Westminster Symphonic Choir Performs Mendelssohn's Elijah April 27

The Westminster Symphonic Choir and the Westminster Festival Orchestra, conducted by Joe Miller, will perform Felix Mendelssohn's Elijah on Saturday, April 27, 2013 at 8 p.m. in the Princeton Meadow Church and Event Center.  Baritone Tim Lefebvre will sing the role of Elijah.

One of the world’s great choral masterworks, Elijah recounts dramatic scenes from the Biblical prophet’s life interspersed with prayers or prayer-like meditations.

Composed of students at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, the Westminster Symphonic Choir has recorded and performed with major orchestras under virtually every internationally acclaimed conductor of the past 78 years. Its first major collaboration was in 1934 when Leopold Stokowski brought the Philadelphia Orchestra to Princeton to perform Bach’s Mass in B Minor with the Westminster Symphonic Choir in the Princeton University Chapel to celebrate the opening of the Westminster Choir College campus.  Recognized as one of the world’s leading choral ensembles, the choir has sung more than 350 performances with the New York Philharmonic alone.  Recent seasons have included performances with the Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by Sir Simon Rattle; Dresden Staatskapelle conducted by Daniel Harding; the Lucerne Festival Orchestra conducted by David Robertson; San Francisco Symphony conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas; Staatskapelle Berlin conducted by Pierre Boulez and The Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Joe Miller is conductor of two of America’s most renowned choral ensembles: the Westminster Choir and the Westminster Symphonic Choir. Dr. Miller is also founder and conductor of the Westminster Chamber Choir, a program that offers professional-level choral and vocal artists the opportunity to explore challenging works for two weeks each summer on the Westminster campus in Princeton. He also leads the annual Westminster Choral Festival, which welcomes singers and conductors to study and perform a major choral work with orchestra.  As conductor of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, he has collaborated with some of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, earning him critical praise: “Joe Miller's Westminster Symphonic Choir was subtle when asked and powerful when turned loose,” The New York Times.  

Nationally acclaimed baritone Timothy LeFebvre has wide-ranging experience from the operatic stage to the concert hall.  Recent performances include Mozart’s Requiem with West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, solo recitals at Oberlin Conservatory and University of Michigan, Elijah with New Dominion Chorale, Brahms’ Requiem with Hamilton College, Beethoven’s Mass in C with Wichita Symphony, Mozart’s Requiem with Susquehanna Valley Chorale, Brahms’ Requiem with the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes, and Messiah with the Handel Choir of Baltimore.

Princeton Meadow Church and Event Center is located at 545 Meadow Road in West Windsor, N.J. Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for students and seniors. For tickets call the box office at 609-921-2663 or order online at www.rider.edu/arts.