Noteworthy News, November 27th
Important upcoming dates:
Monday, November 30, No rehearsal
Monday, December 7, 7 pm Happy Hour (Zoom)
Sunday, December 13, 4 pm Concert: Virtual Wintersong! (Stream)
Monday, January 25, 7 pm First session, Virtual Masterworks Series (Zoom)
A Happy Hour is planned for Monday, December 7th to celebrate our work on Wintersong (perhaps take a sneak-peak at the early edits) and enjoy virtual social time with a sing-a-long or two. BYOB and snacks.
With Black Friday (today) and the commencement of the traditional shopping season, remember to use smile.amazon.com to support the Portland Symphonic Choir. Amazon will donate .5% of every purchase to our organization. To link your Amazon account, simply visit smile.amazon.com/ch/93-0415215
Also, Giving Tuesday, a global celebration of giving, is next week on December 1st. This is a movement to create an international day of charitable giving at the beginning of the Christmas and holiday season. Direct contributions to PSC can be made on our website, pschoir.org/donate or by using text-to-give (text pschoir at 44321, messaging rates may apply)
Starting in January, Portland Symphonic Choir Winter and early Spring activities will feature a Virtual Masterworks Series. We are inviting prestigious choral directors from around the country to join us for an evening of inspirational song, community, and discussion. Save these dates for our coming virtual (Zoom) sessions: Monday, January 25, Monday, February 22, Monday, March 29, and Tuesday, April 27.
As announced earlier this week, long-time Portland Symphonic Choir director Bruce Browne has passed away. A special Facebook page has been created to enable folks to share their thoughts and memories: Remembering Dr. Bruce Browne. It's a thought-provoking, worthwhile read. The plan for our upcoming Wintersong (virtual) concert is being adjusted to include a special tribute. Bruce was only our 4th music director, serving from 1979 - 2001. Under his leadership, the Choir worked extensively with James DePreist and the Oregon Symphony. Bruce utilized his contacts as the Northwest President of the American Choral Directors Association to forge relationships with other choirs around the world. Because of this, we were able to tour Belgium, Germany, Australia, France, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Canada, and Texas (national ACDA convention). A superb professional tenor, Bruce brought to the Choir a great understanding of vocal production and sound quality. During his long tenure, we had the opportunity to work with such well-known conductors as Robert Shaw, Eric Ericson, Margaret Hillis, Anton Armstrong, Helmuth Rilling, and of course, James DePriest. We came to love Bruce's Hawaiian shirts and his reading of a joke at each rehearsal. In addition to being a great conductor, Bruce was a non-stop advocate for choral music and for educating and mentoring future generations of choral singers and conductors. He founded Portland's first professional choir, Choral Cross-Ties in 1985 and more recently, Choro in Schola, an organization that utilizes professional singers to mentor talented high school students in order to enhance the choral music programs in our schools.