Tribute to One of Alabama’s Own Cissy Johnson
Did you know that a group from Alabama appreciates the distinction of having one of the longest running annual performances of Handel’s Messiah in the United States? The 60th annual performance of this masterpiece will be presented with a chorus of 100 from around our state, and will be accompanied by organist Walt Rogers and orches- tra from The Alabama Symphony. Two of the soloists included are Roderick George and Chris O’Rear.
In 1948, the Alabama Civic Chorale, formerly known as Bessemer Civic Chorale, was born.
This
was during the time that many civic choruses and groups, such as Fred
Waring and the Pennsylvanians, were springing up around our country.
In Bessemer, there was a young people’s
choir at South Highland Baptist Church. They were under the direction of Earl N. Clark. This choir combined with the choir from nearby McAdory High School, which was under the direction of Mr. Clark’s wife, Frances.
Their
purpose was to learn challenging music and to perform it to the best of their ability.
That summer they raised money by performing South Pacific. The money they raised took them to Ridgecrest Baptist Assembly for music week. At that time there was not a young people’s choir, and that was probably a bless- ing. Perhaps the music wouldn’t have been as challeng- ing. While there they were fortunate to sing under Warren Angel, who went on to become the Dean of Fine Arts at Oklahoma Baptist University. sang Handel’s Messiah.
The choir practiced and
When this group came home they had unbelievable dreams. They too wanted to perform Handel’s masterpiece for the local church.
Three and four nights a
week they would all pile into cars and move from house to house of members of the group and practice. If the home didn’t have a piano, that was no problem. One of the group members would carry an old pump organ. The odds were against them, but they didn’t know it.
When Christmas came in 1948, the group did perform the Christmas portion of Messiah, by G.F. Handel. This won- derful performance was followed by a desire to continue
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to meet as a group and continue to grow. The vision for the group allowed other church choirs to join. Soon the group was performing not only the Christmas portion of Messiah, but all of the work. The accompaniment grew from the organ in the church to the Cadek String Quartet at the University of Alabama and later the Alabama Symphony. The group has also performed others major works such as Brahm’s Requiem, Bach’s St.MatthewPassion and Mendelssohn’s Elijah, as well as operettas by Gilbert and Sullivan and other lighter works.
The Chorale has performed around our state and for national conventions. The 100 voice chorus has members from over fifty churches and choirs around the state. Audiences include visitors from many southeastern states. They have come at times from New York, Missouri, Portugal, Bolivia, Africa, Russia and Netherlands.
The
Many Chorale members have started their musical careers with the Chorale. These members have gone on to careers as church choir directors, accompanists, professors of music and soloists in the communities in which they reside. The Chorale continues today as an organization dedicated to bringing cultural arts to the area and enrich- ing the lives of those who sing and those that hear the group perform.
The mission of the group has always been to enrich the lives of others through the presentation of choral music of the masters, and to allow all of those with a desire to participate in such a venture to join. Begin your holiday season with others from around our state, and across our bor- ders as we listen to the wonderful choruses and solos that weave this story of prophecy, birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus by this masterful composer.
Civic Chorale is open for new membership.
The Alabama The first
rehearsal for 2007 is September 30. All rehearsals begin at 1:30 p.m. at Riverchase United Methodist Church. Please contact director Bebe Clark Kok for more informa- tion:
bebekok@charter.net or 205-914-3524 or visit the website at
www.alabamacivicchorale.com.
October 2007
News Features
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