Quarternotes

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Volume 18 No 23 Spring 2019

From the Music Director

Greetings!

As we come to the final stretch of our 24 ^th season, we have a number of important and exciting events ahead. We are also deep into planning for our 25 ^th anniversary season.

Since the last newsletter we have been very busy with six performances in December, the FCCC Broadway Concert in February, and the Vivaldi Gloria with the Greater Bridgeport Symphony and a spectacular Gospel Music Workshop & Concert with Dr. Raymond Wise in March. Next up will be the FCCC Spring Concert on May 11. Our theme is A Night at the Opera in which each of the FCCC choirs will perform one opera aria, duet or chorus, including the Habanera and Toreador Song from Carmen ! A highlight of the evening will be our guest artist, former FCCC chorister and now professional opera singer Katherine Fili. Please see her letter below. The concert will also have a variety of other styles, from folk to Gospel and popular music.

The Chamber Singers will again perform for the Fairfield Holocaust Commemoration Ceremony on May 15, providing an important community service to a major town event. The Chamber Singers will also undertake a summer tour to Boston, Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard. Since this is so close to home, I have included our performance schedule below in case you find yourself in the area. Finally, some of our choristers will perform at the wedding of FCCC Concert Choir conductor, Jacqueline Sugrue! Congratulations Miss Sugrue!!

Our 25 ^th anniversary season will include a number of special presentations. The highlight of the year will be our Spring Concert on May 16, 2020 at 8:00 PM at Carnegie Hall!! While FCCC choristers have performed at Carnegie Hall nearly a dozen times, from our first performance there in 1997 to our most recent in December 2016, we have always been the invited guests of various other performing ensembles and producers. This time we will be the sole producer and performing ensemble on the stage! We will be inviting all 300+ choristers of the FCCC plus a group of FCCC alumni to join us in our program, entitled “The Best of the FCCC.” The program will include a world premiere of a piece written for the occasion by Robert Hugh, whom we have commissioned to write many pieces in the past. This concert is not to be missed! Please help us to fill the seats in America’s most famous concert hall by inviting any and all family and friends. It will be a grand celebration!

Chorister Profiles - FCCC Seniors!

We bid a fond farewell to our largest class of graduating seniors. Best wishes to Kirsten Alafriz, Dana Calamari, Fiona Carter, Olivia Cholewczynski, Sofia Cholewczynski, Zsofi Cimino, Theresa Eland, Hannah Fink, Elizabeth Gallardo, Alex Killian, Maddie McDermott, Nora Reidy and Yasmin Schrom . They have given so much of their talents and time to our choir! In addition, we congratulate seven of these seniors who will receive our Choral Scholar Award. This is given to choristers who have been members of the FCCC for the maximum term of nine years. We are so happy that these seniors ‘found us’ way back in 2009 when they were finishing third grade!! They are Jessica Abbazia, Sage Factora, Claire McCrory, Kirsten Metellus, Jonathan Porrazzo, Norah Procopio and Aleksandra Suvorova . We have enjoyed reading the profiles of this group. We have one final profile for this edition of Quarternotes - you will now meet Alex Killian.

Name: Alex Killian

Age: 17

School: Wilton High School

Town: Wilton

Favorite FCCC Song: Bridge Over Troubled Water, Clear Water, Biebl Ave Maria and Total Praise

Choir has been a huge part of my life for so many years, but I have never experienced a group like FCCC. I have been pushed as a singer and a chorister to new levels I did not think I would ever get to, and I have grown as a person because of it. The music we got to sing every year inspired me in different ways and opened me up to new cultures and styles that have broadened my sense of the world. Having the privilege of performing at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center was incredible and that experience will stay with me for the rest of my life. Performing solos at the Broadway concert helped me regain my confidence and appreciation of my own abilities. I have met my best friends through FCCC and the love I experienced from them gave me the confidence to pursue a career in film, something I never would have done before. I am following my dreams because of FCCC and I know that my life would have been terrible without it. I may not be willing to say goodbye to FCCC yet, but I know it has given me the skills to thrive. Thank you, Mr. Noyes.

