Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) Concert for Peace
Iris Derke, Co-Founder and General Director
Jonathan Griffith, Co-Founder and Artistic Director
Concert for Peace
Celebrating the Spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr
Carnegie Hall January 17, 2010
Great Music, Fun Time
I was still cold from the weather outside when I meet Rachael to get our press tickets. When we walk into the hall I notice a great energy and vibe from the audience. It was a high level of music From the opening of Gloria (U.S. Premiere) by CHARLOTTE DAW PAULSEN, Mezzo-soprano to my favorites Stabat Mater with BELINDA SYKES,’ Ethnic’ Vocals and Mey CHARLOTTE DAW PAULSEN. The ending Paradisi Gloria was great!
To say that the surroundings match the music for dramatic impact is quite the understatement: if what’s going on inside the Carnegie Hall is a little overwhelming, it seems that the massive choir may actually outnumber the audience. The subtext couldn’t scream any louder than the music: DCINY’s artistic director and principal conductor, Jonathan Griffith mastered the art of a conducting a large group with great skill and the highest order of talent.
It was a great professional performance by the Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) group. I encourage our audience to run to their next concert. Here is there link http://www.dciny.org/2011-season/
Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) put together some of the best musical talent around today! Take a look at the talent from last night’s concert:
Jonathan Griffith, DCINY Artistic Director and Principal Conductor
Karl Jenkins: Stabat Mater and Gloria (US Premiere)
Karl Jenkins, Composer-in-Residence
Belinda Sykes, ‘Ethnic’ Vocals and Mey
Charlotte Daw Paulsen, Mezzo-soprano
- James Andrew Style Music TV
Ensemble bios
B. Perrot
Kings Chorale (Canada)
Kings Chorale is a non-auditioned choir founded in 1982 by its current director. The group performs a wide variety of music from the classical repertoire through the popular realm and in several languages. The choir is made up of people from all walks of life and all ages drawn from communities throughout the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, Canada. The only prerequisite for membership in the group is the enjoyment of singing.
Graduating from Westminster Choir College in 1975, Bill Perrot been active in the Nova Scotia Choral Federation and the Association of Canadian Choral Communities. Bill is the founding conductor of Kings Chorale and Artistic Director of Nova Voce, Nova Scotia’s premier men’s choir. He has conducted the Annapolis Valley Honour Choir, Acadia University Chorus, Acadia Vocal Ensemble. and has prepared choirs for performances by Symphony Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra. In May of 2008, Bill was given the Alumni Merit Award from Westminster Choir College for his work with choirs, particularly youth choirs, in Nova Scotia.
T. Howard
Kirk Choir of Pasadena Presbyterian Church (CA)
The music ministry at Pasadena Presbyterian Church includes eight choirs and ensembles covering three language groups and involving well over 100 musicians from kindergarten on up. Founded in 1940 by celebrated choral conductor Howard Swan, the Kirk Choir serves as the church’s principal choir during Sunday morning English-language worship services. Its diverse repertoire embraces the breadth of traditional choral music, music written in our time, and music from other cultures. The choir is seen weekly on the church’s cable television broadcast and is featured at several concerts each season as part of the church’s “Friends of Music” concert series.
Timothy Howard is Director of Music and Organist at Pasadena Presbyterian Church where, among his other duties, he directs the church’s Kirk Choir. In addition, he is Lecturer in Music at California State University, Northridge and head of the school’s organ program. A graduate, with honors, from the University of Southern California with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree, Dr. Howard also holds degrees from Westminster Choir College and Biola University. His organ scores to accompany the silent films “Nosferatu,” “From the Manger to the Cross,” and “The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ” are widely available.
R. McCartney
Methodist College Chapel Choir (Ireland)
The Chapel Choir concentrates mainly on liturgical music and has established a strong reputation through frequent radio and television broadcasts. In recent years the choir has sung in various Cathedrals in Ireland and England. In the summer of 2008 the choir returned to Westminster Abbey for its ninth residence in recent years.
In 2004 the Chapel Choir became Songs of Praise Senior School Choir of the Year and UTV Grammar School Choir of the Year. The choir regularly produces choral and organ scholars for Cambridge Colleges and two recent past members are recent organ scholars in Emmanuel College Cambridge, Corpus Christi College Cambridge and Christchurch College Oxford.
Before coming to Methodist College Ruth McCartney, director, was Head of Music at Markethill High School from 1988-1994. She is best known for her work with the Choirs in Methody. Ruth has both sung in and conducted many choirs over the years. In the early nineties she was one of two sopranos in the six part choral group Kaleidoscope who broadcast regularly on television and radio. She was a music critic for the Irish News and is an examiner and moderator with CCEA. In the 2003 New Year’s honours list she was awarded an MBE for her services to education. She was also awarded an honorary ABRSM from the Royal School of Church Music in 2005.
J. Anderson
Ottawa University Concert Choir (KS)
Concert Choir, founded in 1938, is Ottawa University’s premiere choral ensemble. Its membership is determined by audition and is open to all students. Concert Choir’s history of excellence in choral music calls upon its singers to maintain high levels of individual musicianship and ensemble skills as they perform music spanning the history of all choral traditions. Concert Choir is the major choral ensemble called upon to sing for official University events and to appear on behalf of the University beyond the campus. It performs frequently in area churches, in on-campus concerts, and tours annually during the spring semester, both nationally and internationally.
