Category Archives: Performances

Messiah Celebrates 91 Years of Tradition

RiverChor and Gateway Area Singers presents Clinton’s annual performance of “Messiah” on Sunday, December 18 at 2:00pm at Zion Lutheran Church, 439 3rd Ave S in Clinton.  The group celebrates 91 years of performing Handel’s work with all of the Christmas portion, followed by several more selections concluding in a resounding “Hallelujah”!

The tradition was begun in 1931 by Rev. Frederick Schoenbohn with a group of singers called the Apollo Choral Society. Over the years, community singers have been directed by Jim Winn, John DeHaan, Dorothy Rathje, Mark Kapusinski, and Rob Engelson. This year, the baton passes to Karl Wolf, recently retired choral director of Clinton High School.  The pianist is Christine Holmer, organist at Zion Lutheran and former director of music at Immanuel Lutheran Church.

“We are excited to present “Messiah” in concert again. While we have maintained the annual tradition with Sing-Alongs, this will be the first formal “Messiah” concert presented in Clinton since 2018,” said Brooke Logan, RiverChor manager and organizer of the event.  “We have singers who are marking 50 years of participation, and some who are looking at this work for the very first time.  We invite you to take a break from your hectic holiday schedule to enjoy their efforts and the retelling of the Christmas story through song.”

Admission is free, offerings are welcome and appreciated.

If you’d like to help us spread the word, here is a link to the Facebook Event for you to share and invite others: https://fb.me/e/3IOUQtmij

And we also have this printable poster….simply click the little printer icon in the top right corner of the preview box below.

Join us Sunday for “A Choral Cornucopia”, then on Monday for “Messiah” rehearsals!

RiverChor, the Gateway Area’s community choir, presents their fall concert at 2:00pm on Sunday, November 13, at Zion Lutheran Church in Clinton, IA. The concert is free, donations are appreciated.

Entitled “A Choral Cornucopia”, the concert explores a wide range of choral standards from William Billings (the first American choral composer), to Mozart, Distler, Dello Joio, and Copeland. The choir will also present some fun pieces by Irving Fine, Merle Travis, and Fats Waller.

The 40 member choir is directed by Karl Wolf, the pianist is Christine Holmer. RiverChor will also be joined by the talents of violinists Julie Marston and Kristen Jones. Maureen Pollpeter will partner with Holmer on two 4-in-Hand piano pieces.

On Monday, November 14, RiverChor invites community singers to join them in rehearsals for the 91st annual “Messiah” performance. Practice will be at 7pm each Monday in the Great Hall of 1st Presbyterian Church in Clinton. The free concert will take place at 2:00 pm on Sunday, December 18 at Zion Lutheran Church in Clinton.

The Language of Love – RiverChor’s Spring 2022 Concert

Please mark your calendar now for RiverChor’s spring concert! Entitled “The Language of Love” the choir has prepared music in 5 languages.

Program:

A Collection of Madrigals – various – English

Liebeslieder Walzer – Johannes Brahms – German

Dirait On – Morten Lauridsen – French

Five Hebrew Love Songs – Eric Whitacre – Hebrew

Eres Tu – Juan Calderon Lopez (arr. Robert Delgado) – Spanish

It’s a Grand Night for Singing – Rodgers and Hammerstein – English

The concert is free, donations are welcome as they fund music for the next concert. We’ll see you at Zion Lutheran on April 24th at 2:00 pm!

RiverChor Fall Concert – With Hope We Shall Rise

RiverChor will present their fall concert on Sunday, November 21, at 3:00pm. The concert will explore songs of crisis, including “Think on Me” and Haydn’s “Agnus Dei”; and songs of hope such as “Saints Bound for Heaven”, “I Shall Not Live in Vain”, and “Hope is Like a Feather”.

The concert is free, donations are appreciated.


Program to include:

Saints Bound for Heaven …… arr. Parker/Shaw

Mass in Time of War – Agnus Dei …… Joseph Haydn

O Vos Omnes ….. Tomas Luis de Victoria

Sing, My Child ….. Sarah Quartel

Think On Me …… James Mulholland

I Shall Not Live In Vain ….. Ruth Morris Gray

Time……. Benjamin Britten

Concord ……. Benjamin Britten

Al Shlosha D’varim …. Alan E. Naplan

I Will Be A Child of Peace …. Elaine Haggenburg

Find the Cost of Freedom (Men) ….. Stephen Stills

Hope is the Thing with Feathers (Women) …. Susan LaBarr

Covid protocols: The choir has been rehearsing in masks, and will wear them for the concert. We will have full lyrics available. Zion Lutheran recommends masks as per CDC for the audience, however they are not required. Seating is general admission, you are welcome to sit as close or far from others as you are comfortable.

RiverChor 2020

2020 has really been a challenge all around to the performing arts, and RiverChor is no exception…..we will be “virtual” this fall. If you have sung with us before and are not on the current email list, drop us a line, we’d love to have you join us for social Zooms and/or a virtual performance.

