December 2010, Hotchkiss Hall, Washington College (click to enlarge)
'Come Gentle Spring' from 'The Seasons' by Franz Joseph Haydn
Chester River Chorale spring concert
Since its founding in September 1999, The Chester River Chorale (CRC) has evolved into an all-volunteer, seventy-voice community chorus. The CRC, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, includes members from several counties on the Upper Eastern Shore, with a range of experience from those with graduate music training to church choir members to “shower-stall singers.” While some experience in choral singing is desirable, there is no requirement either for an audition or the ability to read music. Members range in age from teenagers to octogenarians and come together because they love to sing, to learn new music, and to enhance their skills.
The CRC’s repertoire features classical masterworks and other sacred and contemporary music, including Broadway show tunes, spirituals, folk, pop and contemporary classical. You can view concert programs of thirteen performances from 2006 to the present, and listen to a few songs from some of those concerts. Concerts have been held at several venues in Kent and Queen Anne counties.
Please consider joining the chorale. Rehearsals for the Fall 2011 season begin September 8, with registration starting at 6 p.m. Rehearsals are held on Thursday evenings from 7 to 9:15 p.m. at Heron Point's Wesley Hall in the main building. The 2011-2012 concert schedule includes four exciting performances.
The CRC often presents additional concerts, such as the June 2009 concert at The Mainstay in Rock Hall, MD. In February 2009, the CRC held a joint concert with the Still Pond Coleman Charge Mass Choir to celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s 200th Birthday and the 100th Anniversary of the NAACP. The performance benefitted the African American Schoolhouse Museum in Worton, MD. The Chorale performed in Chestertown’s Tri-Centennial C-300 Celebration in the fall of 2006 with a joint concert of American music with the Soldiers’ Chorus and U.S. Army Field Band. Other special appearances have included benefits at The Prince Theater, Martin Luther King Birthday celebrations, and community Thanksgiving and Christmas observances.
For the last two decades of the twentieth century, Washington College (WC) offered concerts by its College and Community Chorus, which brought together undergraduates from WC and members of the Chestertown community. After the resignation of its most recent director, Professor Kathleen Mills, in 1999, it became apparent that the WC College and Community Chorus would not continue.
Late that summer, the Chester River Chorale was founded to fill this void by Bud and Jane Dengler, who became its first Music Director and Accompanist, respectively. The Denglers brought with them from Pennsylvania nearly one hundred combined years of experience directing and accompanying choral music in schools, churches, and community organizations, including the celebrated Orpheus Society of Philadelphia. Forty-seven singers participated in the Chorale's first concerts on December 10–11, 1999.
When the Denglers returned to Pennsylvania in 2002, Ann C. Turpin of Centreville, MD became the CRC's Artistic Director. Ms. Turpin's solid education and experience served her and the chorale well during the eight years as director. Ann holds an undergraduate degree in Organ Performance from DePauw University in Indiana and a Masters Degree in Sacred Music from Union Theological Seminary, New York City, with additional study at Westminster Choir College in New Jersey, and has five decades of experience in the field. She is also the founding Director of The Chesapeake Youth Chorale.
In 2005 Ms. Turpin formed the Chester Chamber Singers, a smaller group from within the larger CRC. With a membership of 14 to 20 singers, the Chamber Singers hold extra rehearsals to develop a more demanding repertoire. In 2008, Jonathan Emmons, Instructor of Music, Director of Choirs, and College Organist at Wesley College, Dover, DE, became Assistant Director and Accompanist of the CRC, and Director of the Chamber Singers. Jonathan is seen here with Bud Dengler.
Accompanists have included Mr. Emmons, Ann Hoopes, Kate Bennett, Robert Tyson, Dr. William F. Wharton, and Sammy Marshall, our present accompanist,.
With the retirement of Ann Turpin in the spring of 2010, and the return to graduate studies by Jonathan Emmons, the Chorale's Board of Directors chose Mr. Douglas Cox, Artistic Director, and Mr. Sammy Marshall, Accompanist. Doug and Sammy have served together for 12 years—Doug as Assistant Conductor and Sammy as Staff Accompanist—for the Soldiers’ Chorus of the United States Army Band.