In addition to concerts, Monmouth Civic Chorus offers community outreach performances and awards vocal scholarships to high school seniors of outstanding vocal promise.
History
William Gordon Pagdin founded Monmouth Civic Chorus in 1949. The Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance was the Chorus's first performance in May 1950 at the Carlton Theater (now the Count Basie Center for the Arts) in Red Bank, New Jersey.
Monmouth Civic Chorus's second performance, in January 1951 was Messiah (Handel). Monmouth Civic Chorus continued to perform Gilbert and Sullivan as well as sacred works under the direction of its founder until 1962.
William R. Shoppell, Jr. became Monmouth Civic Chorus's director in 1973. Shoppell was also District Music Supervisor for the Freehold Regional High School District, cantor at Monmouth Reform Temple, and Director of Music at Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church. Under his direction the Monmouth Civic Chorus performance schedule grew from a classical concert in the fall and a staged musical in the spring to three concerts plus a stage show. In addition to Gilbert and Sullivan, the stage repertoire expanded to include American musical theater.
Monmouth Civic Chorus began touring out of state under Shoppell's direction in 1981, which led to a performing tour of Austria and Germany in 1985. European tours were continued under subsequent directors.
Upon Shoppell's retirement in 1991, Dr. Mark Shapiro was appointed Artistic Director. Under his direction, Monmouth Civic Chorus recorded two CDs, increased its repertoire of new music and premieres, and performed original concert presentations of traditional music. Monmouth Civic Chorus received the ASCAP/Chorus America Alice Parker Award for the March 2007 world premiere of contemporary composer Jorge Martin's Stronger Than Darkness, an adaptation of his opera Before Night Falls, based on the memoir by Cuban dissident Reinaldo Arenas.
Dr. Ryan James Brandau was appointed Monmouth Civic Chorus Artistic Director beginning with the 2012-13 season, upon the departure of Dr. Shapiro, who became the Music Director of The Cecilia Chorus of New York. Dr. Brandau's arrangements are featured in the Monmouth Civic Chorus holiday concert performed annually in December, and on its CD, A Merry Little MCC Christmas, released in 2014. Dr. Brandau prepared Monmouth Civic Chorus for a performance of Mahler's 8th Symphony by invitation at Carnegie Hall with the Canterbury Choral Society in November 2017.
Repertoire
Premieres
Monmouth Civic Chorus has performed regional and world premieres, including:
Bound for Glory by Rollo Dillworth, with the Canterbury Choral Society, November 2017, world premiere at Carnegie Hall
Fill My Dreams, Stir My Soul by Paul Siskind, June 2001, based on Monmouth Civic Chorus's student poetry contests with the winning poems set to music and performed by Monmouth Civic Chorus, supported a grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation
Annual holiday concerts in December, combining traditional music, new arrangements of well-known carols by Dr. Brandau and other contemporary composers, selections from choral classics, and poetry readings
Monmouth Civic Chorus commissioned Artistic Director Dr. Ryan James Brandau to compose a new work in honor of the Chorus's 75th anniversary. The work will be performed in March 2024.
Rare and Contemporary Music
Rare and contemporary music performed by Monmouth Civic Chorus includes:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Coronation Mass, Grand Mass in C Minor, Missa Brevis (Sparrow Mass) at Saint Thomas Church (Manhattan), Requiem, Te Deum, Solemn Vespers
Guest artists featured in Monmouth Civic Chorus concerts and solo recitals include mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano Barbara Dever, bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green, and soprano Angela Meade, who have all performed leading roles at the Metropolitan Opera. Eric Einhorn, a director at the Metropolitan Opera and many other stages, directed Monmouth Civic Chorus in the premiere of Golden Gate, a musical by Richard Pearson Thomas and Joe Calarco. Tony winner Victoria Clark led a master class for musical theater singers to benefit Monmouth Civic Chorus in 2009.
