HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — The Hope College Chapel Choir is set to perform its annual post-tour “Home” concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 28, 2019, in the Concert Hall of the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts.
Admission is free and this concert is open to the public.
The choir will be performing selections from the concert program for its recent spring-break tour, which includes an accessible yet interesting program of sacred choral works of familiar and new works by composers such as John Rutter, C.H.H. Parry, Stephen Paulus, F. Melius Christiansen and others. The Chapel Choir presented four concerts in Florida between March 15 and March 19.
The concert will also include faculty member Dr. Huw Lewis as accompanist.
The Chapel Choir is Hope’s premier choral ensemble. Founded in 1938, the choir has toured extensively throughout the United States and Canada, performing in venues including The National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and numerous choral conferences. The choir has also traveled abroad on nine occasions, most recently to South Africa in 2018. The Chapel Choir is featured in multiple events at Hope, including the college’s long-standing Christmas Vespers, the award-winning television broadcast of which is seen around the country at Christmastime on PBS.
The 40-voice ensemble, which consists of student musicians from a wide variety of academic disciplines, is dedicated to the performance of the finest sacred and secular choral music. Students in the choir are selected by audition and maintain a rigorous rehearsal schedule in preparation for their concert tour and other engagements throughout the year.
The Chapel Choir is directed by Dr. Christopher Dekker, director of choral activities and visiting assistant professor of music. A 2009 Hope graduate, as a student he was a member of the choir, and for two spring-break tours was an accompanist for the ensemble. Dekker has additional degrees from Central Michigan University and The University of Notre Dame.
Accompanist Dr. Huw Lewis was educated at the Royal College of Music, London, Cambridge University and the University of Michigan. He has been at Hope College since 1990.
The Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts is located at 221 Columbia Ave., between Ninth and 10th streets.
