Rossen Milanov left his post as associate conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra. The personable conductor was always game for Fab Phils seasonal concerts – He was maestro Dracula for Halloween, he donned Santa hats for Christmas and liked to engage with audience talks. He showed the most muscle directing the orchestra’s summer series at the Mann Center in Philly and Vale Valley Music Festival in Colorado, often specializing in Russian and Eastern European repertoire. Last spring, his swan song was sharing the Verizon Hall stage with the Pennsylvania Ballet in production new production of Stravinsky’s Pulchinella, choreographed by Jorma Elo.

Milanov is now musical director of Symphony in C (formerly the Haddonfield Symphony), one of the few professional training orchestras in the United States. Milanov teamed up winningly with soloists from the Academy of Vocal Arts and the mighty Mendelssohn Club for “Unfinished Masterpieces”, pairing Schubert and Mozart works, both works ripe for interpretive muscle.

First stop Gordon Theater at Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts, then to the larger Church of the Holy Trinity on Rittenhouse Square, which is rather perfect for the setting of Schubert’s 8th Symphony and Mozart’s Requiem. Based on this program alone, it is clear that Milanov has command and synergy with this youthful orchestra, showing in ways that may have been underappreciated by Philadelphia Orchestra audiences during his tenure there.

The Schubert’s two movements do make you feel unsatisfied because they are so involving as played by Symphony in C that you want more. From the initial approach of the strings in the Allegro there is such clarity and tempered drive. The woodwinds and brass are particularly vibrant. Most impressive are the striations of the low strings and dramatic orchestral thrust of Schubert. Among the standout lead players- Alexander Bedenko’s sublime clarinet line, as well as by 1st violin Stefani Collins.

The Philadelphia Orchestra had deserved triumphal evening last year conducting the Mozart Requiem with incoming star conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin. But Milanov delivers a more cohesive, indeed, less theatrical, performance. And he conjured it in shimmering details, with chorale, soloists and orchestra with equalized Mozartian power. And with a scaled down orchestra facing off the 100 plus Mendelssohns, it was moving from every angle.

Alexandra Maximova, Margaret Mezzacappa, Zach Borichevsky and Scott Conner have all emerged as AVA stars in the last two years and their work here is just as solid. The silkiness of the solo and chorale overlays are superb. This venue can work against soloists, it has warm acoustics, but can have an echo effect, not an issue with these singers, who were vocally in the moment throughout.

Mendelssohn Club director Alan Harler just keeps adding artistic muscle to this chorus with distinction. There were so many moments that the chorale just went right through you, not just with sonic power of the “Offertorium” and “Sanctus”, but the sustained precision of the baroque Latin liturgical. The pulse of the Symphony in C players, razor sharp in the arrests and in the defining modulations of the choral pickups – underlining Milanov’s clarity through the accents and tempo, build the power from within.

Lewis Whittington

Original post at http://concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8169.

Felyx M (Chamber Singers of the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia), Network for New Music, and Philadelphia Chamber Music Society (Independence Seaport Museum, Feb. 26) This joint concert will be devoted to pieces by Philadelphia composers Cynthia Folio, Jan Krzywicki, Donald St. Pierre, Jennifer Higdon, and James Primosch, and a new work by Thomas Whitman. (215-569-8080, www.pcmsconcerts.org)

Complete Listing at http://articles.philly.com/2012-01-29/news/30676126_1_classical-music-pierrot-lunaire-new-music/4

 

Written by
DAVE ALLEN

For the Courier-Post
1/29/12

An artist’s final works often generate extra scrutiny: What message did he try to leave before departing this life?

These creations are typically left incomplete as well, leaving scholars to try to piece together what the artist might have intended.

Two of these mysterious, closely examined works highlight Symphony in C’s upcoming performances, which also reflect a new step in the Camden-based professional training orchestra’s efforts to become a more complete musical organization.

For many seasons, dating back to its days as the Haddonfield Symphony, the Symphony’s concerts have been one-and-done affairs: a week of a rehearsal followed by a single concert.

Thanks to a first-ever collaboration with the Center City-based Mendelssohn Club chorus, the Symphony will be able to reprise this Saturday’s program, featuring Mozart’s Requiem and Schubert’s Eighth Symphony, as part of the chorus’ season in Philadelphia.

