Orlando Sings Choral Festival Kicks Off Next Week

The third annual Orlando Sings Choral Festival will take place at First United Methodist Church of Orlando on April 30th and May 3rd and will feature its flagship ensemble, the Orlando Sings Symphonic Chorus along with its 50-voice auditioned ensemble for soprano and alto voices Harmonia.

The two-day festival will take audience members on a journey East and West. On April 30th the festival takes us East with a program that highlights the rich, captivating choral traditions of South Korea. Esteemed international guest conductor Dong-Kyu Lee will lead both choirs in a performance of contemporary Korean choral music, some of which will be heard for the first time in North America. One powerful piece on the program is composer KyungSuk Cheon’s The Song of Iris Rossii: Requiem for the Comfort Women.

Comfort women were women and girls, mostly from Korea, who were forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. Cheon's piece commemorates these women and is based on a traditional Korean funeral procession, including ceremonial percussion.

“The choral music artform is a powerful instrument for shining light on problems that plague society. We hope that this performance brings awareness and helps to promote the local nonprofit organizations that work to eradicate human trafficking and support individuals who have been exploited.” - Dr. Andrew Minear, artistic and executive director 

The program opens with a special performance by the new Orlando Sings Senior Singers, with retiree singers from The Mayflower Winter Park, Westminster Towers, and the community at large. Then the adult auditioned soprano-alto chorus Harmonia will perform a set from their upcoming recording project, entitled “In Spirit We Will Fly!” , an album of contemporary American music for treble voices. Highlights include “Broken” by composer Dominick DiOrio and “While I Breathe, I Hope” by Jocelyn Hagen, the composer of “The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci”, a highlight from the 2023 Choral Festival.

 

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