OPERAPALOOZA!

Nashville, TN -- (ReleaseWire) -- 05/11/2007 -- The Music City Community Chorus presents OPERAPALOOZA!: a free concert of Chorus Music by the Great Opera Composers, on Tuesday evening, June 5 at 7:30 pm at First Baptist Church, Broadway and 7th Avenue in Nashville.

For the new Music City Community Chorus' second outing, conductor Renee Grant-Williams chose to present works by composers rarely heard in a choral setting. OPERAPALOOZA!: Chorus Music by the Great Opera Composers will include operatic favorites Giuseppi Verdi's "Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves" from Nabucco, "Regina Coeli" from Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, and the "Anvil Chorus," from Il Trovatore, also by Verdi.

The featured work of the evening will be the Stabat Mater by Gioacchino Rossini.

"Rossini's Stabat Mater has excruciatingly beautiful melodies, but there may be reasons this exquisite piece is not often performed," says Grant-Williams, "It demands precise, but passionate, ensemble work throughout. And, of course, a tenor who can sustain a high D flat."

Mayor Bill Purcell announced the formation of the non-profit Music City Community Chorus back in August of 2006, placing the sixty-voice chorus under the umbrella of the Metro Nashville Community Education program.

"I'm amazed by how quickly this diverse group of singers has developed into an ensemble that has an identity and sound," says director Renee Grant-Williams.

Widely known as a vocal coach, Grant-Williams' conducting credits include positions as founder and director of the San Francisco Community Chorus; director, Student Division of Vocal Music at the University of California, Berkeley; chorus master, Opera Division, Banff School of Fine Arts; and choir director Second Presbyterian Church, Nashville.

OPERAPALOOZA! is free to the public. Parking is available at the back and sides of First Baptist Church (Broadway and Seventh Avenue). The concert begins promptly at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, June 5. Call 615/259-4900 for interviews or additional information. www.MusicCityCommunityChorus.org

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Nashville, TN -- (ReleaseWire) -- 02/07/2007 -- Four guests soloists have been selected for the Music City Community Chorus's January 30 debut concert at Christ Church Cathedral. Accompanied by the thirty-two-piece Excelsior Chamber Orchestra, and directed by Renee Grant-Williams, the MCCC will perform Beethoven's Mass in C Major and Vivaldi's Gloria.

Guest soloists for the event will include: Julie Cox, soprano, has performance credits that include Opera Colorado, Nashville Opera, Nashville Symphony, and City Center in New York;

Olivia Ward, mezzo soprano, who has appeared with the Nevada Opera, Nashville Opera, Mobile Opera and has sung with the Nashville, Virginia, and Chattanooga symphony orchestras;

Thomas Studebaker, tenor, who has to his credit sixty-five performances with the Metropolitan Opera in New York and appearances with a wide range of orchestras from the New York Philharmonic to the Tokoyo Symphony;

Keith Moore bass-baritone, whose resume includes performances at New York City's Lincoln Center and with the Nashville Opera. He is the head of the voice faculty at Belmont University.

"I'm thrilled by the caliber of our soloists," says Grant-Williams. "I had no idea the talent pool for classical singers in Nashville ran so deep. These singers are truly world-class."

"The Mass in C Major has a unique structure. Unlike many other classical choral works, which follow a pattern of separate movements for the soloists and the chorus, the Beethoven is a true ensemble piece, requiring an intricate weaving of chorus and solos throughout. We are fortunate to have soloists who bring a high level of musicianship to the piece."

The Music City Community Chorus's debut is offered free to the public. The concert begins promptly at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, January 30. Parking is available in lots A, B, and C at the back and sides of Christ Church Cathedral, at 900 Broadway. Call 615/259-4900 for an interview or additional information. Audition information for the spring season may be found at www.MusicCityCommunityChorus.org.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Nashville, TN -- (ReleaseWire) -- 01/10/2007 -- The newly formed Music City Community Chorus, under the direction of nationally known vocal coach Renee Grant-Williams, is performing its debut concert on Tuesday, January 30 at 7:30 pm at Christ Church Cathedral located at 900 Broadway in Nashville. Accompanied by the thirty-two-piece Excelsior Chamber Orchestra, the chorus will perform Beethoven's Mass in C Major and Antonio Vivaldi's Gloria.

Mayor Bill Purcell announced the formation of the non-profit Music City Community Chorus back in August of 2006, placing the sixty-five-voice chorus under the umbrella of the Metro Nashville Community Education program.

"I'm amazed by how quickly this group has developed an identity and sound," says director Renee Grant-Williams. "When you join a chorus you become a small part of a fine-tuned, but very large instrument—one with perfection on its mind. It requires hard work and discipline, but the rewards are great. You get to sing. You get to harmonize with your friends. You get to perform classical music in concert without years of training. How cool is that?"

For the Music City Community Chorus' initial outing, conductor Grant-Williams chose the first of only two masses composed by Ludwig van Beethoven: Mass in C major, Opus 86. In composing the mass in 1807, Beethoven deviated from the prevailing structural and harmonic conventions. By going against convention, though, Beethoven doomed the work to a poorly received premier. Prince Esterhazy II, who had commissioned the piece, dismissed it as "unbearably ridiculous and detestable."

Says Grant-Williams, "Things did not go well at the premiere of the C major Mass. The structure and harmonies were unorthodox; the singers staged a rebellion, and the client hated it. Today it stands as an innovative work of genius."

Primarily known as a vocal coach, Grant-Williams' conducting credits include positions as founder and director of the San Francisco Community Chorus; director, Division of Vocal Music Performing Ensembles at the University of California, Berkeley; chorus master, Opera Division, Banff School of Fine Arts; and choir director Second Presbyterian Church, Nashville, TN.

To Grant-Williams the birth of the Music City Community Chorus is an important manifestation of a larger trend in Nashville, home to a remarkable diversity of music that has been overshadowed historically by the international appeal of country music. "These are exciting times for classical music in Nashville. The advent of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center has brought fresh focus to the realm of classical music," says Grant-Williams.

This debut performance is offered free to the public. Parking is available in lots A, B, and C at the back and sides of Christ Church Cathedral. The concert begins promptly at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, January 30. Call 615/259-4900 for an interview or additional information. Audition information for the spring season may be found at www.MusicCityCommunityChorus.org.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm