Grinnell Singers, Lyra Baroque Orchestra Join Forces in March 10 Concert

Event Information

Time: 2 p.m.
Date: Sunday, March 10
Place: Sebring-Lewis Hall, Bucksbaum Center for the Arts, 1108 Park St., Grinnell

The Grinnell Singers, the premier choir at Grinnell College, will present a concert with Lyra Baroque Orchestra of St. Paul, Minnesota, featuring Handel’s Dixit Dominus and J.S. Bach’s Mass in A Major. Dixit Dominus, a piece Handel wrote when he was just 21, includes some of his most spirited and joyous choral music. Bach’s Mass in A Major is a rarely heard work, which reveals a different side of the composer. Its elegantly simple melodies show Bach communicating in a more direct manner than usual, although it also includes some of Bach’s more characteristic intricacies.

This performance marks the third concert season in which the 50-voice Grinnell Singers have collaborated with the Lyra Baroque Orchestra, a professional period-instrument ensemble led by harpsichordist Jacques Ogg. John Rommereim, Blanche Johnson Professor of Music at Grinnell, will direct the choir and orchestra.

The concert also will feature a distinguished roster of soloists:

• Maria Jette, soprano
• Angela Young Smucker, mezzo-soprano
• Roy Heilman, tenor, and
• Thomas Meglioranza ’92, baritone. 

Lyra’s mission is to inspire and enrich the community through exceptional performances of music of the 17th and 18th centuries on period instruments. The  orchestra prides itself on being unusually accessible to audiences through captivating, relevant performances, and educational programs that inspire future generations of musicians.

The Grinnell Singers’ 2017 performance with Lyra, under the direction of guest conductor Simon Carrington, was praised as “superbly nimble and confident” by the Rochester Post-Bulletin.