The chorus gets an orchestra to accompany it, the Symphony’s musicians gain the experience of backing up a chorus and both organizations get to introduce themselves to new audiences.

“It’s the best of both worlds,” says Symphony President Krishna Thiagarajan.

This venture also moves the Symphony closer to an expanded season, more like those of larger professional orchestras, with programs repeated multiple times.

“The Symphony is looking to have all of its regular subscription concerts performed more than once,” Thiagarajan says. “To play it only once can seem like a waste.”

With these concerts, the young Symphony has found a partner with deep musical roots. The Mendelssohn Club traces its history back to an eight-voice men’s chorus established in 1874.

The current incarnation has approximately 150 singers, with a professional “core” of about a dozen paid singers. The rest of the group, like Mark Pinzur of Cherry Hill, is made of talented amateurs.

One of the longest-tenured singers, Pinzur has sung in the group for 41 years, so he can recall the chorus performing few concerts in South Jersey during the 1980s, including Handel’s “Messiah” at Cherry Hill East High School and a handful of others in Haddonfield and Moorestown.

“We sang in places where you’d think classical music lovers would be concentrated,” he says. But chorus members are mainly based in Philadelphia and its western suburbs, and with the difficulty of transporting so many singers east of the Delaware, the South Jersey performances were phased out.

Under current musical director Alan Harler, the chorus has remained a source of large-scale choral masterworks but also has been an active commissioner of new works.

“It forces you to continue to grow continuously as a musician,” Pinzur says.

Harler also has prepared choruses for Symphony in C music director Milanov many times, mainly for Christmastime performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Many veteran singers have done quite a few performances of Mozart’s Requiem, which is, most famously, the piece Mozart was working on at the time of his death and was sensationalized in the movie “Amadeus.”

Pinzur estimates this will be his fifth or sixth time singing it.

Don Gilchrist of Glassboro, another of the approximately 15 singers from South Jersey in the chorus, has five performances under his belt.

“I could sing it forever and never get tired of it,” he says.

Harler has even more experience, having conducted it 10 times and prepared a chorus for other conductors an additional four or five times.

“One never gets tired of preparing masterworks. They energize and nourish you,” Harler says, comparing the score to a good book that you can read again and again.

Mozart’s music is foundational for musicians of all kinds: vocalists, pianists and string and woodwind players. “It’s something you always go back to and measure how much better you are,” Milanov says.

At the time of his death in 1791, he had finished only about a third of the piece, including some sections that were only sketched or outlined.

Mozart’s assistant Franz Sussmayr completed the work so that it could be performed, but scholars have spent centuries correcting his errors and restoring a more Mozart-like style to the sections that were filled in after his death.

Though Harler and Milanov agree that the version completed by Franz Beyer in the 1970s comes closest, the piece retains its mystery.

“We’re never going to know what Mozart intended for the Requiem,” Milanov says.

http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012301290005

For tickets, http://www.mcchorus.org/wp/archives/225.

Did you know that Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia provides Braille programs free of charge for the visually impaired?  When purchasing your ticket, simply request one in the notes field of your ticket purchase.

A few years after joining Mendelssohn Club, I started thinking about how great it would be if we could provide our program booklets in Braille for the blind and visually impaired audience members who were coming to our concerts, and, with MC’ s blessing, I began producing a Braille edition of our printed programs.

Braille readers do not get just a redacted subset of what the sighted audience members get; on the contrary they receive everything in the print booklet–except the paid advertising, which is highly graphical. For example, the Braille edition of our recent “Northern Lights & Mystical Masterpieces” program booklet ran to 105 pages.

The steps to transform the printed text into Braille for embossing are all done on a PC, using software called the Duxbury Braille Translator, or DBT, a program which can translate print text into the Braille codes for many countries–in this case, into the English Braille code for the United States.

About two weeks before each concert, I contact Michael Moore, program notes editor for Mendelssohn Club.  He begins to send sections of the program booklet as they are finalized, each in its own Microsoft Word document file, along with a list of their order in the program booklet. Most sections arrive about a week before the performance. This starts a period of sustained work for me to get the Braille program prepared and embossed on time.

