his singers. This issue will certainly be resolved as he completes his doctoral studies. 

The chamber orchestra, as small as it was, overpowered the singing and the clarity of the text. Given the beautiful sonorities created by William Ness and the sensitivity of his playing, one wished that the organ alone had been used for accompaniment. 

Despite some flaws, the program was enjoyable and effective in conveying its message, and future programs of the Salisbury Singers are eagerly anticipated. The inclusion of the Worcester Children’s Chorus was a delightful addition and a wonderful idea. We look forward to hearing them again.

© 2010 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp

http://www.telegram.com/article/20100309/NEWS/3090387

Dear Chorus,

We are excited to share with you several significant changes to our means of communicating and connecting with our members and audience.

First of all, this email reflects our new email template. It improves our public presence by adding continuity to the look and feel of our web site and other means of correspondence. Internally, we’ll be using it to communicate with you about chorus news and information. Publicly, we will use it to disseminate notices of upcoming concerts and season-related information to email list subscribers. The “Forward to a Friend” link (see here, below) makes the information even easier to share.

In addition, SS’s web site has been enhanced. Most notably, it is now possible for visitors to self-subscribe to SS’s mailing list (http://salisburysingers.org/mailinglist.html) AND purchase tickets online (http://salisburysingers.org/performances.html). These features will allow SS to easily grow and maintain a valuable list of emails and collect basic, useful information, such as name, number and zip code.

Last, but not least, Salisbury Singers, Inc. now has a Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Salisbury-Singers-Inc/307325189557. Visit and become a fan!

More will be explained at tonight’s rehearsal, but there’s no need to wait. You can help SS broaden its audience and financial base now by sharing news about our website and Facebook page generously, and encouraging as many as you can to join.

Yours truly,

Salisbury Singers Board of Directors

December 2009

Hi Michelle,

It was a real pleasure to make music with your marvelous chorus not once but three times! I feel so blessed. It can’t get any better than this. Thank you very much for all your great training and preparing the chorus for me to enjoy.

Please extend my sincere appreciation to all the chorus members! This group sounded the best! Well balanced sections with warm sound! Bravo to you!! Have a Merry Christmas and more Happy Musical Year!

Francis