Enjoy a ‘Peace’-ful afternoon of choral music with RiverChor on Sunday, November 16, 2:00pm at Zion Lutheran Church, 439 3rd Ave S, in Clinton. Admission is free, donations are welcome and appreciated.
After a hearty “Welcome Here”, the choir will weave through a number of musical styles by Monhardt, Handel, Undine Smith Moore, Lauridsen, concluding the first half with “The Last Words of David” by Randall Thompson.
The second half of the concert will feature Zion’s organ and several instrumentalists. Pieces are the Telemann “Laudate Jehovam, omnes gentes”, the contemporary “Cantata of Peace” by Daniel Moe (written while he was Director of Choral Music at University of Iowa), and concluding with John Rutter’s “A Gaelic Blessing”.
RiverChor Community Choir is made up of singers from Clinton, Morrison, Low Moor, Albany, Goose Lake, Tampico, and Davenport. The director is Karl Wolf, the pianist/organist is Christine Holmer.
Full Program:
Welcome Here – Shaker Tune arr. Robert DeCormier Let The People Praise Thee – Maurice Monhardt Hallelujah, Amen – G. F. Handel We Shall Walk Through The Valley – Undine Smith Moore Sure On This Shining Night – Morten Lauridsen The Last Words of David – Randall Thompson ~Intermission~ Laudate Jehovam, omnes gentes – Georg Philipp Telemann Cantata of Peace – Daniel Moe A Gaelic Blessing – John Rutter
If you’d like to sing with us this fall, drop us a line via the Contact Us form and we’ll be in touch with you! Rehearsals for the fall concert will start on September 8. Do check out our Membership page for more details.
Only interested in Messiah? Messiah is always free for singers and audience, we expect rehearsals to start after our November concert.
– The Symphony and RiverChor join forces for a performance of Mozart’s final work, his Requiem. Begun in late 1791, it was unfinished at Mozart’s death in December of that year, and a student, Franz Xaver Süssmayr, completed the work from Mozart’s notes.
The orchestra will also perform a Mozart Divertimento in F major, composed in 1772 for string orchestra.
Tickets are available for will call online, or at the door. Adults are $20, Students are free. One adult with a student may enjoy 50% off their ticket price, ask at the ticket table for this special offer. https://ClintonSymphony.org
Program notes:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1756-1791 Requiem
Mysterious circumstances surrounding Mozart’s Requiem have infused the work with an aura of intrigue and romance (especially as provided by Hollywood), almost as compelling as the music itself. In the summer of 1791 Mozart was sent an anonymous request for a Requiem to honor Count Von Stuppach’s late wife. The count, an amateur musician himself, was known to commission works from well-known composers and then claim them as his own. Chronically short on cash, Mozart accepted the dubious commission and immediately put it aside to work on Die Zauberflote and La Clemenza di Tito, while also overseeing a production of Don Giovanni.
By the fall of 1791, Mozart returned to his Requiem in failing health, leaving the work unfinished 2 months later when he died, probably of rheumatic fever. The sudden, severe illness may, indeed, have led Mozart to believe he was writing his own requiem. Although legend makes for great theater, there’s no truth in the cinematic poisoning of Mozart by his jealous rival Antonio Salieri. Facing crushing debt, Mozart’s wife, Constanze, asked one of his students, Franz Xavier Sussmayr to complete the work. Debates continue today over Sussmayr’s claims of authorship of the later movements. Allegedly, Constanze handed over a sheaf of papers to Sussmayr containing further sketches by Mozart himself, yet without proof, many continue to argue over who wrote what. Beethoven himself asserted “If Mozart did not write this music, then the man who wrote it was a Mozart”. More recent composers and scholars have attempted to complete Mozart’s score, including musicologist Robert Levin who presented his ‘completed’ version in 1991.
Whatever the version, Mozart’s Requiem reflects a composer whose heart was in opera. It fits very well in a liturgical context, but the music’s dramatic and expressive range takes it well beyond a ritual function. The result is intensely personal, and, in sections such as the Dies irae, both terrifying and furious. Despite its drama and urgency, the profound beauty of the music overcomes any sense of desolation. Using a smaller orchestra also reflects Mozart’s less apocalyptic attitude toward death. In a letter to his father, Mozart speaks of death as “the true goal of our existence…something very soothing and consoling”. Containing many stylistic elements that Mozart likely would have developed further had he not died weeks before his 36th birthday, his Requiem leaves tantalizing glimpses of where his genius would have led, a beginning rather than an ending.
RiverChor sings at a recent concert. Photo-Rachel Logan
From Requiem to Yee-Haw! Enjoy an afternoon of choral music with RiverChor Community Choir on Sunday, March 16th, 2pm at Zion Lutheran Church, 439 3rd Ave S, in Clinton, Iowa as they present their spring 2025 concert, “Mozart and Americana”. Admission is free, donations are welcome and appreciated.
