The NIU Concert Choir will perform Sunday, April 5, at the historic Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, in New York City.
Avery Fisher Hall is the same concert hall where the New York Philharmonic performs its concerts and is one of the premiere concert halls in the country. This concert will mark the first time the NIU Concert Choir has performed on this prestigious international stage.
The opportunity to perform at Avery Fisher Hall came by way of an invitation to Eric Johnson, director of choral activities in the NIU School of Music, to conduct a concert for producer Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY).
“Because of the growing reputation of our choral program and great success of recent national performances by the NIU Chamber Choir, I was contacted by DCINY to see if I might be interested in conducting a concert for them,” said Johnson, who directs the Concert Choir and the Chamber Choir and teaches choral literature and conducting.
“Our discussions and planning began two and a half years ago. Once the date was picked and the year was 2009, I knew I wanted to conduct one of Joseph Haydn’s great late masses. 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of Haydn’s death, and this seemed like a perfect way to commemorate the anniversary.”
Under Johnson’s direction, the choir will perform Haydn’s “Theresienmesse,” a large setting of the mass written for four soloist, chorus and orchestra.
During their four-day residency in New York, members of the Concert Choir will rehearse with a professional orchestra and soloists who have been hired to perform with the choir. The soprano soloist will be NIU’s own Orna Arania, voice faculty member in the School of Music.
The NIU Concert Choir also will join forces with members of the DeKalb Festival Chorus, the Wheaton North High School Concert Choir and the Plainfield South Chamber Choir.
Johnson invited these choirs because of their own reputations for quality and excellence. In preparation for the New York Performance, all have been working diligently on the music.
“With four different directors preparing choruses, it s a rather large logistical challenge,” Johnson said. “It is imperative that all of the groups come to New York with the same marking in their scores, ideas of tempo, articulations and the like.”
To help address these concerns, each director received a copy of Johnson’s own scores markings. He also visited each choir individually for rehearsals so that the rehearsal time together in New York can focus on refining the music rather than getting all of the singers to cut off at the right time.
The NIU Concert Choir is one of two touring choral ensembles in the School of Music.
The group has performed at the Chicago Symphony Center, Fourth Presbyterian Church Concert Series in Chicago, Norris Center for the Performing Arts, Hemmens Cultural Center and numerous local schools and churches in Illinois.
Members regularly perform masterworks of the choral orchestral tradition. Recent performances include Haydn’s “Creation,” Stravinsky’s “Symphony of Psalms” and Brahms’ “Ein Deutshces Requiem.”