CHOIRS
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CONCERT CHOIR
The Penn State Concert Choir is composed of student musicians representing the Penn State School of Music as well as other areas of study within the University. In addition to presenting several concerts each semester on campus, the Choir has toured extensively within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, New England, Louisiana, and the Southwest. The Choir has also toured Europe, performing in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and Great Britain.
Orchestral collaborations have occurred with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Philadelphia Symphony, and with Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony. Most recently, the Choir performed the Mozart Requiem with Penn State Chamber Orchestra, Bruckner's Mass in E-flat with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Mahler Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection) and Beethoven Symphony #9 with combined choirs and orchestras, and Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem with the Penn State Philharmonic Orchestra. The Penn State Concert Choir has performed at conferences of the American Choral Directors Association as well as the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association.
CHAMBER SINGERS
Directed by Christopher Kiver, the Chamber Singers comprises up to 24 students. Performing a variety of repertoire from all historical periods, the Chamber Singers focus on works from the Renaissance period and the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The Chamber Singers regularly sing throughout Pennsylvania and in 2008 performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and were broadcast on WPSU public television. Membership is open to all students at University Park, and enrollment is by audition with the conductor.
Essence of Joy is one of twelve choral ensembles in the School of Music. Organized in November 1991 by Anthony Leach, the choir performs sacred and secular music from the African/African American traditions. Annual campus events include fall and spring concerts, as well as A Celebration of African American Spirituals (February) and Our Gift in Song (December). The choir involves undergraduate and graduate students from many academic and music programs at Penn State. Essence has performed throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois, and New York City.
Essence has performed for the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Conference (1995, 1997, 2003), the Eastern Division of the Music Educators National Conference (1997), the Eastern Division of the American Choral Directors Association (2002), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (2000), the Schomburg Museum of Black American Culture in New York City (1998, 1999, 2001), and the American Choral Directors Association National Conventions (1999, 2003).
The choir has released four compact disc projects: The Soul and Spirit of Essence (April 1998); Essence "Live" (April 2000); and Lift Every Voice and Sing and The Light, which were released during the 2002-03 academic year. The choir made its first European tour in June 2001 with concert performances in Kracow, Poland, and Prague, Czech Republic. Essence II, The Second Edition was organized in August 1999 to provide an additional opportunity for Penn State students and residents of Central Pennsylvania to perform African American choral music.
GLEE CLUB
The Penn State Glee Club was founded in December of 1888, and is Penn State's oldest student organization on campus. Since its first spring tour in March of 1889, the Glee Club has toured throughout the United States and overseas, including Wales, Trinidad and Tobago, and France. In recent years, the Glee Club has sung at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, and Notre-Dame de Paris. They were invited to perform at the Pennsylvania Music Educator's Association State Conference in April 2007, and in March 2008 performed at the National Seminar of the Intercollegiate Men's Choruses Inc. in Virginia. Conducted by Christopher Kiver, the Glee Club performs a wide range of music from the Renaissance through the twenty-first century. Since 2005 the Glee Club has performed major choral works including Symphony no.2 in C minor, “Resurrection” by Mahler, Ein deutsches Requiem by Brahms, and Symphony no. 9 in D minor by Beethoven. Membership is open to all undergraduate and graduate students at University Park. Enrollment is by audition with the conductor. You can find out more information about the Penn State Glee Club at www.clubs.psu.edu/up/gleeclub/.
Formed in 1934, the Hi-Lo's are a select group of sixteen singers drawn from the Penn State Glee Club. Known for their energetic and entertaining performances, the Hi-Lo’s present numerous performances each year on and off campus as well as appearing at the two major Glee Club concerts on campus during the academic year. Enrollment is by audition with the director.
ORIANA SINGERS
The Oriana Singers, conducted by Lynn Drafall, is composed of sixty women representing a wide variety of majors at University Park. Repertoire includes music written for treble voices from the sixteenth to the twentieth century: madrigals, motets, part-songs, folk songs, musical theatre and music by female composers. The choir presents three campus performances each year. Enrollment is by audition with the conductor.
Discantus, a female chamber choir of eight to fourteen voices, is composed of members of the Oriana Singers. The repertoire includes Renaissance madrigals arranged for treble voices as well as folk songs, spirituals and popular songs. Enrollment is by audition with the conductor and current membership.
UNIVERSITY CHOIR
The University Choir is a eighty-voice mixed choral ensemble that includes students from many colleges and departments at University Park. Conducted by Anthony Leach, the choir performs a variety of literature representing every musical period and genre in its two major campus concerts per year. Founded in 1948, the University Choir holds a long-standing and distinguished place within the School of Music. Performances with regional and community-based orchestras include the Johnstown Symphony, Harisburg Symphony, Northeastern Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, St. Louis symphony, as well as the Penn State Philharmonic. Significant off-campus events include tours of Pennsylvania and performances for the Pennsylvania Music Educators Conference and the Eastern Division of the Music Educators National Conference. University Choir has also toured Montreal and Ottawa, Canada, and in 2000, toured Poland, Hungary, Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic.
Sine Nomine, composed of fourteen to eighteen University Choir members, is a chamber choir conducted by undergraduate choral music education students. The choir performs music written for chamber vocal ensembles at many campus events. Most notable is the 2002 collaboration with the Penn State Opera Theatre in a fully-staged presentation of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas.
WOMEN'S CHORALE
The seventy-five voice Women's Chorale, under the direction of Jayne Glocke, is composed of women representing nearly every major at University Park. The Chorale performs choral literature from the medieval to modern eras. Enrollment is by audition with the conductor.
Cantate is a small ensemble selected out of the Women's Choral membership. The group consists of sixteen to twenty-five singers and focuses on chamber literature. The group performs at all Women's Chorale concerts as well as at selected campus events. Enrollment is by audition with the conductor.