LOOKING BACK ~ FALL 2022



Saturday, October 22 at 8:00 pm
Sunday, October 23 at 2:00 pm

Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
at Bard College
Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theatre
                           

Saturday, November 19 at 2:00 PM

Love is love is love is love
Christ Church 20 Carroll Street, Poughkeepsie at 2:00 PM

Chamber Choir, Treble Choir, Cor Capriccio Children's Choir
Chamber Choir will present Magnificat in C, Johann Pachelbel and other pieces
James Fitzwilliam, organ & piano

Sunday, December 4

Lessons & Carols
The Vassar College Chapel at 7:00 PM
Cappella Festiva Chamber Choir, Treble Choir and Cor Capriccio Children's Choir

This annual Advent service includes readings, choral anthems, and congregational carols that culminates in a stunning candle lighting ceremony. Featuring the Vassar College Choir, Chamber Singers, and Women’s Chorus; and Cappella Festiva Chamber, Treble and Cor Capriccio Children's Choirs

Saturday, December 17 at 2:00 PM

Messiah*
Bardavon 1869 Opera House, Poughkeeosie

Hudson Valley Philharmonic & Cappella Festiva Chamber Choir

*This is a concert performance, not a sing-in.

Sunday, October 17, 2021 ~ 3:00 PM  - Vassar College Chapel 

Homecoming: A return to singing
Cappella Festiva Chamber Choir 

music by
Melissa Dunphy  ~  Elaine Hagenburg  ~  Jacob Narverud  ~  Rosephane Powell
Undine Smith Moore  ~  Christopher Tin  ~  Gwyneth Walker  ~  Eric Whitacre

Sunday, November 14, 2021 ~ 5:30 PM - St. John’s Lutheran Church, Poughkeepsie

Fall Concert: One in Music
Cappella Festiva Treble Choir & Cor Capriccio Children's Choir



This project was made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by Arts Mid-Hudson.

Sunday, December 5, 2021 ~ 7:00 PM - Vassar College Chapel 

Lessons and Carols

This annual Advent service includes readings, choral anthems, and congregational carols that culminates in a stunning candle lighting ceremony. Featuring the Vassar College Choir, Chamber Singers, and Women’s Chorus; and Cappella Festiva Chamber Choir.

Saturday, December 18, 2021 ~ 2:00 PM - Bardavon 1869 Opera House

MESSIAH*

Hudson Valley Philharmonic & Cappella Festiva Chamber Choir

Saturday, March 5, 2022 ~ 8:00pm - Bardavon 1869 Opera House

Underground Figures
A program celebrating women, featuring all-female composers, soloists, visual artists and conductor and culminating in the HVP premiere of Florence Price’s Symphony #1. 
Guest Conductor,  Dr. Anne Lundy

featuring
Flowers (from Anthracite Fields by Julia Wolfe)
Flowers with Cappella Festiva and projections of paintings and photographs by Georgia O’Keefe, Imogen Cunningham, Margaret Bourke-White and others

Hudson Valley Philharmonic and Cappella Festiva Chamber Choir

Sunday, March 27, 2022 ~  5:00pm - Christ Church Poughkeepsie

We Shall Walk Through the Valley ~ A Choral Evensong
Cappella Festiva Chamber Choir
Honoring the life and work of A.J Williams-Myers
Cappella Festiva will sing works by
William L. Dawson, Marques L. Garrett, Bobby McFerrin, Undine Smith Moore, Rosephanye Powell, Trevor Weston

Suggested donation of $15 to be donated to the A.J. Williams-Myers African Roots Center

Sunday, May 15, 2022 ~ 3:00 PM - Vassar College Chapel

Duruflé Requiem 
Cappella Festiva Chamber Choir and Treble Choir with chamber orchestra

 

HANDEL’S MESSIAH: A VIRTUAL EVENT

This was a sing along at home to excerpts from the 2019 performance of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and Cappella Festiva, with lyrics on the screen and commentary by Guest Conductor Christine Howlett.