Audition info

Auditions for the 2019 – 2020 season will take place in May and June. Present choristers/parents may sign-up for an audition appointment at rehearsals. Prospective new members may register for an appointment by calling 203-414-4292. The audition is just seven minutes in length and consists of singing an easy song such as Frère Jacques or America and echoing a few melodic patterns.

From the Board President:

As we approach the end of our 24 ^th season, I would like, on behalf of the board, to thank all of our choristers and conductors for giving us another wonderful year filled with magnificent music. But we were not the only ones to benefit from the FCCC’s collective talents: You will be proud to hear that the choir went caroling to shelters, nursing homes and senior centers in a number of towns this past holiday season. It was a truly moving experience to see the joy their music brought to the residents of these centers. I recently read an article titled “Being a Musician Is Good for Your Brain”; if the writer had attended one of our caroling sessions, the article might instead have been titled “Being a Musician Is Good for Both Your Brain and Your Soul.”

Next year, the FCCC turns 25, and will celebrate its 25 ^th anniversary by holding its Spring Concert at Carnegie Hall in New York, and every FCCC chorister will be on that stage! We must support them, and show them how proud we are of them, by filling every single one of the 2,800 seats in that magnificent space. We have exactly one year to plan and prepare for this amazing event, and we call on every one of you to help make this our biggest event ever. We owe nothing less to our choristers and our conductors, who have worked so hard to make FCCC a truly outstanding choir and have brought us to Carnegie Hall.

At our Broadway Show concert in February, I explained why we need to raise funds: most choirs of our caliber charge their students over $1,000 each year in tuition. We, in contrast, charge only about half of that. One of the board’s primary objectives is to keep tuition low and affordable, so that any child who enjoys singing can afford to join the FCCC. Our tuition covers only half of our operational cost, so the remainder must be raised from ticket sales, donations and fundraisers. Please keep in mind that our operating costs do not include the cost of our generous scholarship program. It is your generosity that has helped us keep going these past 25 years, and it will be your generosity that will keep us growing for the next 25 years.

Sincerely,

Marina Philips

President

The Board of Directors of the FCCC

(This letter is from our guest artist at the upcoming FCCC Spring Concert, Katherine Fili.)

Dear Mr. Noyes,

I apologize for the delay of my response! As part of being one of 4 singers in a young artist program with Toledo Opera (a baritone, tenor, soprano & myself, the mezzo soprano) the opera company that hires us pretty much owns our life for the duration of our contract! I have to ask permission if I travel more than 80 miles away from Toledo Opera during the months of August through the end of May. It's a great opportunity but we joke that we can't take a lunch without them knowing where we are!

The company has released me for the Saturday, May 11th concert, but no earlier than the Friday evening beforehand. I'm assuming a rehearsal would be required beforehand. If not, I could be involved, but I'm assuming there would be a run through ahead of time or a rehearsal earlier in the week and may make my involvement inconvenient for FCCC. I am currently the cover for Carmen at Toledo Opera and it would be a dream to sing the Habanera with FCCC and have the kids join in with "Prends garde à toi!"

Regardless, from the bottom of my heart, I would love to thank you, Ms. Bettke and Roger Thulin for the incredible influence you have had on my life. I think of you all more than you know.

I am a full-time singer in choruses, church choirs and opera companies.

I can't tell you how influential the choir was on my life. I have been hired consistently by opera companies for my ability to be a kind and a reliable colleague. I was always prepared, I knew my music, brought my water bottle and pencil, and learned everyone's name on the first day (note to FCCC kids: wear your name tags!!!). I was supportive of both people who had larger roles in the opera than me, and people who had smaller roles. I learned all of that from FCCC. You guys taught me what it meant to have confidence and kindness, which goes much further than just having a well- trained voice, not only in a professional opera career, but in all aspects of life. I do not exaggerate when I state that FCCC is the reason I have a professional career that brings me joy every day. I thank you guys for introducing me to the magic of music, and what it means to be a supportive colleague.