Jeff Anderson, Visiting Professor of Music at Ottawa University, directs Concert Choir and Jazz Singers. He holds degrees from Southwestern College (BME), The Wichita State University (MME), and The University of Missouri-Kansas City (DMA) where he studied choral conducting under Eph Ely. Prior to his appointment at Ottawa University, Dr. Anderson’s professional experience included teaching high school choral music and directing church music. His choirs have performed at state, regional, and national conventions of The National Association of Music Education and American Choral Directors Association. He is active as a festival conductor, adjudicator, and consultant in choral music education.
F. Woolston
Sine Nomine Singers (NC)
The Sine Nomine Singers is a chamber choir of professional and professional caliber amateurs founded by Music Director Finley Woolston in 1998. The choir performs in Eastern North Carolina in support of numerous charitable and public events. Membership is by invitation only and varies depending on performance requirements. The ensemble has appeared on behalf of The American Cancer Society, Foundation for Hospice, and Musicians for Missions relief for Haiti. They were also recently invited to New York City to perform for ceremonies honoring a disabled U.S. Marine wounded in Iraq.
Finley Woolston devotes himself to music after a career in the Marine Corps and Navy. He was a student of Brock McHelheren of the Crane School of Music and a cum laude vocal performance major at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He sings with and was a past Music Director of Schola Cantorum, the choir of the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina. He is Music Director of the Crystal Coast Choral Society and has prepared members of that community chorus to perform major choral works in Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall. He is the founder and director of the Sine Nomine Singers, a chamber choir of professional and amateur singers.
F. DeMiero
Sno-King Community Chorale (WA)
The 117-voice Sno-King Community Chorale calls Edmonds, Washington home. Conducted by Frank DeMiero, the Chorale has been delighting audiences since 2001. The Chorale’s guiding credo is to “sing with a smile on your face and love in your heart”. Each concert is unique and reflects the groups’ success in performing challenging and diverse choral literature; sharing the stage with a variety of instrumentalists; and featuring music from classical to jazz to Broadway. The Sno-King Community Chorale is made up of community members who desire to experience the joy of singing as members of a choral team.
Frank DeMiero’s career started with playing accordion. Thank God it
blossomed from there! Frank earned a BA in Education from Eastern Washington
University and a Masters in Conducting from Central Washington University. The
Frank DeMiero Jazz Camp has served over 6000 students during its 25 years.
Frank’s choral groups have received consistent international acclaim.
Recognized internationally for his innovations in all areas of music education,
Frank is in demand as a guest conductor, adjudicator, clinician and
motivational speaker. He currently conducts the Seattle Jazz Singers and the
Sno-King Community Chorale. Frank is co-founder of Sound Music Publications.
R. Bouwer
University of Johannesburg Choir (South Africa)
The UJ Choir was formed in 2005. Although the choir consists of mostly African singers, the aim is to excel in both Western and African Music.
In 2006 they won a Gold Award at the 16th International Festival of Advent and Christmas Music and a special jury prize for Multicultural Achievement. In 2007 they performed The Armed Man - A Mass for Peace by Karl Jenkins in the Johannesburg City Hall and Jenkins conducting.
The UJ Choir won the category for Traditional Music at two international choir competitions in 2008 and was the only South African choir to perform at the 8th World Choral Symposium in Denmark.
Renette Bouwer, director, graduated with a B.Mus. degree, specialising in Composition (organ and piano as major instruments), from the University of Pretoria in 1980. She received her B.Mus. (Hons.) degree from UNISA in 1990 and her M.Mus. degree in Conducting through the University of Stellenbosch in 2009.
She currently works with voices from different cultural backgrounds, proving flexibility of the voice and adaptability of young singers to different styles of music.
Apart from her involvement with choirs, she has performed as soprano soloist in numerous oratoria in South Africa as well as in Europe. She has released more than 11 CDs with choirs, ensembles and as soloist.
J. Chapin
West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South Concert Choir (NJ)
Concert Choir is an auditioned group of 102 singers in grades 10-12. Concert Choir rehearses and performs challenging repertoire from many genres. The Concert Choir performs extensively throughout the state of New Jersey and abroad and has won numerous awards and superior ratings in nationally adjudicated festivals. Carnegie Hall in New York City, Patriots Theater in Trenton, and The Kimmel Center in Philadelphia are just a few venues where the choir has performed. Last year the choir performed Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana at the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove, NJ under the direction of Dr. Allen Crowell from the University of Georgia.
Janice Chapin has been Director of Choirs at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South for the past nine years. Her duties include Directing the Concert Choir, Women’s Choir and Chorale, which all meet daily. In addition, she directs two auditioned a-cappella choirs and is Vocal Director for the school’s spring musical. Previously, Mrs. Chapin taught middle school in Princeton, NJ, where she led her choirs to first place finishes and superior ratings in national festivals as well as tours of the United States and Canada. Janice shares the music ministry with her husband Paul at the First Baptist Church in Bordentown, New Jersey where she acts as Assistant Choir Director.
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