Production Notes

of the GRAND RAPIDS SYMPHONY CHORUS

Classical Series, November 21-22, 2008:

Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 9

This will be the Chorus’ ninth production of the complete work. Previous productions are listed below:

December 31, 2004 with the Symphony at DeVos Performance Hall.
This performance concluded the Rotary Club of Grand Rapids' New Year's Eve gala, which raised $40,000 for programs benefiting youth. From an article in the January 4, 2005 Grand Rapids Press by Elizabeth Clark:

“It was a really wonderful evening,” Lockington said. “The 9th Symphony of Beethoven is dedicated to furthering brotherhood and sisterhood of mankind, and knowing that we raised a good deal of money for the charity foundations of Rotary makes it all the more meaningful.”

Ending the year on a figurative and literal high note (high-A held by the sopranos for 72 beats), the Symphony Chorus under the direction of Pearl Shangkuan closed the program with the audience leaping to a standing ovation. “I think that it's a very appropriate way for us to both end the old year and welcome the new,” she said.

January 31 & February 1, 2003 with the Brazeal Dennard Chorale and the Symphony at DeVos Performance Hall.
From a review in the February 1, 2003 Grand Rapids Press by Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk:

"It's been eight seasons since the Grand Rapids Symphony last presented it but the “Ode to Joy” rang out once more Friday evening ...

Music director David Lockington and the Grand Rapids Symphony gave a bold, vigorous performance of Beethoven's “Choral” Symphony No. 9, featuring soloists and the Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus.

The Brazeal Dennard Chorale returned to Grand Rapids for the program ... The 120 singers from diverse backgrounds gave a thrilling performance that bore witness to the meaning of Beethoven's finale.

Expectations, naturally, are high with such a well known piece. Lockington and company met most of them ... there was much to savor in the 70-minute performance ...

The combined chorus sang masterfully, despite the hurdles of the score and the limited rehearsal time they had together.

Through a couple of dozen changes in tempo, Lockington kept a tight rein on the performers. Each return of the “Ode to Joy” theme was exhilarating, with energetic accompaniment in the orchestra and vigorous singing by the chorus.

September 16 & 17, 1994 with the Symphony at DeVos Hall. The September 17 performance was broadcast live on WZZM-TV.
From a review in the September 17, 1994 Grand Rapids Press by Jeff Kaczmarczyk:

"In her eighth year at the podium, music director Catherine Comet daringly chose to open the season with a big work. But it's a challenge she capably met. ...

Though this was the opening concert of the season, the all-volunteer Symphony Chorus, directed by H. Martin Werner, gave a fine presentation that resembled a well-rehearsed mid-season appearance.

March 6, 1994: the Chorus performed an excerpt from the 9th Symphony as part of the Family Series program “Beethoven! Beethoven!” in DeVos Hall.

May 15 & 16, 1992 with the Symphony at DeVos Hall.
From a review in the May 15, 1992 Grand Rapids Press by Michael Burgess:

"The Grand Rapids Symphony sure knows how to end a concert season with a bang. Beethoven's 9th Symphony has always been a sure-fire crowd pleaser for nearly two centuries. ...

The Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus did marvelous work in this performance. The sopranos and men are faced with demanding singing and, boy, did they ever do the job.

May 10 & 11, 1985 with the Symphony, the Holland Chorale and the Hope College Chapel Choir at DeVos Hall.
These were Semyon Bychkov's final concerts as Music Director.
From a review in the May 11, 1985 Grand Rapids Press by Gerald Elliott:

"The applause swelled and voices were added to the hand-clapping. It was this capacity audience's heartfelt farewell to Bychkov, and he obviously was greatly moved.

Undoubtedly, too, the applause was for an outstanding performance of Beethoven's Ninth symphony, the major work Bychkov had conducted on his first concert here as the orchestra's music director. ... Of the several times the Grand Rapids orchestra has performed Beethoven's Ninth, this was by far the finest.

Not only was the orchestra in fine fettle, but it had the noble support of the Grand Rapids Symphonic Choir, which as usual had been thoroughly schooled in its role by its director, Anton Armstrong, augmented by the Holland Chorale and the Hope College Chapel Choir.

Some of the most impressive parts of the symphony were those in which the magnificent tonal quality of the massed choirs came through with all its inherent beauty and opulence.

