PISCATAWAY: Cantabile's 'family of voices' celebrates 20th anniversary

By BOB MAKIN
STAFF WRITER from the Courier News website www.c-n.com
Copyright © 1997-2008 Courier News. All rights reserved.

The award-winning Cantabile Chamber Chorale will celebrate its 20th anniversary season with a spring concert featuring the world premierie of New York-based composer Eric Ewazen's "God's World'' 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Christ United Methodist Church, 485 Hoes Lane.

The idea for Cantabile was formed when a group of singers who had performed together in the Rutgers Musica Sacra Oratorio Chorus asked Rebecca Scott to lead their small chamber ensemble for a summer season. Scott is a Julliard music
professor who lives in the Somerset section of Franklin Township.

After performing together for three summers, the ensemble expanded to a year-round scheduled under Scott's direction. On Dec. 16, 1987, a group of 18 singers performed its first concert as the Cantabile Chamber Chorale. The choir, which blends new and traditional works, now has 31 members, including several culled from an education program for youth and adults.

The resulting "family of voices'' has had a large community and artistic impact, Scott said.

"It is our belief that choral music lifts the human spirit and shows the commonality of humanity through musical expression, enlightening programming and supportive friendships,'' she said. "When we started, there were only seven singers looking for a small-group experience that would focus on new and exciting repertoire and be a change from our traditional oratorio experience with the large local university chorus. Several of our original members have returned since their children have grown older, and we have many alumni who still attend our concerts.''

Scott holds a bachelor's degree in vocal education and piano from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., and a master's in conducting from the Julliard School, New York, where she has been a member of the faculty for more than 30 years.

One of the missions of the chorale is to educate young musicians with frequent workshops. Many students now perform with Cantabile.

"We know as our youth singers grow up, they will continue to sing and bring their own children to choral singing,'' Scott said.

Cantabile also nurtures composers with a commissioning program. Scott said the community chorale is one of the most supportive of emerging composers.

Ewazen, a Julliard colleague, agreed with her.

"Cantabile's commissions provide an opportunity to work with a top-notch ensemble and have been very helpful in the publishing of my choral compositions,'' Ewazen said. "And then there is the excitement of a premiere and engaging with a group of friends with whom I've had a long association. We're familiar with each other's style, resulting from Cantabile's performances of my songs at Merkin Hall and The Juilliard School in New York City and in England too.''

Ewazen (www.ericewazen.com) is among the more established composers with whom the chorale works. He holds a master's degree and doctorate from Julliard and has released several CDs of his compositions, which have won many awards.

"God's World'' was inspired by the poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay, he said.

"One of my favorite lines in the poem, "Lord, I do fear Thou'st made the world too beautiful this year,' reminds me that something can be so very beautiful that it is more than the heart can bear,'' Ewazen said. "Cantabile's lyricism and beautiful blend coupled with Rebecca Scott's inspired directing will bring emotion and feeling to the music.''

In addition to England, Cantabile has performed as far away as France, Italy and Sweden and as close to home as Central Jersey public schools, nursing homes, churches and synagogues.

The chorale's community service was awarded with a grant from the New Jersey Cultural Trust and an Excellence in Achievement Award from the Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission, while its adventuresome programming received
an ASCAP-Chorus America Award.

"It is the love of singing, the collective spirit and the sheer joy of building a supportive and compassionate community that keeps us together,'' Scott said. "We reach out to others through our performances here and abroad, and we will continue to help shape the emotional, spiritual and intellectual expression of humanity.''

More important than its success is that the members of Cantabile are like family, Scott said. With many, that is literally the case, she said.

"Since we've been together, there have been six marriages among our members and several married couples joining together because singing promotes love and well-being,'' Scott said. "We've become a family of voices.''

The Cantabile "family'' includes pianist Lloyd Arriola, who holds a doctorate from Julliard and also is musical director of the touring Knickerbocker Opera Ensemble.

The 20th anniversary program also will include:
-- Beethoven's "The Choral Fantasy''
-- Bach's "Ein Feste Burg Chorale''
-- Mozart's "Venite Populi'' and "Ave Verum''
-- Aaron Copland's "The Promise of Living''
-- Leonard Bernstein "Make Our Garden Grow''
-- Verdi's "Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves''
-- William Whitehead's "Mizpah.''

Entitled "Pathway: II,'' the program was preceded by "Pathway I: Reminiscenes'' on Dec. 2 at Christ United.