ISSUED: 8 August 2019
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University’s Masterworks Chorale, under the direction of Dr. Rachel Carlson, assistant professor of music, will hold auditions by appointment on August 22, 23, and 26 for the Saturday, November 16, performance of Handel’s “Messiah.” Masterworks Chorale is looking for tenors and basses in particular, but auditions are open to all voices and consist of vocal exercises and sight-reading. Singers should prepare a short piece in advance, preferably classical or folk song, to be sung without accompaniment that shows off their voice.
Masterworks Chorale meets Monday evenings from 7:30-9:30 p.m. in the Frank Center McCoy Rehearsal Hall. The first rehearsal will be Monday, August 26. The 120-member vocal ensemble, made up of Shepherd vocal students and community members, presents two full-length concerts per year of great masterpieces from the choral literature, with soloists and orchestra.
Carlson is director of choral activities and conductor of the Shepherd University Chamber Singers, Camerata Soprano/Alto choir, and Masterworks Chorale. She 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 as a freelance choral singer and soprano soloist with many professional ensembles, including the Oregon Bach Festival, True Concord Voices and Orchestra, Vox Humana, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Washington Master Chorale, Washington Bach Consort, Conspirare, Manhattan Chorale, and Germany’s Bach Ensemble Helmuth Rilling.
For more information or to schedule an audition, contact Carlson at rcarlson@shepherd.edu or 304-876-5371.
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