Accomplishments

The strengths of the Valley Chamber Chorale lie in the immense talent and dedication of the singers and in the diverse and unusual concert programming. All concerts are self-produced by Chorale volunteers. Artistic Director Carol Carver purposely fills every concert with selections that are familiar as well as obscure. Through creative programming, she challenges the audience to experience the depth of choral music.

Over the years, the Chorale has developed the technical and musical artistry required to successfully perform the most demanding of choral works. Notable accomplishments of the Chorale include numerous examples:

Commissioned Works

Canticum Novum by Minnesota composer Stephen Paulus

5 Parables, music for choir and jazz quartet composed by Craig Carnahan, with lyrics drawn from the work of West Coast poet James Buchanan.

I Never Saw Another Butterfly by Jeanie Brindley-Barnett based on the writings of the children at the Terezin concentration camp during the Holocaust.

Earthly Delights by David Evan Thomas. Now available through EC Schirmer Music.

Peter Quince at the Clavier by Phil Kadidlo. A work for choir and instruments.

Sweet Breezes by Aaron David Miller. A work for jazz quartet and choir.

Welcome to Our Wondering Sight by Bradley Ellingboe for harp, oboe and choir. Now available through Kjos publishing company.

Major Choral Works

Bach: Mass in B Minor, Wachet Auf

Beethoven:  Mass in C, Choral Fantasy

Bernstein: Chichester Psalms

Brahms: Liebeslieder Waltzes

Britten: A Ceremony of Carols, Rejoice in the Lamb

Bruckner: Mass in E Minor

Bush:  Christmas Cantata

Clausen: Memorial

Durufle: Requiem

Faure: Requiem

Handel: Dixit Dominus

Haydn: Mariazeller Mass, Mass in the Time of War

Kodaly: Missa Brevis

John Rutter: Gloria, Requiem

Mozart: Great Mass in C Minor, Regina Coeli, Requiem

Orff: Carmina Burana

Part: Te Deum

Paulus: Mass

Poulenc: Gloria

Rossini:  Petite Messe solennelle

Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis

Other Activities

A concert of British music conducted by Simon Carrington of the world-famous “The King’s Singers.”

Joint concerts with The Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and the Stillwater Area High School Choir.

Performance and participation in Stillwater’s “Partnership in Education” program.

Performance with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Performance with the Minnesota School District 834 Elementary Choir.

Performance with the St. Croix Jazz Orchestra.