Choral Fest 2017: Come Sing in Saint Andrews By-the-Sea
October 20-22, 2017
Work: Poulenc Gloria
Clinician: Dr. Matthew Leese
Organist: Richard Kidd
Soprano Soloist: Jessica McCormack
Church of St. Andrew, 212 Parr St. St. Andrews NB E5B 1M3
Registration deadline: Friday, September 29, 2017
Registration Fee: $50
Complete details are available at nbcfsite.wordpress.com/choral-fest/
Every year, singers from across New Brunswick and around the region
gather at the New Brunswick Choral Federation’s Choral Fest to
rehearse and perform a major work under a leading conductor and music
educator. Numbering as many as 100 singers, Choral Fest has been New
Brunswick’s premier choral event for adult singers for more than 35
years.
This year, registrants will gather in Saint Andrews, New Brunswick, from October
20 to 22, 2017 to rehearse and perform the Poulenc Gloria under
clinician Dr. Matthew Leese.
The New Brunswick Choral Federation and the St. Andrews Arts Council
are excited to bring Choral Fest to St. Andrews for the first time.
The combination of one of classical music’s most beautiful and
respected works and one of New Brunswick’s most beautiful tourist
destinations will make this year’s Choral Fest one to remember.
Francis Poulenc’s Gloria is one of his most celebrated works.
Sometimes lighthearted and mischievous, sometimes mysterious,
sometimes deeply spiritual, this work belongs in the repertoire of
every choral singer.
Matthew Leese is a conductor, baritone, stage director and educator
based in Keene, New Hampshire. He serves as Lecturer in
Music at Keene State College University and is Co- Artistic Director
of the New Brunswick Early Music Festival and the St. Andrews Arts
Council. Additional regular conducting responsibilities include
directing the Keene State College Vocal Consort, Voices of the Bay and
the St Andrews Spring Sing in New Brunswick, and serving as artist in
residence with the Boston City Singers.
This post, first published August 17, has been edited to correct Dr. Leese’s biography.
Dr. Jessica McCormack is Coordinator of Voice Studies at Indiana
University South Bend. A Saint John NB native, Jessica is much in demand as a performer, adjudicator and educator. A featured soloist with the Fort Worth Symphony, Symphony New Brunswick, the Springfield Symphony, and the
Bach Society of Dayton, Dr. McCormack was a national winner of the
Canadian Music Competition (vocal division), a finalist at the NATS
(Texoma Region) “Singer of the Year” competition, a finalist in the
Bel Canto Chorus Regional Artists Competition, and has received awards
from the Mendelssohn Foundation of Toronto and the Women’s Chorus of
Dallas. Dr. McCormack was also selected as an Emerging Leader by the
National Association of Teachers of Singing in 2012.
Richard Kidd is a longstanding music teacher at Rothesay Netherwood
School in Saint John, NB and has been Organist and Director of Music
at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Saint John since
1986. He has guest conducted Symphony New Brunswick on several occa-
sions. Richard leads his own jazz ensemble, and also works as an
arranger, organist, pianist, trombonist, chorus master, musical
director and conductor. He is married to New Brunswick singer,
composer and director Janet Kidd.
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