Chiaroscuro to present spring choral concert Sunday, May 19

ADRIAN — Men’s chorus Chiaroscuro will present its annual spring concert at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 19.

The concert will be at Holy Rosary Chapel on the Adrian Dominican Sisters campus, 1257 E. Siena Heights Drive. Doors will open at 7 p.m., according to a news release.

A freewill donation will be accepted at the concert, and a reception will immediately follow.

Some of the titles featured in the concert include “Let All Men Sing” by Keith Christopher, “Duh Tvoy blagiy (Let Thy Holy Spirit)" Opus 25, No. 10 by Pavel Chesnokov; “Beati Mortui” by Felix Mendelssohn; “Sing Me to Heaven” by Daniel Gawthrop; “Grace in the Sun” arranged by Ethan Sperry; “If Music be the Food of Love” by David Dickau; “Amor de mi Alma (You Are the Love of my Soul)” by Z. Randall Stroope; “A-Roving,” an American sea shanty arranged by Norman Luboff; “Shenandoah,” arranged by Marshall Bartholomew; “Bring Him Home from 'Les Misérables,'” by Claude-Michael Schonberg, arranged by John Leavitt; and “Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight” by James Hudson and Calvin Carter, arranged by Roger Emerson.

Men in the audience will be asked to join the men of Chiaroscuro to sing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” by William Steffe, arranged by Peter J. Wilhousky.

Chiaroscuro, a nonprofit community ensemble, is under the direction of artistic director and founder Susan Matych-Hager, professor emerita of music from Siena Heights University and the 2010 winner of the Maynard Klein Award for artistic excellence and a lifetime of leadership in the field of choral music, presented by the American Choral Directors Association of Michigan.

The chorus was founded in February 2013 and spent most of its concert season in 2023 celebrating one decade of being a part of the Adrian and Lenawee County community.

The name of the choir is Italian for light/dark and is a term used in vocal music to describe a technique that results in a warm, resonant sound with great brilliance and carrying power.

The goal of the ensemble is to sing meaningful choral music with “beautiful tone that engages the minds and touches the hearts of the listeners,” Matych-Hager said.

The men in the ensemble include both amateur and professional musicians who come from a diversity of professions and represent a wide range of ages. A few men in Chiaroscuro hold degrees in music, while many have sung in school, church or community choruses at some point in their lives. Some have joined with no prior musical experience.

“All have a deep love of singing,” the release said. “Men who sing in the group must be able to match pitches (carry a tune) and be willing to work to learn their vocal parts outside of rehearsals.”

Sunday’s concert will be the chorus’ first program since holding two performances — one in Adrian and one in Ann Arbor — in March.

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“Following their successful performance with two adult men’s community choruses in March in Ann Arbor, the men of Chiaroscuro continue to sing even better at every rehearsal,” Matych-Hager said. “I think audience members of this upcoming concert will be thrilled with our sound and our passion for the music.”

The singers rehearse once a week from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays at the First United Methodist Church of Adrian on West Maple Avenue. New members are welcome to join the ensemble during audition periods in January, June and September.

Information about the chorus’ performance schedule and membership auditions is available at ChiaroscuroMensChorus.org or on the Chiaroscuro Ensemble Facebook page .

— Contact reporter Brad Heineman at bheineman@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: twitter.com/LenaweeHeineman .

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Chiaroscuro to present spring choral concert Sunday, May 19