Susquehanna Chorale Spring Concert

The award-winning Susquehanna Chorale will conclude its season with “Roots & Wings,” its spring concert series, on May 11 and 12, 2018.

The Susquehanna Chorale, founded in 1981 by Linda L. Tedford, is a nationally-recognized adult chamber ensemble of 35 singers, chosen by audition. It has been cited by critics and audiences alike for its “velvet” blend, its precision, versatility, and ability to communicate emotionally with its audiences.

The spring concerts, sponsored by University Music Service in Hershey, are on Friday, May 11 at Derry Presbyterian Church in Hershey, and Saturday, May 12 at the High Center on the campus of Messiah College, Mechanicsburg, both at 8 p.m.

Tickets are available through the Chorale’s Web site, www.susquehannachorale.org, or by calling the Messiah College box office, (717) 691-6036. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door for adults, and $5 for students. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more if tickets are purchased in advance.

The concert begins with songs that celebrate faith and historical roots, including Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine, American spirituals, and Rhonda Sandberg’s modern arrangement of Bach’s Come, Sweet Death.

The modern lullaby Jenny Rebecca, Bob Chilcott’s setting of Christina Rosetti’s poem “Remember Me,” and Ēriks Ešenvald’s setting of Sara Teasdale’s “Only in Sleep” speak of the experience of looking back at our earliest or most important passages.

Songs from early America conclude the concert. Among them are selections from Copland’s “Old American Songs,” and Shawn Kirchner’s Unclouded Day.

All audience members are invited to attend receptions immediately following both performances, with an opportunity to meet Conductor Tedford and the Chorale singers.

The Susquehanna Chorale is ensemble-in-Residence at Messiah College. The Chorale is funded, in part, by the Cultural Enrichment Fund, the capital region’s united arts fund, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.