October 30 & 31, 1980 with the Symphony and the Fountain Street Church Choir at DeVos Hall.
These were Semyon Bychkov's first concerts as Music Director, and the Symphony's first regular concerts in DeVos Hall.
From a review in the October 31, 1980 Grand Rapids Press by Gerald Elliott:

"The Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra has performed Beethoven's Ninth symphony several times in the past 20 years, but Thursday night was probably the first time that the audience really heard it in all of its magnificence, fury, tenderness and joyousness. ...

Still another agreeable revelation was the way that the combined Grand Rapids Symphonic and Fountain Street Church Choirs made themselves heard.

Standing against the walls of the orchestra shell, the choirs produced an extraordinary volume of sound without straining. And the quality of the sound was little short of gorgeous.

April 30, 1976 with the Symphony and the Calvin College Oratorio Society at Welsh Civic Auditorium.
From a review in the May 1, 1976 Grand Rapids Press by Mike Lloyd:

"The final concert of the Grand Rapids Symphony's 1975-76 season was an ode to joy.

In an evening of eclectic excitement Conductor Theo Alcantara combined the highly energized forces of his orchestra, the Symphonic Choir and the Calvin Oratorio Society.

That unprecedented trio performed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with a verve and enthusiasm which flashed sparks like lightning bolts before the audience. ...

It was the first time the Oratorio Society and the Symphonic Choir performed together. That was somewhat ironic as choir director Albert Smith and oratorio director Harold Geerdes were classmates at Calvin College and shared a music stand as violinists in the symphony in the 1930s.

In any case, the excellence and pride they have developed in their individual groups gave their joint performance a competitive edge. ...

With the choirs came the spirit of Beethoven. Here was a piece written by a man totally deaf and here sits an audience surrounded totally by magnificent sound. The composer's humanist message of gladness, love and joy rang out full voiced.

April 16, 1971with the Symphony at Civic Auditorium.
From a review in the April 17, 1971 Grand Rapids Press by David Nicolette:

"The Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra's season closed Friday night with a jammed Civic Auditorium enjoying a concert of a size to match the massiveness of the audience. ...

The evening had multiple attractions ... the marvelous massed voices of the Symphonic Choir, beautifully prepared by director Albert Smith ...

The Symphonic Choir sang with all the harmonic beauty, clarity and control that Beethoven's tribute to man's freedom in happiness could demand.

Holst: The Planets

Classical Series, February 20-21, 2009:
Gustav Holst, The Planets

This will be the Chorus’ third production of the complete work. Previous productions are listed below:
April 2 & 3, 2004 with the Symphony at DeVos Performance Hall.
From a review in the April 3, 2004 Grand Rapids Press by David Hoekema:

The concert's second half was devoted to one of the great favorites of the 20th century repertoire, Gustav Holst's “The Planets,” a musical invocation of seven of our neighbors in the solar system. ... In the closing movement, a celestial chorus materializes: the women of the Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus are heard but never seen, their wordless harmonies circling and folding back on each other.

March 7 & 8, 1997 with the Symphony at DeVos Hall.
March 22, 1978: three movements of The Planets were performed with the Symphony as part of the benefit concert “Star Wars: America's Trip to the Stars” at Welsh Civic Auditorium.

First Productions this Season

First Performances in 2008-2009

This coming season will see the Symphony Chorus join forces with the Symphony and other area choirs to perform the following works for the first time.
January 9 & 10, 2009: members of the Chorus and the Grand Rapids Symphony Youth Chorus will perform Arvo Part's Berlin Mass.

March 13 & 14, 2009: the Chorus and the Grand Rapids Symphony Youth Chorus will perform John Adams' On the Transmigration of Souls. This work, commissioned for the New York Philharmonic as a memorial to all those who died in the September 11, 2001 attacks, won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

April 12, 2009: members of the Chorus will sing in the Symphonic Boom concert “Final Fantasy: Distant Worlds,” performing excerpts of Nobuo Uematsu's award-winning soundtrack from the Final Fantasy videogame series.

April 23-25, 2009: members of the Chorus will join members of the Calvin College Alumni Choir to perform the following works for Bach Festival concerts at Royce Auditorium and Hope College's Dimnent Chapel:
Bach, Cantata 51: Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen!
Cantata 191: Gloria in excelsis Deo
Motet No. 1 BWV 225: Singet dem Herr nein neues Lied