CONCORA Summer Festival: The Phoenix Rises

Year: 
2023
Date(s): 
July 23 -29, 2023
Location: 
Bethany Covenant Church, 785 Mill Street, Berlin CT

The anchor of the concert is the new 30-minute choral suite from Craig Hella Johnson's  Considering Matthew Shepard, remembering the brutal murder of a young gay man in Wyoming.  CONCORA performed the whole work with singers from UCONN to great acclaim in 2019.  We also present the five spirituals from Michael Tippett's A Child of Our Time, which juxtaposes the injustice of slavery with the horrors of Kristallnacht, one of the earliest events leading to the Holocaust.  Two recent works complete the program, each bearing the message of future change: Hope, by Debra Scroggins and I Dreamed of Rain by Jan Garrett.​

Rehearsal schedule: 

  • Sunday, July 23 - 3:00-6:00 pm - rehearsal; 6:00 pm dinner
  • Monday, July 24 - 7:00-10:00 pm - rehearsal
  • Wednesday, July 26 - 7:00-10:00 pm - rehearsal
  • Friday, July 28, 7:00-10:00 pm - rehearsal
  • Saturday, July 29, 10:00 am - 1:00 pm - "dress" rehearsal; 3:00 pm concert

We are also offering workshops again this year, which proved very popular in recent years:

  • Monday, July 24 - 6:00 pm - Broadway Workshop with Mark Mummert.
    ​ You are encouraged to work up that solo you've always wanted to sing, and present it for our class and coach!
  • Wednesday, July 26 - 6:00 pm – Conductors’ Workshop with Chris Shepard
    For even experienced conductors, fermatas pose special difficulties. Chris will work through techniques for approaching these pesky markings, and then selected participants will get to conduct a vocal ensemble of CONCORA members and festival participants in music of their choice.
  • Friday, July 28 - 6:00 pm - Vocal Health with Patricia Doyle, MA, CCC-SLP
    The return of our most popular class.  Let Trish, one of CT’s most prominent speech pathologists, guide you through maintaining your vocal health throughout your life, and the added techniques you'll need in our post-Covid world.​
Contact telephone: 
Contact email: 
Connecticut