For each program section in turn, I first load its Microsoft Word document file into DBT, where it appears in the Duxbury print editor, along with HTML-like style tags which DBT supplies as its best guess at how it thinks the final Braille document should be formatted on the page.

Next, using my screen reading software, the computer reads the entire file aloud, and I correct any style tags or add “codes” to improve the formatting, and also add “codes” to tell DBT when situations arise requiring different Braille translation rules–for example, for any text in a foreign language (like the name of a work, or the text for a piece), or for e-mail and Web addresses. Some print formatting, like the name of a work on the left and the composer’s name on the right, doesn’t work at all in Braille, as there is a character limit per line, and must be completely rearranged. All of this takes considerable time, but ensures a professional-looking product.

After all program sections have been reviewed and edited, I assemble a final DBT “print file” from all of the sections which Michael supplied, along with sections from the previous concert’s program which have not changed (e.g., Artistic Director Alan Harler’s bio, or Mendelssohn Club’s history).

John Luttenberger, Braille Program Editor

Pressing CONTROL-T translates the file into Braille, and shows the Braille and its formatting on the screen. I now do a brief spot check of key locations in the “Braille file” to see that my formatting changes did what I expected and fix any that didn’t.

The final additions to the “Braille file” include the generation of a Table of Contents and of page cross-references for the text of each work (to aid in navigating through this large book), a required page reminding the reader of symbols in the book which are recent additions to the Braille code, and any needed Transcriber’s Note(s).

It’s now the day before the concert, and the final step is to use DBT to copy the final “Braille file” to a Braille embosser, making the number of copies which have been requested.

To fulfill the need while avoiding waste, Mendelssohn Club asks Braille reading concertgoers to request their Braille programs in advance–which they usually do when purchasing their tickets through our new ticketing system. We then produce the number of Braille programs requested, plus one or two extra for walk-ins.

Producing these Braille programs for our concerts is a labor of love for me, and I’m extremely proud that Mendelssohn Club is one of the very few but increasing number of performing arts organizations that are enhancing the experience of blind and visually-impaired audience members in this way.

 By John Luttenberger, Mendelssohn Club Tenor 1 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACTS:

Janelle McCoy, Executive Director
Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia
215.735.9922
Edward McNally, Above The Fold PR
404.281.6419

January 4, 2012

Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia and Symphony In C
Performing Unfinished Masterpieces on Sunday, February 12

Mozart Requiem and Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 “Unfinished”
to be Performed at The Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse

(Philadelphia) February offers music lovers a rare opportunity to experience two celebrated masterpieces performed on the same program, performed by two of the region’s outstanding performing arts organizations. On Sunday, February 12, Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia joins forces with Camden’s acclaimed Symphony in C in a joint program led by Maestro Rossen Milanov.  The program includes Mozart’s Requiem and Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 “Unfinished.” The location is the historic Church of the Holy Trinity in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square.

The Requiem will feature four vocalists from the Philadelphia-based Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA); Alexandra Makisimova, soprano, Margaret Mezzacappa, mezzo soprano, Zach Borichevsky, tenor and Scott Conner, bass. AVA is considered among the world’s premier institutions for training young artists as international opera soloists.

Unfinished Masterpieces
The Mozart Requiem, Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 “Unfinished”
7:30 pm, Sunday, February 12, 2012
The Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse
1904 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Tickets available at www.mcchorus.org

The Church of Holy Trinity is an appropriate setting to experience Mozart’s famous “funeral mass.” The Requiem paints vivid scenes from the journey of the human soul to the eternal light. The sections of the Requiem moves from the last sigh of the dying in Introitus to the anxiety of burning in the flames in Confutatis, from the helpless attempts to rise from the ashes in Lacrimosa and on to the final farewell sighs of a released soul in Lux Aeterna.

“The Mozart Requiem is one of the great choral works in the classic repertoire,” remarked Mendelssohn Club Artistic Director Alan Harler. “With over 150 voices, Mendelssohn Club has the scale and quality to deliver all the artistic riches of this sublime Requiem at every level. As a chorus, we’re genuinely excited to be performing on the same stage with Maestro Milanov and Symphony in
C. I’ve no doubt that the audience at Holy Trinity is in for a very moving musical evening.”

