Vocal Ensembles

Click for Choral Ensembles Audition Information, Fall 2009
Click for Vocal Jazz Audition Information, Fall 2009

Ensembles are open to all UMass Amherst students, subject to auditions held at the beginning of each semester. All ensembles appear in concert on campus several times a year. Ensembles have also been selected to represent UMass Amherst at conventions and festivals that have included Symphony Hall in Springfield, MA; the Washington, D.C. home of the Marine Band; and the Capitol Building in Boston.

CHAMBER CHOIR
Tony Thornton, director
Chamber Choir performs a core repertoire chosen from the greatest classical American and European choral traditions as well as from other parts of the world. Recent performances include the Bach St. John Passion, the Brahms Requiem, Handel's Messiah and Missa Gaia by the Paul Winter Consort.

UNIVERSITY CHORALE
Tony Thornton, director
Repertoire chosen to provide a wide range of choral experience representing many traditions. Recent performances include Bach's Magnificat, Mendelssohn's Lauda Sion, Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb, Randall Thompson's Alleluia plus African-American spirituals, Latin-American songs, Lullabies and Spring Night's Moon: settings of 4 Japanese tanka. The University Community is particularly encouraged to audition.

WOMEN'S CHOIR
Tony Thornton, director
Vocal group specializing in classical and world music for treble voices.

VOCAL JAZZ ENSEMBLE
Catherine Jensen-Hole, director
The primary ensemble for vocal jazz studies at UMass Amherst, it has been named "Best Collegiate Jazz Choir" by DownBeat magazine. Consisting of 8-12 singers and a rhythm section that is often augmented by horns, the ensemble performs both standard and contemporary jazz repertoire arranged by faculty, students and nationally recognized vocal jazz arrangers.

OPERA WORKSHOP
Lanfranco Marcelletti, Jr., music director
William Hite, Amy Johnson & Marjorie Melnick, coordinators
A Performance Workshop for singers; each semester an opera or selections from operas are staged and performed. Occasional collaborations with the Theater Department. Admission and casting is by audition.