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1, No. 1 - November 28, 2001 An American Vocal Celebration Planned The Skidmore Community Chorus and Vocal Chamber Ensemble, under the direction of Janet McGhee, will present "An American Celebration," a program of music by Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Daniel Pinkham, Alice Parker, plus shape note music and African American spirituals, at 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, in Filene Recital Hall. Admission is open to the campus community at no charge. The same program will be repeated for the general public at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9, at the Saratoga United Methodist Church on Henning Road. Admission will be $7 for the general public, and $5 for students and senior citizens. The Community Chorus is a 70-voice un-auditioned ensemble of students, faculty and community members, of mixed abilities and majors, while the College Vocal Chamber Ensemble is a 15-voice auditioned choir, selected from the Community Chorus, which performs a wide and varied repertory of choral music, both accompanied and a cappella. In addition to concerts on campus, the Vocal Chamber Ensemble tours other college campuses, concertizes in the greater Capital District, and collaborates with other choirs to present major choral works and festivals. Janet McGhee, lecturer in music and director of Skidmore's choral program, came to this area from Boston, where she held leadership positions in choral music at the New England Conservatory of Music, Clark University and Simmons College, and the Berklee College of Music. She also directed a Boston-based community chorus that made four concert tours to the former Soviet Union and has subsequently appeared in Russia as a solo vocal recitalist. McGhee has prepared choirs for Seiji Ozawa, Gunther Schuller, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Vladimir Vais (Bolshoi Theatre conductor). Her choirs have performed at Carnegie Hall and Symphony Hall in Boston, as well as numerous concert halls throughout the former Soviet Union. An adjunct professor of music at Bennington College, McGhee also is founding artistic director of the Battenkill Chorale, Washington County's premiere choral ensemble, and chair of the board at Southshire Community School in North Bennington, Vt. McGhee is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, where she earned a bachelor of music degree in piano and a master of music degree in choral conducting, both with honors. Skidmore Intercom Skidmore College 815 North Broadway Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 518.580.5000 intercom@skidmore.edu |