Symphony in C Music Director Rossen Milanov was also delighted about the chance to perform the Requiem with one of America’s most accomplished choruses. “I am looking forward to the collaboration with the enthusiastic and superb singers of  Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia in one of the most iconic pieces in the repertoire-Mozart’s Requiem. It is exciting that the paths of our organizations are crossing, allowing us to foster a meaningful relationship in the interest of our musical community.”

Krishna Thiagarajan, the President of Symphony in C, sees the concert as a milestone for both organizations. “I am extremely happy that Symphony in C and Mendelssohn Club are finally crossing the Delaware and sharing a stage together this season. This joint production of the Mozart Requiem and the Schubert Unfinished Symphony highlights the strengths of all involved.” Thiagarajan added, “By including soloists from the Academy of Vocal Arts, this project represents a unique collaboration of three highly respected arts organizations working together to bring music to the communities of Camden and Philadelphia.”

Background on the “Unfinished Masterpieces” Program

Mozart’s Requiem Mass in D minor (K. 626) is one of the most enigmatic pieces of music ever composed. There are several myths and controversies surrounding it, especially around how much of the piece was composed by Mozart in the weeks and days before his death in 1791 just weeks before his 36th birthday. The Requiem as we know it was completed the next year by Mozart’s assistant, the composer Franz Xaver Süssmayr, who later delivered the work to Count von Walsegg in 1793. The Count had anonymously commissioned the piece for a requiem Mass to commemorate the anniversary of his wife’s death. In the popular play and film Amadeus, the mysterious masked messenger with the commission is actually the court composer Antonio Salieri who intends to claim authorship for himself. For over two centuries, the Requiem has been performed at funeral and memorial services for major historical figures including Franz Joseph Haydn, Frederick Chopin and John F. Kennedy, among others.

Franz Schubert’s 23-minute masterwork, the Symphony No. 8 in B minor, is commonly known as the “Unfinished Symphony” and is considered one of the pivotal works at the dawn of the Romantic era of symphonic music. Schubert composed the first two movements of the symphony in 1822 at age 25. He would go on to compose two additional symphonic works, but never completed a third movement to this symphony.

# # #

One of America’s oldest choruses, Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia performs choral music to create a shared transcendent experience among its singers and audiences. Through the excellence of its adventurous performances, Mendelssohn Club advances the development of choral music as an art form.

Symphony in C is the only professional training orchestra in the Mid-Atlantic that provides musical performance training and career development services for musicians pursuing a career as an orchestral musician. The Symphony’s presence in the City of Camden affirms its commitment to participate in the cultural and economic redevelopment of Camden through the numerous
performances and educational outreach programs it continues to provide throughout the city.

METAMORPHOSIS, the new CD featuring Mendelssohn Club, will be available for sale at all upcoming concerts. The CD features original works by contemporary American composers, Andrea Clearfield, Jennifer Higdon and James Primosch, all based in Philadelphia. All three works were commissioned by Mendelssohn Club and premiered in concert over the past five years. The CD will be available online in March.

For information about Mendelssohn Club’s concerts, programs, or CDs, or to order tickets for the  201 1-2012 season, visit www.mcchorus.org. You can also find Mendelssohn Club on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/mcchorus and on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MCChorus

# # #

Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia Winter/Spring 2012 Season

Unfinished Masterpieces
7:30 pm, Sunday, February 12, 2012
The Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse
1904 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103

Unfinished Masterpieces – The Mozart Requiem and Schubert Symphony No. 8 “Unfinished” A rare opportunity to hear two celebrated masterpieces performed on the same program. Mendelssohn Club joins forces with Camden’s acclaimed Symphony in C in a joint program led by Maestro Rossen Milanov.

Philadelphia Voices: FELYX_M
7:30 pm, Sunday, February 26, 2012
Independence Seaport Museum
211 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19106

Philadelphia Voices: FELYX_M – Cynthia Folio’s Music Box, Jan Krzywicki’s Lute Music and a world premiere of a Thomas Whitman Commission. Featuring Mendelssohn Club Chamber Singers with Network for New Music and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Part of the Concerts for Community Series. Tickets available through the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Tickets available through www.pcmsconcerts.org

RITUALS: East/West
4 pm, Sunday, April 29, 2012
The Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse
1904 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103

RITUALS: East/West – The world premiere of a new commission by Philadelphia-based composer Andrea Clearfield inspired by the traditions of Tibetan chant and dance. This program is a unique collaboration with The Chenrezig Tibetan Buddhist Center of Philadelphia. Presented together with Fauré Requiem. Also featuring The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Girlchoir.

