Troy Chorale to sing in the spring

The Troy University Concert Chorale brings its singing talents to Troy in late April.

The Concert Chorale, a chamber choir of roughly 30 students that is directed by Diane Orlofsky, will be presenting its spring performance on April 21 at 7 p.m.

The group will be performing in collaboration with the Troy University Irish and Guitar ensembles, as well as theater professor Quinton Cockrell.

Chorale rehearses during class three times a week. The group has been rehearsing some songs that are in foreign languages, such as Italian and Gaelic.

“About a third of the students are nonmajors in the Chorale,”said Orlofsky, director of choirs. “It’s a matter of presenting it so that everyone is comfortable. I really try for an environment where everybody’s talent is respected.”

Robert Gibson, who leads the guitar ensemble, and Brett Woods, who leads the Irish ensemble, will also be active in the performance of the concert. Becky Bush will be accompanying the choir on piano.

Quinton Cockrell will be participating by reading poems from the different cultures and eras that the songs will be representing. “It helps tie it all together,” Orlofsky said.

“I use student undergraduate and graduate conductors, which is really rare,” Orlofsky said. Two undergraduate music majors will conducting in the Chorale concert.

“They take a piece from the page to the stage,”  Orlofsky said.

“I use a lot of students in front of their peers because I feel like that helps to teach them many different things,” Orlofsky said.

Concert Chorale and Troy’s Vocal Jazz group, frequency, were invited to the State Music Education Conference in Montgomery. “It’s very rare that two groups from one school both get invited to the main stage. We were honored,” Orlofsky said.

“The choir needs an opportunity to communicate to the larger community,” Orlofsky said. “To bring the whole process full circle, the performance is important.”

The choir performs many times a year and will be working with guest choirs this semester. “I think in an ensemble it’s not about being the best. It’s not about the one voice. It’s about the community,” Orlofsky said.

Orlofsky begins looking for material for the choirs a year in advance and has already begun looking for next year’s pieces. “If it doesn’t speak to me, we don’t do it,” she said. “If I’m gonna spend half of the year teaching it to the kids, I’ve gotta love it.”

The concert, “Folk Songs and Madrigals,” will be held in the choir room of Long Hall. Admission is free to everyone.