VIRTUAL MESSIAH 2020
Recorded at the December 18, 2020 performance at the Bardavon Opera House

Hudson Valley Philharmonic with Cappella Festiva Chamber Choir
Katherine Whyte, soprano, Christina English, mezzo-soprano,
Dann Coakwell, tenor, Tyler Duncan, baritone
Christine Howlett, guest conductor

OVERTURE
TENOR Recit: Comfort ye my people
TENOR Aria: Every Valley shall be exalted
CHORUS: And the Glory of the Lord
BASS Recit: Thus saith the Lord
BASS Aria: But who may abide the day of his coming
CHORUS: And he shall purify
ALTO Recit: Behold a virgin shall conceive
ALTO Aria and CHORUS:  O Thou that tellest good tidings to Zion
CHORUS: For unto us a Child is born
PIFA
SOPRANO Recit: There were shepherds abiding in the field; And lo, the angel of the Lord; And the angel said unto them; And suddenly there was with the angel
CHORUS: Glory to God
SOPRANO Aria: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion
ALTO Recit: Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened
DUET:  He shall feed his flock
CHORUS:His Yoke is easy, and his burthen is light
CHORUS: Hallelujah 

Using the 1912 G. Schirmer edition of Messiah
The score will be visible on the screen or you can link to
THE ENTIRE SCORE HERE

Made possible through the generous support of Rhinebeck Bank, the Dr. Edwin Ulrich Charitable Trust, the Bruderhof and WMHT FM 89.1 Schenectady and WRHV.

We hope this Cappella Festiva newsletter finds you all well. While we wait until we can be together in person again, please join us as we look back on the year and look forward to what is to come.
We miss you!  

Let's start with the fall of 2019.




We are rehearsing here (photo above) in preparation for a collaborative concert performance that took place on Sunday, October 27th.
Collaborating choirs:
Cappella Festiva Treble Choir, conductor Matthew Zydel 
Cor Capriccio Children’s Choir, conductor Elizabeth Clifton 
Children’s Chorus of Maryland, conductor Susan Bialek

They performed pieces by Bob Chilcott, Andrea Ramsey and Jim Papoulis in the beautiful Skinner Hall of Music at Vassar College.



Cappella Chamber Choir rehearses on a beautiful Saturday morning back in October, while preparing for an upcoming concert: Dreams of a Glorious Day. Take a listen to their gorgeous voices sing Let the River Run, lyrics and music by Carly Simon.







Our glorious annual Lessons and Carols in the Vassar College Chapel. All three of our choirs performed.





Our Treble Choir performed at Lessons & Carols on Sunday evening, December 8, 2019 to a packed chapel.





Back in December of 2019 ~ Annual joint rehearsal of Cappella Festiva and the Bruderhof Community, Maple Ridge, for Handel's Messiah. About 200 voices, expertly conducted by Dr. Christine Howlett. Always an enjoyable, uplifting experience, and the Bruderhof's cookies are outstanding!




"First rehearsal for Saturday's sold out performance of Handel's Messiah with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. They, uh, don't make mistakes."
 ~ Wayne Delia




The Bardavon Marquee ~ December 2019
Our community has come to love and rely on this perennial favorite,
Handel's Messiah




Our last live performance 
(photo below)
Cappella Festiva Treble Choir and Cor Capriccio performed at Modfest
Saturday, February 8th at 3:00pm
Skinner Hall of Music
Vassar College










Then Covid19 happened.




Jake Runestad, American composer, was our guest at Cappella's zoom gathering in April. This was especially meaningful since we sang one of his pieces "Come to the Woods" at our fall concert. 60+ singers had the opportunity to ask him questions.

Referring to "Come to the Woods," he answered, "How do I embody the soundscape of that world? I definitely have a picture in my head. I picture John Muir skipping down a trail...." Jake gave us a glimpse of how and why he writes. It was an honor to host Jake Runestad and we hope to sing more of his music in the future.

CFTC Senior Send Off 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAt5OWpSzm4&t=49s

After online rehearsals this spring, our CFTC season ended in June with a "Senior Send Off' celebration as we honored our 5 high school seniors who graduated. Click link above to view our send off.

OR CLICK HERE!










Cappella Festiva Chamber Choir enjoyed their last virtual rehearsal in July.  (photos above)