# # #

Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia
PO Box 59522
Philadelphia, PA 19102
www.mcchorus.org
215.735.9922

Find us on Facebook!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mendelssohn-Club-a-Philadelphia-Chorus/187276702721?ref=mf

Follow us on Twitter!

http://twitter.com/MCChorus

Inquirer Classical Music Critic

As much as holiday audiences crave the soothing loveliness of Christmas music, sustaining entire programs of it is tough because the music’s starting point is where most pieces end: Complete resolution of tension. It’s the only sensible way to characterize the birth of Christ. And where do you go from there?

That’s why choral Christmas programs by the Crossing (on Friday) and the Mendelssohn Club (Dec. 10), both at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Chestnut Hill, were full of different musical nationalities and knew the importance of atmosphere. Both events were wonderful, in completely different ways.

The Mendelssohn Club’s program, “Golden Voices of the East,” had excerpts from Rachmaninoff’s Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom in which the composer subverted his big personality to strict church traditions. I hoped to hear the whole thing. Instead, traditional works by Rimsky-Korsakov and Kodaly were interspersed with periodic sing-alongs of “Silent Night” in which conductor Alan Harler was at his most irresistible. The tight, 75-minute program, and the after-concert cookies, made the event quite celebratory. Both concerts were packed – in a venue they are not known to play. Is this a phenomenon in the making?

December 19, 2011| By David Patrick Stearns, Inquirer Music Critic

See full article at http://articles.philly.com/2011-12-19/news/30534535_1_texts-music-concert

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACTS:

December 8, 2011
Janelle McCoy, Executive Director
Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia
215.735.9922

Edward McNally, Above The Fold PR
404.281.6419

Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia Performs Three New Choral Commissions

by Clearfield, Higdon and Primosch on Their Latest CD – METAMORPHOSIS

(Philadelphia) Three original works by contemporary American composers Andrea Clearfield, Jennifer Higdon and James Primosch, all based in Philadelphia, are featured on the new CD recording of performances by Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia. All three works were commissioned by Mendelssohn Club and premiered in concert with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia over the past five years. Titled METAMORPHOSIS, the CD is being released on the Innova label and will be available for sale at Mendelssohn Club concerts beginning December 10, 2011 and online in March, 2012.

Under the dynamic leadership of artistic director Alan Harler, Mendelssohn Club has demonstrated a major commitment to new music, commissioning nearly fifty choral works over the past twenty-four years. METAMORPHOSIS is the first recording of all original commissions in the 138-year history of the chorus. On the Death of the Righteous by Jennifer Higdon was recorded live in concert on March 29, 2009; Andrea Clearfield’s The Golem Psalm was recorded in concert on May 7, 2006; and Fire-Memory/River-Memory by James Primosch was recorded live November 3, 2007. It is a happy coincidence that all three composers are based in Philadelphia, but the wide range of talents represented on METAMORPHOSIS also reflects the very high caliber of musical composition and performance in this city.

The three works chosen for the new CD confront and reflect on such fundamental themes as the power of redemption over evil, the numbing indignity of modern warfare, the timeless quality of collective memory and our potential for compassion and forgiveness. Jennifer Higdon’s work was commissioned to be performed on a program with the Verdi Requiem, and the composer chose a sermon by poet and clergyman John Donne to match the Requiem in weight and mood. The Golem Psalms, by Andrea Clearfield, recounts the famous legend of the Golem of Prague, a Frankenstein-like creature from Jewish folklore (libretto by Ellen Frankel). A seven-note motif set to the phrase “form and life and change and death” spins endlessly through the work like a wheel. The two concluding tracks by Primosch are based on two thematically related poems by Denise Levertov. Fire-Memory exposes the anonymous brutality and senselessness of war while River-Memory conveys, in a very spiritual sense, the circle of life moving inexorably forward.

