Grinnell Singers Tour 2014
The Grinnell Singers will perform a series of March concerts in Iowa and California as part of a spring break tour.
The 40-voice ensemble will present an evening of distinctive choral music that includes the elevated sounds of English cathedral music by John Sheppard, the spiritual depth of Rachmaninov, the austere beauty of Arvo Pärt, the playfulness of a children’s counting game by the up-and-coming Philippine composer Nilo Alcala, music by Ingram Marshall that offers a new take on the American shape-note tradition, and cutting edge a cappella music by 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winner Caroline Shaw. The Singers’ tour schedule will include:
- 7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 15: Grace Methodist Church, 37th and Cottage Grove, Des Moines, Iowa
- 7:30 p.m., Monday, March 17: All Saints’ Episcopal Church, 555 Waverley St., Palo Alto, Calif.
- 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 18: St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, 500 De Haro St., San Francisco, Calif.
- 7 p.m., Wednesday, March 19: Oak Glen Pavilion, San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden, 3450 Dairy Creek Road, San Luis Obispo, Calif.
- 7:30 p.m., Thursday, March 20: First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica, 1220 2nd St., Santa Monica, Calif.
- 7:30 p.m., Friday, March 21: Foothills United Methodist Church, 4031 Avocado Blvd., La Mesa, Calif.
Admission is $15, except for the free concerts March 15 in Des Moines and March 19 in San Luis Obispo.
Under the direction of John Rommereim, the Blanche Johnson Professor of Music at Grinnell, the Grinnell Singers have premiered more than 20 choral works in the past five years. Each year the choir presents concerts across the country, and the group has also traveled to Estonia, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. The Grinnell Singers have also been invited to perform at two regional conventions of the American Choral Directors Association.
In 2013, the Grinnell Singers released their latest CD, Seeking After that Sweet Golden Clime. The disc is centered on Jonathan Dove’s evocative choral cycle The Passing of the Year, and also includes distinctive works by Ola Gjeilo, John Taverner,
Tarik O’Regan, Alexander Grechaninov, Gyorgii Sviridov, Joseph Jennings, and conductor Rommereim.
The Grinnell Singers, 2014