Westminster Family Weekend Concert Features New Ensemble on October 25
Westminster Choir College of Rider University’s 2008 Family Weekend will be marked by two firsts on Saturday, October 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the Princeton Regional Schools Performing Arts Center at Princeton High School. It will be the first performance by the freshmen studying on Rider’s Westminster Choir College campus in Princeton who make up the Westminster Chapel Choir. It will also be the debut performance by the Rider Chapel Choir, the newest ensemble at Westminster College of the Arts, which is composed of freshmen and upperclass student on Rider’s Lawrenceville campus.
Conducted by Sun Min Lee, the Westminster Chapel Choir will perform Haydn’s Te Deum as well as works by Lassus, Vaughan Williams, Dickau, Miskinis, Ticheli, and Hogan. Conducted by Ronnie Oliver, the Rider Chapel Choir will perform works by Bernstein, Tallis, Mendelssohn, Jennings, and Klebanow.
Composed of students in their first year of study at Westminster Choir College, the Westminster Chapel Choir performs a varied repertoire. Founded in 1946, it has performed throughout America, including concerts with the Greater Trenton Symphony and the Queens Symphony in New York. Another highlight includes singing for the tree-lighting ceremony in Rockefeller Center in New York.
Korean-born conductor Sun Min Lee is an assistant professor of choral conducting at Westminster Choir College, where she teaches both undergraduate and graduate conducting courses. She earned a Bachelor of Church Music degree from the Presbyterian College and Theological Seminary in Korea and a Master of Music degree in choral conducting with distinction from Westminster Choir College. She is currently pursuing a doctorate at the Eastman School of Music. She has prepared the Westminster Symphonic Choir for performances of Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, and most recently she collaborated with Lorin Maazel for performances of Mozart’s Coronation Mass with the New York Philharmonic.
Selected by audition, Rider Chapel Choir is composed of 24 students from the Lawrenceville campus of Rider University. In their contribution to the rich choral tradition of Westminster Choir College, the Rider Chapel Choir is committed to the excellent performance of choral music from the Renaissance era to the 21st century.
Ronnie Oliver, Jr., is also a member of the conducting faculty at Westminster Choir College. He is the executive director and conductor-in-residence of Manhattan Concert Productions in New York City. He made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut in June of 2005 with the National Festival Chorus. Throughout his career, he has conducted numerous choirs of all levels. He received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from Murray State University in Murray, Ky. He earned his Master of Music degree in choral conducting and a doctorate in fine arts from Texas Tech University.
The Princeton Regional Schools Performing Arts Center is located in Princeton High School on Walnut Lane in Princeton. Admission for Family Weekend participants and Rider University faculty, staff and students is free. Tickets for the general public are $20 for adults and $15 for seniors and students. For tickets call the box office at 609- 921-2663 between noon and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday or visit Westminster’s Web site at http://www.rider.edu/arts.
