MHC Alumnae Singers to Tour China
Fifty-six women, ages 20-67--Mount Holyoke alumnae drawn from throughout the United States, Canada, and England--will come together for the first time just two days before they sing a bon voyage concert in Mount Holyoke's Abbey Chapel. Intensive rehearsals with conductor Catharine Melhorn, recently retired after 36 years as the College's choral director, will culminate in a public performance at 4 pm, Sunday, July 1.The next morning the group flies from New York to Shanghai, their first stop on a 13-day tour of China, which also includes the cities of Hangzhou, Xi'an, and Beijing. The singers will present four concerts, all in distinguished venues such as the Lyceum Theatre in Shanghai and the Concert Hall of the National Library of China in Beijing. Each concert will be shared with an outstanding Chinese choir, including the Women's Chorus of the Shanghai Philharmonic and the Young Women's Chorus of the China National Symphony. Mount Holyoke faculty voice teacher, soprano Cheryl Cobb, will be a featured soloist with the Glee Club Alumnae.
Their tour program includes Western "classical" selections by J. S. Bach and Debussy; a psalm setting by contemporary Brazilian composer Ernani Aguiar; two works by female composers, Gwyneth Walker and Chen Yi; and several African American spirituals and gospel songs. They will sing in several languages--English, of course, but also Latin, German, French, and Mandarin. Pianist Pamela Gilmore, director of opera at Rutgers University, will accompany the choir.
This will be the second international tour by the Mount Holyoke Glee Club Alumnae. In July 2005 they traveled to London and Wales, performing and competing at the world-famous Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod. That experience was so successful that the participants requested a follow-up tour, this one both more ambitious musically and more physically demanding.
Sponsored by the Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College, the tour itinerary has been arranged by Kingsway International, an artistic travel company. Alumna Deborah Hall '74 of Norwich, Vermont, is serving as tour coordinator, as she did for the 2005 tour.
The alumnae singers represent many different professions--medical doctors, lawyers, university professors, retired military officers, schoolteachers, and small business owners, to name a few. All are women for whom choral singing remains a passion. Some are members of prestigious community choirs, some are faithful participants in local church choirs, others haven't sung in years. They are expected to arrive in South Hadley with their tour repertory learned, having been mailed music and a practice CD ahead of time.
In addition to the singers, a group of 30 guests (spouses, children, grandparents, and friends) will travel with the choir. About half of the group will extend their trip by five days to take a cruise along the Yangtze River, to view the Three Gorges landscape, soon to be significantly altered by an enormous hydropower dam that goes into full operation in 2009.
Related Links:
Melhorn Leads Alumnae Glee Club Choir in Great Britain
Music Department