Performed in seven sections, The Golem Psalms forms the centerpiece of the METAMORPHOSIS  CD and features the voice of baritone Sanford Sylvan. Music critic David Patrick Stearns, writing in The Philadelphia Inquirer, believes “What makes the work a Clearfield triumph is the evolution of strengths in this composer-her way of elucidating text meaning in deeply vivid ways. In The Golem Psalms (she does so) within well-weighted, singable phrases that reflect mastery with large choral and instrumental force.”

The recording of METAMORPHOSIS is made possible in part by the Premiere Recording Program, a joint initiative of the Presser Foundation and the Philadelphia Music Project, a program of the Philadelphia Center for Arts and Heritage, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by the University of the Arts; and the Alan Harler New Ventures Fund.

One of America’s oldest choruses, Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia performs choral music to create a shared transcendent experience among its singers and audiences. Through the excellence of its adventurous performances, Mendelssohn Club advances the development of choral music as an art form. For information about Mendelssohn Club’s concerts and programs, or to order tickets for the 2011-2012 season, visit www.mcchorus.org. You can also find Mendelssohn Club on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mcchorus and on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MCChorus

# # #

Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia
PO Box 59522
Philadelphia, PA 19102
www.mcchorus.org
215.735.9922

METAMORPHOSIS FACT SHEET

Choral Music – HIGDON, J. / CLEARFIELD, A. / PRIMOSCH, J.

Higdon, Jennifer

Donne, John, lyricist

1. On the Death of the Righteous

Clearfield, Andrea

Traditional Jewish folklore, Frankel, Ellen, lyricist

2. The Golem Psalms – The Creation of the Golem

3. The Golem Psalms – Abracadabra
4. The Golem Psalms – The Dangers of the Name
5. The Golem Psalms – The Fountain of Voices
6. The Golem Psalms – Amok
7. The Golem Psalms -  Sounds of Clay/Alas Poor Joseph

8. The Golem Psalms – The Uncreation of the Golem

Primosch, James

Levertov, Denise, lyricist

9. Fire-River/River-Memory – What Were They Like?

10. Fire-River/River-Memory -  Of Rivers

Composer(s): Higdon, Jennifer; Clearfield, Andrea; Primosch, James

Lyricist(s): Donne, John; Jewish Traditional, Frankel, Ellen; Levertov, Denise

Conductor(s): Harler, Alan

Ensemble(s): Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia

Choir(s) Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia

Artist(s): Sylvan, Sanford, baritone

Label: Innova

Genre: Choral – Secular

Period: Contemporary

Physical Release: 2012

Recorded by: Joe Hannigan at Weston Sound

Artistic Director Alan Harler

That’s how one critic described my conducting after a performance of the Brahm’s Requiem early in my career, over 40 years ago.  I was stunned and humbled, but his curt critique led me to a powerful epiphany.

Since I first taught myself to play an old piano that I discovered in my grandfather’s barn in Illinois, I was willing to devote hours to become technically proficient.  Much later as a young conductor, I was always thoroughly prepared and knew every note in a piece of music in front of me. But I now realized that I had been afraid and closed off as an artist and as a human being.  I was hiding behind my skill and professionalism. I had not been willing to openly share my true feelings about a piece of music.

I resolved to confront this lifelong fear. I told myself that the only way to express the full power of any music would be to allow myself to be moved emotionally and even spiritually. Only then would the members of a chorus connect with me and with the audience.

I’ve come to this conclusion: the sincere creation and sharing of art brings us to a place of honesty and truth. Sometimes it occurs in a glorious, piercing flash. But usually, it happens only after carefully crafted, difficult, diligent, inspired, and, hopefully, joyful hard work.

In over 20 years with Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, this vision has led us to focus on new and unusual performance practices and to take artistic risks. Inviting or even gently pulling people slightly out of their 21st century comfort zones is the first step in preparing them to experience music and the human voice at the deepest level.

Human beings are wired to connect with music that emerges passionately from the heart and soul of a composer, a singer, and a musician. The moment any listener feels that connection with a performer through music, they experience what it is to feel human and also the essence of their shared humanity. No matter what cultural differences may exist between them…real or imagined…the listener and the performer will feel and begin to understand what they share in common on a much deeper level.

And, in that moment, each listener may experience the sublime possibility of connection with all people everywhere. This sharing, this essential connection, may be the most important truth of all.

