May 6, 2005 — The women of the St. John Singers and special guests will present a spring concert at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 15, at Emmaus Moravian Church in Coral Bay, and another at 7:30 p.m on Tuesday, May 17, at Nazareth Lutheran Church in Cruz Bay.
The emphasis of the program is twentieth-century composers and compositions, a release from the organization said. Included are romantic and modern works, both sacred and secular, by major composers representing several countries.
One of the larger works on the program is the choral movement of "Symphony No. 3" by Viennese composer Gustav Mahler. It is scored for women's choir, contralto solo and boys' choir. The solo will be sung by guest Carole Everett from St. Croix. The boys' choir part will be performed by Albert Lynch's boys' choir from the All Saints Cathedral School at the May 15 concert only.
Two other major works on the program are "Messe Basse," a short mass written in the early 1900s for a group of nuns by French composer Gabriel Faure; and "Echo," a haunting love song written for women's voices by contemporary American composer Joel Phillips, who has recently visited the Virgin Islands.
The choir will also perform a variety of shorter pieces such as an inspiring "Hymn to Freedom" by jazz musician Oscar Peterson, "Song of the Fishermen" by British composer Gustav Holst, "A Girl's Garden" by American composer Randall Thompson, and the familiar folk song "Aura Lee." The texts for several of the pieces are by well-known poets such as Robert Frost, John Greenleaf Whittier, and Christina Rossetti.
Musical director John Cahill has led the St. John Singers since its founding over 20 years ago. He teaches piano and music theory on St. Thomas and St. John and is also an accomplished French horn player. Besides directing the concert, Cahill will perform Haydn's Horn Concerto.
Albert Lynch will accompany the choir and the Horn Concerto. Lynch, a pianist and organist whom St. John Singers audiences have enjoyed before, is the founder of and teacher at the St. Thomas School of Music (formerly the New School Music).
The choir is pleased to welcome Carole Everett as the featured soloist. Everett is head of school at the Good Hope School in St. Croix. She is a mezzo-soprano who has performed with opera companies and orchestras and on recital tours around the world. She is an honors graduate of Barnard College of Columbia University and holds advanced degrees from the Universita di Siena. She studied voice in New York at the Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School, where she was also the Director of Admissions for seven years. Mrs. Everett is the author of "The Performing Art Major's College Guide: Dance, Drama, Music" (Simon and Schuster/Arco) now in its third edition, and also the "Princeton Review Guide to Performing Arts Programs." Besides singing with the choir in the Mahler Symphony, Mrs. Everett will perform selected arias and art songs.
Tickets are $12 for adults, $5 for children 5 years and under. Tickets may be purchased at the door.
St. John Singers is partially funded by the V.I. Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
For information call 693-7788 or 777-6915.