RiverChor’s main focus this spring is Mozart’s Requiem. Mozart was quite ill in July 1791 when he received an anonymous commission for a Requiem. He threw himself into the work, completing the Requiem and Kyrie movements, and sketching out the vocal and bass parts for the rest when he passed that December at the age of 35. Completed by Joseph Eybler and Mozart’s pupil Süssmayer, Beethoven’s final word on the matter was: ‘If Mozart did not write the music, then the man who wrote it was a Mozart.’ For this March concert, the choir will perform a sampler of 4 of the 12 movements: “Requiem and Kyrie”, “Dies Irae”, “Recordare”, and “Lacrymosa”. Deanna Petersen, Kristen Jones, Brooke Logan, Noah Strausser, and Jim Schnitzmeyer are soloists. RiverChor will perform the entire work with the Clinton Symphony Orchestra on April 26 at Zion Lutheran Church, Clinton.
“Cry Out and Shout” by Knut Nystedt will open the second half, this contemporary anthem by the Norwegian composer is the most well known of his pieces. The choir will then take a mini tour of American composers and arrangers.
“Down to the River to Pray” was arranged by Mack Wilburg, Utah native and long time director of the Tabernacle Choir. The song has been described as a Christian folk hymn, an African -American spiritual, an Appalachian song, and a Southern gospel song. Maureen Pollpeter will join pianist Christine Holmer for this 4 handed arrangement.
Edwin Earle Ferguson, a native of North Dakota, gives us a glimpse into the worship style of the Shakers, a sect founded in England in 1747, then established in the American Colonies in 1780, with his setting of “Ye Followers of the Lamb”. The Shaker worship practice incorporated both singing and dance which would escalate to such a frenzy that participants would shout and convulse.
“Prayer” is Lloyd Pfautsch’s setting of a text written by Dag Hammarskjold who served as the second Secretary-General of the United Nations. The piece explores Hammarskjold’s spiritual struggle and subsequent formation of his personal faith. Pfautsch served on the faculty at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX from 1958 until his retirement in 1992.
“Children Will Listen” from the Broadway musical “Into the Woods” by Stephen Sondheim, has wise, poignant lyrics in this cautionary tale. The piece was arranged by Mark Brymer, native of Dallas, TX, who has collaborated with Disney, Six Flags, and Carnival Cruise as the head of WOW! Entertainment, Inc.
Rounding up the tour, the choir will be joined by violinist Kristen Jones and Bassist Bradley Shumake on “Old West Medley”, arranged by Mark Hayes of Kansas City, MO. Enjoy excerpts of “Old Chisholm Trail”, “Red River Valley”, “Home on the Range”, and. “The Yellow Rose of Texas”.
RiverChor Community Choir is celebrating 20 years of choral music. The group is directed by Karl Wolf, former director of choirs at Clinton High School. Christine Holmer, organist for Zion Lutheran Church and former director of music at Immanuel Lutheran Church, serves as pianist. For further information about the group, please visit their website: https://RiverChor.org
Since 1931, singers in the Clinton area have been gathering annually to sing Handel’s “Messiah”. We invite you to be a part of this tradition on Sunday, December 8 at 2pm, at St. John Lutheran Church, 416 Main Ave in Clinton. The Messiah Sing Along is a fun, informal, and free event. Singers will sight read through a number of favorite choruses, ending with the “Hallelujah Chorus”. No experience is necessary, and music will be provided. If listening is more your speed, audience members are more than welcome.
RiverChor Community Choir is pleased to present their 20th Anniversary concert on Sunday, November 17 at 2:00pm at Zion Lutheran Church, 439 3rd Ave S in Clinton. Admission to the concert is free, offerings are welcome and appreciated.
The choir was founded in 2004 by a group of dedicated “Messiah” singers to fill an empty spot on the Zion Concert Series. The current 50 member group is proud to celebrate twenty years of presenting quality choral music to the Gateway area.
As in that first concert, the traditional hymn “Come Ye That Love the Lord”, arranged by Parker/Shaw, will welcome the audience as the choir ‘joins in a song of sweet accord’, and asks that ‘the sorrows of the mind be banished from this place’. Dutch organist and composer Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck’s “Cantate Domino” is a late Renaissance piece that weaves five lines together into a lilting fugue set to Psalm 96.