Collaborative performances
Monmouth Civic Chorus has collaborated with orchestras, choruses, musical theater companies, and dance companies, including:
Cabaret for Life, Ragtime by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, October 2009; Titanic by Maury Yeston and Peter Stone, October 2011; Leonard Bernstein Centennial April 2017; at Axelrod Performing Arts Center, Deal, NJ
Canterbury Choral Society, Symphony #8 by Gustav Mahler, November 2017, at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
Monmouth Civic Chorus has received the following awards:
2020-21 American Prize in Virtual Performance for Artists Performing Remotely, Community Division, Semi-Finalist[1]
2018-19 American Prize Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music, Community Choral Division, tied for third place, for Fern Hill by John Corigliano, March 2018 at Our Lady Star of the Sea, Long Branch, NJ, with guest soloist Kate Maroney, mezzo-soprano[2]
2010 Spinnaker Award for Arts and Culture from the Eastern Monmouth Area Chamber of Commerce[3]
2008 ASCAP/Chorus America Adventurous Programming Award, awarded to one North American chorus annually for programming significant recently composed music that expands the mission of the chorus and challenges the chorus's audience in a new way.[4]
Monmouth Civic Chorus Artistic Directors have also received awards:
Artistic Director Ryan James Brandau won multiple American Prize awards: Winner, 2021 American Prize in Choral Performance, Community Division; Winner, 2021 Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music, Community Ensemble Division; and 3rd Place, 2021 American Prize for Choral Conducting, Community Chorus Division. He received the Monmouth Arts 2021 Education Award for Community Champion of the Arts.
Artistic Director Emeritus Mark Shapiro won a Chorus America/ASCAP Programming Award six times: the Alice Parker Award with Monmouth Civic Chorus in 2008[5] and Cecilia Chorus in 2015,[6] and the Adventurous Programming Award with Cantori New York in 1997, 2000, 2010, and 2018.[7]
Recordings
Monmouth Civic Chorus has produced three recordings on CD:
A Merry Little MCC Christmas, released November 2014
An MCC Christmas, well-known holiday carols (sold out)
Grace Notes, selections from choral classics
Community Outreach and Scholarships
Small ensembles of Monmouth Civic Chorus members perform at senior communities, private parties, and local events such as Red Bank Holiday Harmonies and Belmar Winterfest. Since 1985, Monmouth Civic Chorus has awarded more than $85,000 to over 110 New Jersey high school seniors of outstanding vocal promise. Many winners go on to study music and some have returned to sing with the chorus.
Tours
Monmouth Civic Chorus has performed on tour in numerous European countries. Highlights include singing in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican in Rome, the Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiori in Florence, St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, the home of Edvard Grieg in Norway, and St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. Tours under the direction of William R. Shoppell, Jr. took Monmouth Civic Chorus to Austria and Germany in 1984, the British Isles in 1987, and to Austria, Switzerland and Italy in 1990. Monmouth Civic Chorus toured Central Europe in 1993, directed by Dr. Shapiro, and Scandinavia in 1996, under the baton of then-Assistant Conductor Steven Russell. Dr. Brandau led the chorus on tours of the Republic of Ireland in 2015, the Baltic States in 2018, and of Northern Italy and Austria in 2023.
Organizational structure
Monmouth Civic Chorus is an auditioned volunteer adult mixed chorus of approximately 100 members. Monmouth Civic Chorus is a not-for-profit organization with no office and no paid administrative staff. All administrative aspects of running the chorus are performed by volunteers. The elected board of directors, consisting largely of singing members, is responsible for developing and implementing the long-range plan, overseeing the group's fiscal health and grant compliance, responding to the needs of the director and members, and maintaining productive relationships with the audience and community.
Monmouth Civic Chorus programs are made possible in part by funds from Monmouth Arts, a partner agency of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and the Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners. Additional funding is received from individual and corporate donors, foundation grants and matching gifts. Monmouth Civic Chorus has an Endowment Fund as a permanent income source, and a Sostenuto Society for donors who have included the Chorus in their estate planning.
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