Messiah is tentative at the moment, we’ll post information here when we know more.

Stay safe and well, and we hope to be singing for you again in 2021!

RiverChor begins rehearsals for Spring

Tonight, RiverChor gathers together to work on music for our April 19th concert. While yet to be officially titled, the concert will explore themes of crisis and hope. Selections will include:

Saints Bound for Heaven …… arr. Parker/Shaw

Mass in Time of War – Agnus Dei …… Joseph Haydn

O Vos Omnes ….. Tomas Luis de Victoria

Sing, My Child ….. Sarah Quartel

Prayer of the Children …. arr. Andrea Clouse

Think On Me …… James Mulholland

I Shall Not Live In Vain ….. Ruth Morris Gray

Concord ……. Benjamin Britten

Al Shlosha D’varim …. Alan E. Naplan

I Will Be A Child of Peace …. Elaine Haggenburg

Find the Cost of Freedom (Men) ….. Stephen Stills

Hope is the Thing with Feathers (Women) …. Susan LaBarr

Mark your calendars for Sunday, April 19th, at 3:00 pm for our spring concert at Zion Lutheran Church in Clinton. Want to sing? Drop us a line.

Join us for “Holidays with the Symphony”

Please join us this Saturday, December 14, at 7:30 in Vernon Cook Theater at Clinton High School for a wonderfully festive collaboration between the Clinton Symphony Orchestra and RiverChor. Concert and ticket information are available at https://ClintonSymphony.org .


Program

A Most Wonderful Christmas (medley); arr. Robert Sheldon

Skater’s Waltz; Émile Waldteufel

Festive Sounds of Hanukkah (medley); arr. Bill Holcombe

Messiah And the Glory * For Unto Us * Hallelujah!; George Frideric Handel  With RiverChor

Fanfare to La Péri ; Paul Dukas

The Nutcracker Marche * Arabe * Waltz of the Flowers * Trepak; Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

How Great Our Joy; arr. John Rutter  With RiverChor

Lua, Lua, Lua ; Esther Scliar  RiverChor

Farandole from L’Arlesienne Suite No. 2.; Georges Bizet

Pizzicato Polka; Johann Strauss, Jr. and Josef Strauss

Christmas Memories; Rosephanye Powell  With RiverChor

A Christmas Festival; LeRoy Anderson  Carol Sing-along with audience and RiverChor

Vox Femina – RiverChor Fall 2019 Concert

Join RiverChor on Sunday, November 17, at 3:00 PM (note the new time!) at Zion Lutheran Church in Clinton, Iowa. The fall concert of our 16th season will feature the choral music of women composers and arrangers, dating from the 12th century to contemporary. The choir consists of 50 members ranging in age from 15 to 70 that come from eight communities within the Gateway Area of eastern Iowa and western Illinois. Our directors are Karl Wolf and Chris Marple; our pianist is Christine Holmer. Admission is free, donations are welcome.

Repertoire:

TitleComposer/
arranger
Text
Jubilate DeoEmily CrockerPsalm 100
Lua, Lua, Lua Esther Scliar Lucia Candall
Three Madrigals
“O Mistress Mine”
“Take, O Take”
“Sigh no more, Ladies”
Emma Lou Diemer Shakespeare
Ave Maria Angelina Figus Traditional
I Thank You God Gwyneth Walker e.e. cummings
I Will Be Earth
Featuring our Women
Gwyneth Walker May Swenson
I see the Heaven’s
Glory Shine
Featuring our Men
Andrea Ramsey Emily Bronté
My Very Own Susan LaBarr Song of Solomon
Arise, Beloved! Rosephanye Powell Song of Solomon
O frondens virga Carlotta Ferrari Hildegard von
Bingen
Gondoliera Clara Schumann Emanuel Geibel
Daniel, Daniel,
Servant of the
Lord
Undine S. Moore Trad. Spiritual

RiverChor to Present Concert April 7th

RiverChor is in rehearsals for their spring concert, which will be held on Sunday, April 7, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. in Zion Lutheran Church, 439 3rd Ave S, Clinton, Iowa. This spring, the group is under the direction of Chris Marple, Kathy Janicek, Mark Kapusinski, and Karl Wolf; our pianist is Christine Holmer.

The program will be:

Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal – Shaw/Parker

Ubi Caritas – Gjeilo

How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place – Brahms

When Jesus Wept/Lamb of God – Billings/Christiansen

All Through the Night – Luboff

Song of Triumph – Grotenhuis

The Pasture – Stroope

In Dat Great Gittin’ Up Mornin’ – Hairston

—-Intermission—

Stomp Your Foot – Copland

Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye – Parker/Shaw

One Hand, One Heart – Bernstein/Sondheim

Blue Skies – Zegree

In Flanders Field – Jacobson/Emerson

Bridge Over Troubled Water – Shaw

Mark your calendars for April 7th! The concert is free, donations are appreciated.