Season 38 — 2013 - 2014 Edward Schell, Music Director
Welcome to the Genesee Valley Orchestra and Chorus’s 38th year of bringing a wondrous variety of music to the Greater Rochester community. In 1976, as part of Fairport’s celebration of our nation’s bicentennial, Virginia Hogan was asked to get a community group together to sing patriotic songs on the Erie Canal. This small group of singers has evolved into the GVOC of today: an orchestra and 65 singers. GVOC members are your friends and neighbors who would like to share their love of music with you.
Our first concert will be held on December 6 and 7 and is entitled: A Christmas Garland -- beautiful music which, when strung together, will be a wonderful way to start this season of love and hope. This concert will include Bach’s well-known cantata “Wachet Auf” based on the hymn “Sleepers Awake” by Phillipp Nicolai.
BROTHER HEINRICH’S CHRISTMAS, by John Rutter, is a fable with narrator, choir and small orchestra and is a story of a medieval monk who is having difficulty coming up with a new song for the visiting Archbishop and the surprising end to his story. TWO CHRISTMAS SPIRITUALS, arranged by Robert Scandrett, will in- clude the beautiful “Mary had a Baby” and “Rise Up Shepherd”. A CHRISTMAS GARLAND by Conrad Susa is a creative blend of many beloved carols, ending in a triumphant finale of “Joy to the World”.
Our March 9 concert will be our popular dinner concert, with silent auction, at EagleVale Golf Club and is entitled: All Creatures Great and Small: A Musical Menagerie. This promises to be a delightful evening paying tribute to all our animal friends who provide us with great joy and entertainment.
The June 7th concert, Strength, Hope, Grace (words many of us try to live our lives by) will conclude GVOC’s musical season. From baroque to contemporary, this music of acclaimed composers and arrangers will be not only entertaining, but inspirational.
We look forward to having you join us for this upcoming season.
Mary Anne Guariglia, President
GVOC Board of Directors
A Christmas Garland
Our first concert on December 6 & 7th will be A Christmas Garland. The program will feature J.S. Bach’ s familiar Cantata 140 (‘Sleepers Wake’), a “fable with music” based on a familiar carol from In dulci jubilo: Brother Heinrich’s Christmas, by 20th century composer John Rutter and Conrad Susa’s A Christmas Garland, a medley of carols embracing the joy of the season. An excerpt from Mendelssohn’s Christus, Christmas spirituals as well as instrumental favorites will round out this delightful holiday program sure to get you in the mood for this most joyous season.
Dec. 7, 2013, 7:30 p.m. at Perinton Presbyterian Church
Dec. 6, 2013, 7:30 p.m. at Perinton Presbyterian Church
All Creatures Great and SmallA Musical Menagerie
On March 9th we will host a buffet dinner concert and silent auction at Eagle Vale Golf Club. All Creatures Great and Small: A Musical Menagerie will celebrate animals of all types with favorite folk and popular selections as well as Broadway hits.
Come and enjoy this tribute to the animals of our world – our pets that delight us as well as those creatures which annoy us!
March 9, 2014, 4:30 p.m. at Eagle Vale Golf Club
Strength, Hope, Grace
Rounding out the season will be our June 7th concert Strength, Hope, Grace, a selection of music chosen from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Included in this program: Domine, Ad Adjuvandum Me Festina by baroque composer G.B. Martini; G.F. Handel’s Coronation Anthem No. 4; Felix Mendelssohn’s Hear My Prayer; and music by Paul Winter Consort composer Paul Halley, including “The Rain is Over and Gone,” “Ubi Caritas” and “Freedom Trilogy.”
This concert of joyous music that includes spirited baroque masterpieces, beautiful romantic melodies and harmonies, and contemporary music that combines chant, traditional tunes, gospel, and African melodies and rhythms promises to be both entertaining and inspirational.
June 7, 2014, 7:30 p.m. at Perinton Presbyterian Church
