Civic Chorale reaches milestone with ‘Elijah’
PROVIDENCE – After years of growth, the Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra is taking on Felix Mendelssohn’s famous two-hour oratorio “Elijah” in their final concert of the year.
“It was definitely a goal along the way,” said music director Joshua Rohde. “Musically, I think the chorale has really grown.”
Rohde singled out Mendelssohn’s “Elijah,” which tells the prophet’s story over the course of more than 40 movements, as a musical milestone in RICCO’s three-year plan when he came on as a music director in 2019. Since then, Rohde has grown the group from 65 singers when he joined to more than 100, bringing together a range of ages, musical experience and background.
“We’re doing something that’s really exciting, really accessible and genuine,” he said.
The performance of
“Elijah” will be RICCO’s first large-scale public collaboration, something Rohde said he hopes to do more of in the future as he makes the next three-year plan. The ensemble’s musicians will be joined by student musicians from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where Rohde leads several choir ensembles, as well as professional musicians from “different corners of New England.” Together, the group makes up the 300-piece orchestra, chorus and soloists needed to perform the piece.
“It’s been really exciting,” Rohde said. “Both sides of the collaboration are really excited to do this project because the two choirs are very different in many ways.”
As different as they are, Rohde said as they’ve come together for rehearsals, the groups have found more in common with each other, starting with their love of music and their passion for the piece. Even the professionals, who typically only join the week
before the concert, have been working closely with the student musicians in the orchestra this month.
“The professionals I’m talking to – they’re really excited about it, too,” Rohde said. “It’s not transactional. It’s more transformational.”
Rohde said he has studied “Elijah” for years, but he approaches his role as music director through a collaborative lens, finding that many of the key musical moments in the piece emerge naturally through rehearsals.
“You can’t jump into a two-hour piece of music for 300 musicians without having a plan first,” he said.
How quickly the chorus learned some of the trickier movements surprised him, he said, attributing the speed to the musicians’ excitement to learn and perform “Elijah.” RICCO does not hold auditions, so the ensemble balances a wide range of ability and experience, but by electing to participate, the members bring a level of passion and commitment that unites them all, he said.
“None of the students need to sing in a choir,” he said. “They’re engineers. They do it because they want to. They’re all joining because they want to do something real.”
RICCO will perform “Elijah” twice in back-toback performances, and Rohde said he’s already heard that some people are planning to go to both, just to take every opportunity to experience the epic piece of music. “Elijah” isn’t performed often because of the number of musicians called for in the orchestration, so Rohde said it will be worth the price of admission to feel the “adrenaline in the room” and connect with “Elijah’s” story.
“One of the things I think is really relatable is it’s a story about a person who goes through a lot of trials, a lot of pressure, and perseveres,” he said. “It’s a story of hope.”
RICCO will perform “Elijah” on April 6 at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul Church in Providence at 7:00 p.m., then again on April 6 at the First Baptist Church in Worcester at 3:00 p.m. Tickets range from $10-30 and are available to purchase online at ricco.org.