The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Carols from around the world
The OACC is presenting a brand-new collection of carols by composer Mark Hayes at the Oneida High School.
ONEIDA, N.Y. >> The Oneida Area Civic Chorale will present “International Carol Suites,” a brand-new collection of carols from around the world by composer Mark Hayes, on Sunday, Dec. 2, at 4 p.m. at Oneida High School. The Chorale, a 108-voice community chorus under the direction of Kimberly Nethaway, of Rome, will be accompanied by a chamber orchestra and joined by professional soloists Janet Brown, Soprano, and David Kolb, Baritone.
“International Carol Suites” contains 30 carol s repre - sent i ng 20 countries, arranged in geographically themed suites. The carols from Europe, the British Isles, and North, South and Central America are all traditional pieces that have been set to arrangements by composer Mark Hayes, who appeared as a guest artist and conductor at the Chorale’s 2017 “50th Anniversary Spring Concert.” Traditional favorites including “Angels We have Heard on High” (France), “What Child is This?” (Germany),
and “Go, Tell It on the Mount a i n” ( Af r i c a nAmerican Spiritual) are woven together with lesser-known carols such as “O, Come Rejoicing” ( Poland), “Song of the Wise Men” (Puerto Rico), and “The Journey” ( Venezuela) in “a thrilling and multicultural celebration of the season,” says Hayes.
Janet Brown of Syracuse will join the chorale as guest soprano. She has performed roles with the Syracuse Opera Company and the Boston Early Music Festival, and major oratorio roles with the Syracuse Symphony and the Albuquerque Symphony, to name a few. Brown is also a frequent recitalist with the Skaneateles Chamber Music Festival, and has performed several times with the Chorale, most recently in 2012. She received her Bachelor of Music from the Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam, and her Master of Music from Syracuse University. Brown is a professor of Practice in Voice at the Setnor School of Music, Syracuse University.
David Kolb, guest baritone, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hamilton College and has studied voice with Lauralyn Kolb and Timothy LeFebvre. He has been a soloist for the Hamilton College and CommunityMasterworks Chorale, the Catskill Symphony Orchestra, and performed with the Chorale last December in “Golden Christmas.” Kolb is currently the Director of Music at the First Presbyterian Church of Rome, and resides in Utica.
The chorale will be accompanied by a chamber orchestra composed of 22 musicians from Central New York, co- ordinated by Margaret Jevens of Rome. Chorale pianists Heather O’Connell, Oneida, and Bernadette VanValkenburg of Sherrill will join the orchestra for the concert.
Tickets for the concert are $10, available from chorale members, at W. J. Hinman Jewelers, 115 Main St., Oneida, and by calling 315- 655-3007. For more information, call 315- 761- 9701 and visit www.oneidachorale.org.