Harmonious Concerts Mark Weekend

Harmonium Choral Society will present the second program of its 2011-2012 concert season on Saturday, March 3 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 4 at 3 p.m. at the Morristown United Methodist Church, at 50 South Park Place

Music Director Anne Matlack and the 100-member chorus will present the New Jersey premiere of two movements from “In Sure and Certain Hope,” a requiem by Grammy-nominated composer Nicholas White.

Also on the program will be J. S. Bach’s Cantata 150, “Nach dir, Herr, vertlanget mich,” Charles Ives' “Psalm 90,” and works by Moses Hogan, Salomone Rossi, Max Janowski and others. The chorus will be accompanied by string instrumentalists from the graduate program at Montclair State University. Harmonium’s select Chamber Singers will perform works by Heinrich Schutz, Victor Kalinnikov and a new composition by Martin A. Sedek who is a young composer and a faculty member at the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair.

Tickets are $20 for adult and $15 for students if purchased before Friday, Feb. 24. At the door, they are $25 and $20. To purchase tickets in advance, visit www.harmonium.org/paypal.shtml or send a check to Harmonium Choral Society, P. O. Box 1317, Morristown  07962-1317.

Large print or Braille concert programs are available upon request.

Outreach

Harmonium, which was founded in 1979, seeks to advance choral music by sponsoring commissions, musicianship workshops, community partnerships, a high school student composition contest and other educational programs. The Outreach Chorus performs in schools, nursing homes and other venues. Harmonium founded the Morristown Neighborhood House Children’s Chorus in 2012.

On Saturday, March 11 at 3 p.m., Harmonium will perform in a free concert with the Children’s Chorus which is for grades two through six. Also in the concert will be the New Jersey Youth Chorus Intermediate Chorus for grades four through 6 and students from the Morristown Neighborhood House guitar program. Included will be works by Praetorius, Papoulis, Caldwell/Ivory and Dillworth. The groups will each perform individually and will join for other performances. It is a family-friendly concert so children are welcome.

Harmonium’s student choral composition contest for 2012 is open until Thursday, March 15. The contest link is http://www.harmonium.org/contest.shtml. Each entrant receives advice from the panel of judges. The winner receives $1,000 and a chance to have the work performed at Harmonium’s June concert.

Choral Musicianship Workshops at Grace Episcopal Church in Madison, where Matlack is organist and director of music, are an annual outreach of Harmonium. Two will be held in April, on Sunday, April 15 from 2 to 5 p.m. on the topic “YogaVoice” with clinician Mark Moliterno, and on Sunday, April 29 from 2 to 5 p.m. on the topic “voca Skinny-Dipping – Improvisational Singing,” with clinician Martin Swinger. The cost for each workshop is $35 and the cost for both is $60. The registration form will be on the website.