Many thanks & fond memories,

Katherine Fili (formerly Brandt!)

www.KatherineFili.com

Mezzo - Soprano

From a Parent:

After the FCCC Winter Concert we received the following excerpt from an FCCC parent e-mail (she gave her permission to include it here):

“Although I loved each and every song tonight, the only song I had to "get through" with tears streaming down my face, struggling to breathe, was Give Me Your Tired .”

Colleen Sullivan

Calling All FCCC Alumni!!

Have you heard that the FCCC will be performing our 25th Anniversary Spring Concert on May 16, 2020 at 8:00 PM at Carnegie Hall ? The first 100 alumni who respond will be invited to join us on stage for the finale - probably Jubilate Deo, Bridge Over Troubled Water & I’m Goin' Up Yonder! The only requirement would be that you purchase a ticket to the concert for yourself - but it would also be great if you could bring as many friends and family as possible to see us perform!! We will have a rehearsal there on May 16 at about 3:00 PM.

Tickets will be priced from $17 to $55 per person and will be available for purchase to the general public through Carnegie Hall 90 days in advance of the concert. We will also offer premium group ticket packages in the “Parquet” orchestra section as well as the “First and Second Tier” private boxes. We plan to have these packages available prior to the public sales period.

For more info on Carnegie Hall, see: https://www.carnegiehall.org/ We hope you can join us!!

Chamber Singers

Boston-Cape Cod-Martha’s Vineyard

Tour Concert Schedule

Tuesday, June 25, Noon

King’s Chapel

(58 Tremont St., Boston, MA)

Thursday, June 27, 7:30 PM

First Parish Church

(842 Tremont Street, Duxbury, MA)

Saturday, June 27, 7:30 PM

Falmouth Congregational Church

(68 Main Street, Falmouth, MA)

Monday, July 1, Noon

The Tabernacle at Martha’s Vineyard

Camp-Meeting Association

(80 Trinity Park, Oak Bluffs, MA)

King’s Chapel and the Martha’s Vineyard Tabernacle are designated National Historic Landmarks. The First Parish Church of Duxbury is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Alumni News

Former FCCC super star, Rajane Brown, has been starring in the Park Square Theatre production of Marie & Rosetta by George Brandt at the Minneapolis-based Playwrights’ Center. Soulful and spirited, this play with music tells the story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe , a 2018 inductee into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. The story begins in a funeral parlor in Mississippi, as Rosetta (played by Jamecia Bennett ) and her young protégé, Marie Knight (played by Rajane Katurah Brown ), prepare for a tour that will establish them as a great musical duo. Local musical powerhouses, Bennett and Brown earned rave reviews in THE WIZ at Children’s Theatre Company. Check out this exciting link to the “trailer” for the show: click here for info

A Minnesota Star Tribune feature entitled “Nine Twin Cities artists primed for greatness in 2019,” had this to say about Rajane: Fresh out of Spelman College, promising singer/actor Rajane Katurah Brown moved to the Twin Cities to be a performing apprentice at the Children’s Theatre. She did a year of shows there, including spelling Paris Bennett as Dorothy in “The Wiz.” But Brown really shone in 2018 next to Jamecia Bennett in “Marie and Rosetta,” teaming up with the multiple Grammy winner to deliver strong acting and beautiful music. In the upcoming year, Brown has been cast in Ten Thousand Things’ “Into the Woods” and “Cinderella” at CTC. She also got some good news over the holidays, news that will allay concerns about losing such a talent to New York or Chicago: The Children’s Theatre has signed her to a contract as a company member. Rohan Preston, theater critic

For more on Rajane, check out the article and photos click here

Support the Choir:

A contribution to Fairfield County Children's Choir is an investment in the future! We train outstanding young performers and help them to grow - both as musicians and as responsible, caring young adults. Your support makes it possible for us to bring our world-class choir experience to musically talented children, many of whom receive tuition assistance. Your gift is tax deductible and we gratefully thank you for your generosity. Please donate here .