ISSUED: 27 November 2017
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University’s Masterworks Chorale, under the direction of Dr. Rachel Carlson, assistant professor of music, will present two works from the choral-orchestral tradition—Felix Mendelssohn’s “Psalm 42” and Gabriel Fauré’s “Requiem”—on Saturday, December 2, at 8 p.m. in the Frank Center Theater. A professional orchestra will join the Masterworks Chorale, and this concert will feature solos by some of Shepherd’s vocal students.
Featured students will be Jack Younis, Shepherdstown; Grace Guiney, Harpers Ferry; Samuel Bower, Middletown, Maryland; Kevin Mitchell, Fairplay, Maryland; Carol Niedringhaus and John Wilkins, both of Frederick, Maryland; Tamira Patterson, Westminster, Maryland; Mary Sullivan, Lexington Park, Maryland; and Stephanie Proctor, Chantilly, Virginia.
Carlson is director of choral activities at Shepherd and conductor of the Shepherd University Chamber Singers, Women’s Camerata, and Masterworks Chorale. Carlson founded and serves as artistic director of Six Degree Singers, a community choir based in Silver Spring, Maryland, and serves as assistant conductor of the Washington Master Chorale. In 2014, Carlson was nominated for a Wammie (Washington Area Music Award) for best classical conductor/director. Carlson has toured extensively with professional choirs across the country, appearing as a soprano soloist with the Washington Master Chorale, Washington Bach Consort, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Oregon Bach Festival, True Concord Voices and Orchestra, Vox Humana, and Washington Revels, and as a professional choral singer with Conspirare and the Manhattan Chorale.
The Masterworks Chorale is a vocal ensemble with more than 100 members, including Shepherd students and singers from the surrounding community, that presents two full-length concerts per year.
General admission for the concert is $15; $10 for faculty, staff, Shepherd alumni, senior citizens, and students 18 and under; and free for Shepherd students with a valid Rambler ID. Admission and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis, and there are no advance sales or reservations. The box office opens one hour prior to the performance. For information call 304-876-5555 or visit www.shepherd.edu/music.
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