Stanly County Chorale, Concert Band to team up

Published 9:01 am Monday, February 12, 2024

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The Stanly County Chorale is pulling out all the stops (literally) for its 55th anniversary spring season.

The celebration, “55th Anniversary: A Musical Memoir,” is exactly that — a musical scrapbook of the past 55 years. Performances are scheduled for April 27-28 at Pfeiffer University and First Baptist Church, Albemarle, respectively.

“I’m excited to have Pfeiffer host one of our performances since many of the Chorale conductors and accompanists over the years have been Pfeiffer music department faculty or alumni (including myself),” said Lisa Ewers, director of the chorale.

Several previous directors of the Chorale will return to the podium to conduct some favorite pieces from past years. The concert will include many different styles, such as Broadway, Disney, Brahms, Copeland, spirituals and more.

“Over the past 55 years, the Chorale has presented so many different genres of music,” Ewers said. “It was a real challenge to create a program that would fit within an hour or so, and adequately represent all that the Chorale has shared with the community for over half a century. It has been a true labor of love.”

Additionally, the Chorale will partner with the Stanly County Concert Band, singing on the band’s spring concert April 25 at the Stanly County Agri-Civic Center.

“When you have two such wonderful groups of musicians, it just makes sense to collaborate and create a whole new experience for everyone, including our audiences,” said Carmella Hedrick, one of the directors of the Concert Band. “This band season is the perfect opportunity to have the Chorale join us, as we’re presenting music from the stage and screen, much of which is choral in nature.”

Ewers added: “The fact that both groups have their concerts scheduled for the same week is also to our advantage this season. And it will be a great experience for the Chorale singers to perform with a full concert band accompaniment, and vice-versa.”

This is only the second time in the two groups’ history that they will combine efforts; the first being in 2015 when the Chorale appeared on the Band’s fall concert.

For more information about both groups, follow them on Facebook and their websites, stanlychorale.org and stanlycountyconcertband.com.