In the fall of 2017, the Williamson County Parks and Recreation Department started a new adult music program at the urging of several county residents. With Dr. Linda Bolding at the helm as director, the Williamson County Community Chorus began its first season with 70 singers rehearsing on Tuesday evenings at the county’s Enrichment Center and performing two standing-room-only concerts that first year. The next year with just over 90 singers performing John Rutter’s Requiem for the Spring Concert, a YouTube video of the performance was discovered by a gentlemen with DCINY (Distinguished Concerts International, New York), who called the department to invite the chorus to participate in a performance of Requiem at Carnegie Hall in New York. On Thursday, February 13th, 42 singers with the Williamson County Community Chorus, along with an additional 25 family members, will be boarding a plane in Nashville heading to New York in order to check the “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” off of their bucket list.
“At first I thought someone was pulling my leg”, states Laurie Kamunen, Community Activities Superintendent for the department. “Our chorus was only a year and a half old and had only performed three concerts. I honestly thought the gentlemen on the other end of the phone was pulling a prank regarding the invitation. We, of course, thought our new chorus was an incredible group of singers, but to have garnered this type of attention already is almost unheard of. I was beyond ecstatic after having researched the company and the information provided to call Dr. Bolding and tell her of the invitation. Everyone was thrilled, so plans were quickly set in place to make this happen.”
The group will arrive in New York, be taken to check-in at their hotel and then will quickly be whisked away to their first rehearsal at the prestigious music venue. They will be joining an additional 208 singers from around the country, also invited to participate, for an additional two rehearsals on Saturday and Sunday mornings and then will perform with 250 voices strong in the Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 16th. Following the performance, the singers and their guests will attend a reception with a full course dinner in their honor. Chorus director, Dr. Linda Bolding told us, “The Rutter Requiem is a well-known major work performed all over the world, and we are very much looking forward to performing it again, this time on the Carnegie Hall main stage. Singers everywhere dream of the opportunity to perform in this transcendent music hall.”
In addition to much of their time being devoted to rehearsals and the performance, the chorus members are also excited to use the opportunity in New York to go site-seeing and to attend the Broadway show “Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations”. “We are hoping to see as much as time allows”, states Dr. Bolding. “There is something very special about traveling, rehearsing, singing and performing together with whom you work throughout the year. It is a great honor any time for a chorus to be invited to perform in such a concert venue as Carnegie Hall. It is a particular honor to be invited when the chorus is still considered to be in its infancy. The Williamson County Community Chorus is an excellent chorus regardless of its newness, and it continues each season to grow and become even more excellent. Williamson County has a gem in which they can be very proud.”
The Williamson County Community Chorus holds open auditions for adults and seniors each January and August for its Spring and Fall seasons each year and always welcomes new singers. Rehearsals are from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. each Tuesday night during the season. The chorus’ next performance locally will be their upcoming Spring Concert on Sunday, April 26th at 3:00 p.m. The concert will be held at the Williamson County Enrichment Center at Academy Park, located at 110 Everbright Avenue, next to the Williamson County Public Library, and is free to the community.
For additional information about the Williamson County Community Chorus visit www.wcparksandrec.com or contact Laurie Kamunen at (615) 790-5719 ext. 2018 or [email protected].
