Mornings at Midsummer are devoted to preparing the Chorus, Wind Ensemble and Orchestra for the final Festival Concert on Saturday evening. Daily sectionals with faculty specialists on all instruments and voices insure successful performances and a well earned sense of accomplishment. The final concert on Saturday evening features the large vocal and instrumental ensembles.
 Chorus The Midsummer Chorus, under the direction of Loren Pontén, ranges in size from 50-70 male and female voices. Music from major choral works is prepared for performance and includes accompaniment by the Midsummer faculty orchestra. The choral program at MMR explores some of the less traveled areas of this great repertoire. Many of the participants come from small choirs without the resources to do major works or unusual pieces. Because of the cooperation of our professional instrumental staff we have been able to perform works such as Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, Bruckner's Mass in e, Haydn's Pauken Messe and Britten's Cantata with full orchestral accompaniment. We have also become acquainted with lesser known works such as Janacek's Otcenas, and Desenclos' Requiem. Another great plus is the vocal support staff who handle part rehearsals, deal with vocal problems and stress, and coach small ensembles. These professionals make it possible to perform miracles in the short time we have for rehearsals.  Symphonic Band The Symphonic Band, conducted by Michael Burch-Pesses, provides a strong opportunity to explore the exciting literature available to concert and symphonic bands, and may include transcriptions as well as original works for winds and percussion.
The Orchestra, under the
direction of Roupen
Shakarian, will be
centered on the strings and balanced by winds and
percussion. The repertoire will be drawn from string
orchestra and standard symphonic literature. Brass, woodwind
and percussion players may participate in the orchestra
without limiting their participation in the Symphonic Band.
However, wind section seating will be limited to the number
of players required for the literature selected. Positions
will be filled on a non-audition,lottery basis and is at the
discretion of the director and faculty. There is no conflict
in rehearsal schedule between the band and orchestra  Festival Flute Choir The Festival Flute Choir, conducted by Darrin Thaves, performs arrangements and original compositions for multiple flutes (piccolo, C flute, alto flute, and bass flute). IFC members may also play in Orchestra but cannot play in the Symphonic Band since IFC and the Symphonic Band meet at the same time. A separate one-hour Flute Choir will be offered as an Elective. |
|
|
|
|
|
