2018

Winter Voices

December 15, 2018, 5pm - Kath. Kirche St. Valentin, Kirchenstraße 5, 66851 Bann

In its “Winter Voices” concert, the choir performed festive, merry and peaceful songs from Africa, Spain, Russia, France, the USA and Germany, as well as pieces by Mendelssohn, Lauridsen, Händel, Rachmaninov and others.

The following songs were part of our concert program:

Noel - Todd Smith, Arr. Brad Holmes
Richte mich, Gott - Felix Mendelssohn
Bogoroditse Dyevo - Sergei Rachmaninov
There Is No Rose - Gary Garcia
O Magnum Mysterium - Morten Lauridsen
Es wird ein Stern aus Jakob aufgehn’ - Felix Mendelssohn
Hallelujah, Amen - Georg Friedrich Händel
Siyahamba - Arr. Doreen Rao
Still, still, still - Arr. Norman Luboff
Il est ne le divin enfant - Arr. John Rutter
Ya Viene La Vieja - Arr. Audrey Snyder
White Christmas - Irving Berlin, Arr. Mac Huff
Throw The Yule Log On, Uncle John - P.D.Q. Bach
Stille Nacht - Franz Gruber

At the dress rehearsal (Foto: Karin Hoffmann)

USAFE Band Christmas Concert

December 14, 2018, 8pm - Fruchthalle, Fruchthallstraße 10, 67655 Kaiserslautern

At the annual Christmas Concert of the USAFE Band, the choir participated in several pieces of the program: Fanfare “Joy to the World "(Arr.: Randol A. Bass, Shane Stanke), The Star (Mariah Carey, Marc Shaiman, Arr.: Shane Stanke), and Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee (Ludwig van Beethoven, Arr.: Shane Stanke), as well as a medley of German Christmas Carols.

A Celebration of Peace - In Commemoration of the End of WW1

July 4, 2018 - Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire, England

RPIC singers participated in the Great Britain Choral Festival 2018, which commemorated the end of World War 1 100 years earlier. The 300 voices of the festival choir came from across the United States and Europe and performed together with the East Anglia Chamber Orchestra. Conductors Stephen Cleobury (UK) and Craig Jessop (USA) led the performances of works by Ralph Vaughan Williams - Dona Nobis Pacem, Old Hundreth Psalm, Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, Sancta Civitas and Five Variants on Dives and Lazarus. Let Peace then Still the Strife by Mack Wilberg was performed as well.

A Celebration of Peace

June 9, 2018, 7:30pm - Martinskirche, Klosterstraße 1, Kaiserslautern

June 10, 2018, 5pm - Ludwigskirche, Am Ludwigsplatz, 66111 Saarbrücken

Participants

United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) Band

Rheinland-Pfalz International Choir

Soloists: Jasmine Connolly (Soprano) and Denver Murphy (Baritone)

Piano and Organ: Lothar Bendel

Directors: Dr. Craig Jessop, Dr. Justin W. Lewis

Together with the U.S. Air Forces in Europe Band, the Rheinland-Pfalz International Choir commemorated the centennial of the end of World War 1 with concerts in Kaiserslautern and Saarbrücken. The center piece of the concert program was Ralph Vaughan Williams’ cantata Dona nobis pacem. Vaughan Williams produced his plea for peace in 1936 by referring to recent wars during the growing fears of a new one. His texts were taken from the Mass, three poems by Walt Whitman, a political speech, and sections of the Bible. In addition, the program included pieces by Max Reger, Claude Debussy and Gustav Mahler, among others.

The performances of the Dona nobis pacem were directed by Dr. Craig Jessop. Dr. Craig Jessop returned to Rheinland-Pfalz in June 2018 - 30 years after he first became the conductor of the U.S. Air Forces in Europe Band and the Rheinland-Pfalz International Choir. It was a pleasure and honor for the choir to perform this work under his direction.

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