Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 24, 1992 TAG: 9201230257
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KAREN BROWN
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
`ONE BIG VOICE SINGING'
Last spring, about 500 choral groups from around the world applied for the chance to perform in a leading Eastern European choral festival. Among the few accepted was a group from Blacksburg.This summer, the Blacksburg Master Chorale will tour Europe, performing in Germany, Austria and Poland, the site of the festival.
While other stops are possible, members of the group are looking forward to singing in large cathedrals and touring the streets of Berlin, Prague and Salzburg.
The Blacksburg Master Chorale was formed in 1987 when Craig Fields, a professional operatic singer who had just moved to Blacksburg, was asked to assemble community members for a Christmas performance of Handel's "Messiah."
"I put the word out and about 100 people showed up," Fields said. "It proved to me that there was an interest in the community for a choral group."
The group, which averages about 85 members, performs three concerts a year, usually in churches. This year's Christmas concert was at the Blacksburg Baptist Church, where the group performed selections from the "Messiah" as well as traditional Christmas songs arranged by Roger Wagner.
The group's artistic level has impressed Fields from the beginning. As an experienced singer who has performed with symphonies, choral groups and opera companies around the country and as a member of Virginia Tech's music department, Fields said "the quality of singing amazed me" from the first performance.
Indeed, the reviews of the concerts have been consistently positive.
Seth Williamson, producer of the afternoon classical music show at WVTF and music critic for the Roanoke Times & World-News, described the group's sound as "a lush blend, like one big voice singing."
Williamson said one thing he especially liked was the "pretty adventurous sense of repertoire," which sometimes has included difficult and rarely performed pieces.
One selection the group did in the fall of 1990, Britten's Cantata Misericordium, was especially memorable to Williamson. He said he was "delighted" that Fields chose the piece and the group handled it so well.
That's high praise for a group made up entirely of volunteers. Joan Murchison, a soprano and president of the chorale's board of directors, said, "What's amazing to me is the stability of the number of performers we maintain. It's phenomenal for a community this size."
The chorale holds no auditions, has few singers with formal voice training, and often performs very difficult pieces. Yet it continues to grow artistically.
Murchison attributed much of the quality of the group's work to Fields' leadership: "Craig has challenged us in a number of ways these past four years, and we really enjoy what we're doing."
Fields admitted that artistic standards come first, but the singers, he said, are very motivated to achieve those standards. "The members all have a professional attitude - they want to do the very best. It's very gratifying."
Fields also credits James Bryant, the accompanist, whom Fields calls the "backbone of the chorale."
In a time when many community arts programs are struggling to survive, the Blacksburg Master Chorale has managed to finance the cost of its musical performances - including orchestral accompaniment for several performances - through ticket sales and patronage from individuals and businesses. This year, the New River Valley Friends of the Roanoke Symphony gave the chorale a grant to help pay the orchestra for its Christmas concert.
In its five years, the group has contributed more than $6,000 from its concerts to charity.
In its next concert, in April, the chorale will perform selections from its European tour repertoire. The program includes pieces by Handel, Brahms and Bartok as well as traditional folk songs and spirituals.
In addition to the European tour, the group is looking forward to another challenge. The chorale recently received a grant from Virginia Tech to help underwrite and produce its world premiere of a requiem by Tech's composer-in-residence, Jon Polifrone.
The work, entitled "Requiem . . . : For Those We Love," is scheduled to be performed in the spring of 1993. Critics from as far as New York are expected to attend, and Fields hopes the group will make a studio recording of the piece.
Fields said he is always looking for talented singers, especially people new to the community who may not have heard of the chorale. A prospective member should have choral singing ability and be able to read music.
For information on joining the Blacksburg Master Chorale or becoming a patron of the group, contact Craig Fields at 951-2938.