The Nazareth College Chamber Singers are celebrating their world-premiere performance as their recording of a commissioned work debuted in England in early September.
The Chamber Singers world-premiere recording of The Arctic Tern’s Prayer was selected to debut at the Association of British Choral Directors 2021 virtual choral leaders festival.
Erin Bunce is a senior music therapy major and alto section leader of the group. She is proud of the honor, and says the choral program at Nazareth is distinctly crafted with meaning to touch those beyond our Nazareth community.
“Our common catch phrase is ‘we sing to change lives,’ and we do just that,” said Bunce. “Our voice is a representative of our community that we hope will inspire and give hope to others. I believe the music we make is shaping us to become more empathetic people who spread light when the world seems dark. Knowing that I was a part of a choral work that is touching others beyond our country’s borders is astounding.”
Chamber Singers director Brian Stevens commissioned the piece from American composer Sarah Rimkus for the Chamber Singers spring 2020 program, and the Nazareth recording was chosen from a pool of international applicants to be officially released and made available to conference attendees as part of their virtual performance programming.
“The selection committee was very complimentary about our students' performance and thrilled to have our exciting contribution," said Stevens. “This international recognition is a wonderful show of support towards the hard work, commitment to excellence, and artistry that our students accomplished during the unprecedented challenges this past year.“
Stevens is now following up on this success with plans for a series of newly-commissioned works and premieres from diverse group of interenational unrepresented composers for the Nazareth choirs throughout the 2021-22 academic year.
Julie Long | Chief PR Officer, | (585) 781-8186 | jlong2@naz.edu
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