The Ola Gjello arrangement of “Ubi Caritas” has been a favorite across the years; Christine Holmer will be featured on this piece in a new adaptation of Gjello’s piano improvisation. The choir will round out the first half of the concert with two new pieces. “O Love” by Elaine Hagenberg is set to a poem by George Matheson in 1882. The hopeful, yet at times dissonant, musical lines explore the beauty and heartache of a lost love, enhanced by cellist Mia Wright. Karl Wolf will be featured in “Ain’t Got Time to Die”, a rousing syncopated spiritual by Hall Johnson.
Founding director Dr. Robert Engelson will return to direct the second half, as the choir is joined by alumni. “Song of Triumph” by Dale Grotenhuis is another favorite opener, with a crisp multimeter fanfare, rich chant, and soaring alleluias. Charles Villar Stanford’s “Beati Quorum Via” breaks into gorgeous six part harmonies. RiverChor’s ladies are honored to present Dr. Thea Engelson’s adaptation of “Er, der Herrlichste von Allen” by Robert Schumann. The men will follow up with a toe-tapping rendition of Pepper Choplin’s “Lay Up Your Treasures in Heaven” featuring bass James Schnitzmeyer.
“The Awakening” by Joseph M. Martin recounts a dream of a silent and melancholy world without music, yet it cannot be contained as the choir calls all to “Awake! Let music live!”.
“The Road Home” by Stephen Paulus is a fitting conclusion binding all who have been touched by the choir over the past twenty years. Invoking the wistfulness of a prodigal traveler, the closing line calls to us: ‘There is no such beauty as where you belong, rise up, follow me, I will lead you home’.
RiverChor was established in February 2004 and draws its singers from many communities in eastern Iowa and western Illinois. The group is under the direction of Karl Wolf, Christine Holmer serves as pianist. Concerts are presented every spring and fall. RiverChor has been the core group for the annual Messiah concerts and has been featured in concerts with the Clinton and Muscatine Symphony Orchestras. For more information you are invited to visit https://RiverChor.org
RiverChor turns 20, and we invite you to celebrate with us! Alumni are returning, including our founder Dr. Rob Engelson, who will direct the second half of the concert. We’ll present a number our favorite pieces, and introduce some new favs.
Program Come Ye That Love the Lord – arr. Robert Shaw (1916-1999) / Alice Parker (1925-2023) Cantate Domino – Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621) Ubi Caritas – Ola Gjeilo O Love – Elaine Hagenberg (1979) Ain’t Got Time To Die – Hall Johnson (1888-1970) ~Intermission~ Song of Triumph – Dale Grotenhuis (1931-2012) Beati Qorum Via – Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) Er der Herlichste von allen – Robert Schumann, arr. Dr. Thea Sikora Engelson (SSA) Lay Up Your Treasures in Heaven – Pepper Choplin (1957) (TTBB) The Awakening – Gilbert M. Martin (1941) The Road Home – Stephen Paulus (1949-2014)
The concert is free, offerings are welcome and much appreciated. There will be a reception to follow the concert, please join us in celebrating this milestone of sharing choral music with the Gateway area.
RiverChor 20th Anniversary Concert Sunday, November 17, 2:00pm Zion Lutheran Church 439 3rd Ave S, Clinton, IA Free Admission, Offerings Welcome Reception to follow the concert
Alumni, if you’d like to sing on part of all of the 2nd half, CLICK HERE for information and signups.
RIverChor Community Choir will begin rehearsals for our 20th Anniversary Season on Monday, September 9, from 7:00-9:00 pm in the Great Hall of First Presbyterian Church, 400 5th Ave S, in Clinton. Area adult and high school singers are invited to join the group in preparation for the fall concert, which will be on Sunday, November 17, 2:00pm at Zion Lutheran Church, 439 3rd Ave S, in Clinton. Singers, please register by sending us a message via the Contact Us page.
Several celebratory events will highlight the year. For the fall concert, alumni will reunite with the choir as founding director Dr. Rob Engelson returns to the podium to share favorite choral works. RiverChor will anchor the annual community Messiah Sing-Along in December. The annual spring concert in March will be a collaboration between the choir and local high schools. At the end of April, RiverChor will proudly join the Clinton Symphony Orchestra in performing Mozart’s Requiem.
RiverChor is in rehearsal for their spring concert, which will take place on Sunday, April 28 at 2:00pm at Zion Lutheran Church in Clinton. The program is as follows:
Exultate justi in Domino – Viadana Domine ad adjuvandum me festina – Martini Die Nachtigall – Mendelssohn Ubi Caritas et Amor – Duruflé I Will Arise and Go To Jesus – arr. Parker Wondrous Love – arr. Parker On The Common Ground – arr. Parker
In The Valley – Podd Heaven Somewhere – arr. Hatfield Song for the Mira – MacGillvray Choral Variations on “Ah, Holy Jesus” – Petrich Choose Something Like A Star – Thompson Bridge Over Troubled Water – arr. Kirby Shaw