-Alan Harler, Artistic Director, Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia

December 2, 2011

CONTACTS:

Janelle McCoy, Executive Director
Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia
215.735.9922
Edward McNally, Above The Fold PR
404.281.6419

Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia Announces Major Support From The William Penn Foundation

The William Penn Foundation has approved a 19-month grant to Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia in the amount of $125,950 that will be used to support several vital capacity initiatives, including branding research, audience development and strategic infrastructure.

Speaking on behalf of Mendelssohn Club, Executive Director Janelle McCoy noted, “This grant represents an investment in the vitality of choral music in Philadelphia. It will contribute to many of the strategic efforts now being cultivated to ensure a strong
organizational infrastructure.” McCoy added, “With this strong show of support from the William Penn Foundation, Mendelssohn Club will be able to present our innovative programs to a wider and more diverse audience all over the region.”

The William Penn Foundation, founded in 1945 by Otto and Phoebe Haas, is dedicated to improving the quality of life in the Greater Philadelphia region through efforts that foster rich cultural expression, strengthen children’s futures, and deepen connections
to nature and community. In partnership with others, the Foundation works to advance a vital, just, and caring community. Learn more about the Foundation online at www.williampennfoundation.org

One of America’s oldest choruses, Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia performs choral music to create a shared transcendent experience among its singers and audiences. Through the excellence of its adventurous performances, Mendelssohn Club advances the development of choral music as an art form.

For information about Mendelssohn Club’s concerts and programs, or to order tickets for the 2011-2012 season, please visit www.mcchorus.org.

You can also find Mendelssohn Club on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mcchorus
and on Twitter! at http://twitter.com/MCChorus.

# # #

 Between December 8 and 17, Historic Chorus Performing Holiday Favorites
and Eastern Liturgical Music in St. Paul’s Church, Longwood Gardens and Verizon Hall

As it has for over eighty years, Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia will celebrate the holiday season with a series of performances in December. This year, Mendelssohn Club will be heard in Longwood Gardens and Verizon Hall and at its annual concert in the popular Chestnut Hill neighborhood. No other adult chorus will be featured in more concerts in the Philadelphia region this December. Depending on the date, the concerts will feature a blend of classic carols, lesser known Christmas songs and Eastern Orthodox liturgical music. Mendelssohn Club’s annual Christmas concert is considered to be Philadelphia’s longest running holiday concert series.

Mendelssohn Club appearing at St. Paul's in Chestnut Hill

“The holiday concerts are some of the most beautiful and moving experiences for our chorus,” according to Alan Harler, Mendelssohn Club’s Artistic Director since 1988. “Members of the chorus greet the audience as they arrive at St. Paul’s in Chestnut Hill and everyone loves to join in to sing the Christmas carols we’ve all known since childhood. When we perform the Eastern Orthodox liturgical music, I’ve observed men and women in the audience from Russia and Eastern Europe who are moved to tears. Some of them have not heard this sacred music since they were children over seventy years ago.”

On Saturday December 10, several hundred music lovers will gather in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Chestnut Hill to hear Golden Voices of the East, a concert of classic carols and liturgical music by Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakov and other Russian and Eastern European composers including Bortniansky, Chesnokov, Leontovich and Pärt. In addition to hearing the St. Paul’s glorious organ and the Mendelssohn Brass, audiences will have the rare opportunity to experience Rachmaninoff’s Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, which premi

ered in St. Petersburg 101 years ago. For decades, it was considered too modern to be used in Eastern Orthodox Church services.

Tickets are available online at www.mcchorus.org.

Mendelssohn Club is delighted to have been invited to perform A Feast of Carols at Longwood Gardens this year on Thursday, December 8. The historic estate (1730) and conservatory (1919) is never more beautiful than when it is fully decorated for the holidays. Music has been a long-standing tradition at historic Longwood Gardens, dating back to Pierre S. Dupont’s boyhood delight in the performing arts. This program will showcase classic carols and some lesser-known Christmas choral music that will showcase the newly refurbished Longwood Organ in the Tiffany Ballroom. The concert is included in the admission price for Longwood Gardens.

And, to conclude the season, Mendelssohn Club will perform The Philadelphia Orchestra’s annual holiday concert, known across Philadelphia as Glorious Sounds of Christmas.

