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A 2023 documentary titled “Choral Singing in America” states forthrightly: “We are a nation of singers.”
On Sunday afternoon, 15 local choral groups, large and small, will join in “A Taste of Song,” a concert that will fill Kodak Hall to prove that Rochester is truly a community of singers.
“Feast of Song” would be an equally appropriate title. The massive, prism-style concert, a biannual presentation of the Greater Rochester Choral Consortium, offers a rich and fast-moving sampler of local choral music.
Each chorus will sing a four- to five-minute piece from a different location: stage, balcony, and sides of the theater. The music proceeds without breaks or applause between numbers, and the concert ends with all the choruses and the audience joining in a final song. The show will last about 75 minutes.
The 15 ensembles represent only about half of the member choruses, and approximately 800 members, in the GRCC. (“Choral Singing in America” claims there are up to 54 million choral singers in the U.S.)
They also represent all kinds of music, from symphonic choruses to barbershop singing, as well as a musical outlet for residents of different towns (Irondequoit, Greece, Spencerport), ages, and levels of ability.
Some are sizable groups dedicated to bringing community members together; other, smaller choruses nurture and give voice to specific religious, ethnic, or age groups. Some are dedicated to classical music, from madrigals to oratorios; others explore Jewish folk music, songs for children, songs reflecting the LGBTQ+ experience, and more. (GRCC does not include the area’s many school and church choirs.)
One of the largest ensembles in “A Taste of Song” is the Eastman-Rochester Chorus, a “town/gown” chorus bringing together Eastman and University of Rochester employees and students with singers from the community. Its current conductor is William Weinert, director of Eastman’s choral activities and one of the founders of the GRCC.
Weinert recalls a conversation in the mid-1990s, shortly after he came to Rochester, with his fellow conductor Roger Wilhelm, then the director of the Rochester Oratorio Society.
“We were discussing our future concerts, and eventually discovered that later that year, both ERC and the Oratorio Society had scheduled concerts on the same day, at the same time, and of the same piece, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor,” says Weinert.
“We decided then and there that all our local choruses needed to talk to each other to avoid such conflicts in the future. So, the consortium began as a kind of clearing house for information from Rochester’s choral groups.”
The idea of showcasing Rochester’s choruses in a free concert soon followed. The “Taste of Song” prism concerts began in 1996 and have continued every other year as GRCC’s signature event. GRCC describes “A Taste of Song” as “Rochester’s premier choral event of the year,” and it’s difficult to argue with that.
Information about each of the ensembles in this year’s concert is available here. Most ensembles also have their own websites.
Greater Rochester Choral Consortium presents “A Taste of Song” on Sunday, Feb. 16, at 4 p.m. in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. Admission is free, and doors open to the public at 3:15 p.m.
David Raymond is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer.
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