Welcome home to the sounds of the Susquehanna Chorale! Our 2021-22 season feels truly extraordinary to me as we celebrate 40 years of choral artistry. Our concerts will feature many favorites from past years, interspersed with selections that are new to us, including the world premiere of Dan Forrest’s Let the Stable Still Astonish, composed in honor of our 40th anniversary.
In addition, we celebrate a return to live, concert-hall performances! We were grateful for the opportunity to present our music safely through virtual and outdoor concerts, but nothing can replace the energy that flows between the choir and the audience in a live, acoustic space. Nothing viewed on a screen replicates the feeling of anticipation in the hushed pause just before the Chorale’s first note is sung, or the exhilaration of witnessing three generations of voices come together in the Youth Choral Festival.
When I consider the Chorale today, I see the image of a beautiful tree, one that has grown and flourished through many seasons. Planted by the seed of my young and hopeful imagination 40 years ago, it took root and grew well beyond my dreams and expectations. Multiplying and dividing like a tree’s branches, the Chorale expanded from 11 singers to the current 39, and from one choir to five, including our Educational Outreach choirs. It has put down deep roots, so that our audience is larger, and its reach now extends far beyond central Pennsylvania. With your support, “our tree” will continue to thrive well into the future.
To mark our 40th anniversary, we are releasing Legacy, a new set of previously unreleased recordings from live performances. Legacy is quintessential Susquehanna Chorale — gorgeous music that evokes memories and has great meaning to both singers and audiences alike. Many of these pieces will be featured in this season’s concerts. Click here to pre-order your copy!
Together, the Legacy recordings and concert programming celebrate the relationship between our audiences and the hundreds of singers who have been a part of the Chorale family. Through the voice of every singer in our organization, we remain deeply committed to artistic excellence and sharing the beauty and inspiration of choral music with others.
Please join us as we joyfully celebrate 40 years of enriching life through song, live and in concert, together!
- Linda L. Tedford; Artistic Director, Founder, and Conductor
Susquehanna Chorale Alumni are invited to join us at our Legacy: A Candlelight Christmas concerts on December 17,18, 19, and/or at our spring concerts, Legacy: A Season to Celebrate! on May 13 and 15. Former singers are invited to sing “Silent Night.” Our May concerts will feature sacred and secular music from our past, and former singers are invited to sing “Shenandoah.”
Please contact Molly Masser, our Administrator, (sc@susquehannachorale.org) and let her know if you plan to attend, or if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you!