Named for the Orchestra’s best-selling Christmas album, these concerts are ideal for listeners of all ages. No music lover should miss this opportunity to experience the sound of all 157 voices of the chorus filling Verizon Hall with cherished holiday carols. Tickets for the Glorious Sounds of Christmas concert are available exclusively through the Kimmel Center Box Office.

Holiday Concert Series Details:

A Feast of Carols

7 pm & 8 pm, Thursday, December 8

Longwood Gardens

1001 Longwood Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348

Golden Voices of the East

featuring the Mendelssohn Brass

5 pm, December 10

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Chestnut Hill

22 E. Chestnut Hill Avenue, Philadelphia, PA

Glorious Sounds of Christmas

with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Rossen Milanov, Conductor

7 pm, December 15, 16, & 17

Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

260 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102

One of America’s oldest choruses, Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia performs choral music to create a shared transcendent experience among its singers and audiences. Through the excellence of its adventurous performances, Mendelssohn Club advances the development of choral music as an art form.

For information about Mendelssohn Club’s concerts and programs, or to order tickets for the 2011-2012 season, visit www.mcchorus.org. You can also find Mendelssohn Club on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mcchorus and on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MCChorus

# # #

Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia 2011 – 2012 Season

FALL 2011

A Feast of Carols

7 pm & 8 pm, Thursday, December 8, 2011

Longwood Gardens

1001 Longwood Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348

A Feast of Carols – Classic holiday carols and much more in a grand setting decorated for the season! Music has been a long-standing tradition at historic Longwood Gardens, dating back to Pierre S. Dupont’s boyhood delight in the performing arts. This concert is included in the price of admission to Longwood Gardens on December 8.

Golden Voices of the East

5pm, Saturday, December 10, 2011

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Chestnut Hill

22 E. Chestnut Hill Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118

Golden Voices of the East – A Chestnut Hill tradition! One of most popular concerts of the holiday season, featuring St. Paul’s magnificent organ together with timeless music by Rachmaninoff and Christmas carols beloved by audiences everywhere. Tickets available online at www.mcchorus.org.

Glorious Sounds of Christmas

with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Rossen Milanov, Conductor

7 pm, December 15, 16, & 17

Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

260 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102

Glorious Sounds of Christmas

Join Mendelssohn Club and The Philadelphia Orchestra while we lend our lush sound to timeless holiday classics! Named for the Orchestra’s best-selling Christmas album, these concerts are ideal for listeners of all ages and are sure to put you into the holiday spirit. NOTE: Tickets for Glorious Sounds of Christmas are available exclusively through the Kimmel Center Box Office.

WINTER / SPRING 2012

Philadelphia Voices: FELYX_M

7:30 pm, Sunday, February 26, 2012

Independence Seaport Museum

211 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19106

Philadelphia Voices: FELYX_M – Cynthia Folio’s Music Box, Jan Krzywicki’s Lute Music and a world premiere of a Thomas Whitman Commission. Featuring Mendelssohn Club Chamber Singers with Network for New Music and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Part of the Concerts for Community Series. Tickets available through the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.

Unfinished Masterpieces

7:30 pm, Sunday, February 12, 2012

The Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse

1904 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103

Unfinished Masterpieces – The Mozart Requiem and Schubert Symphony No. 8 “Unfinished”

A rare opportunity to hear two celebrated masterpieces performed on the same program. Mendelssohn Club joins forces with Camden’s acclaimed Symphony in C in a joint program led by Maestro Rossen Milanov.

RITUALS: East/West

4 pm, Sunday, April 29, 2012

The Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse

1904 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103

RITUALS: East/West – The world premiere of a new commission by Philadelphia-based composer Andrea Clearfield inspired by the traditions of Tibetan chant and dance. This program is a unique collaboration with The Chenrezig Tibetan Buddhist Center of Philadelphia. Presented together with Fauré Requiem. Also featuring The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Girlchoir.

# # #

Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia
PO Box 59522
Philadelphia, PA 19102
www.mcchorus.org
215.735.9922

Find us on Facebook!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mendelssohn-Club-a-Philadelphia-Chorus/187276702721?ref=mf

Follow us on Twitter!
http://twitter.com/MCChorus