All posts by Jeffrey Towey

Newsletter

Summer Newsletter

Following a successful choral season, our first since suspending choral activities for COVID, Chrismon Chorale is now actively planning for our 2023-24 Fall and Spring concerts.  Rehearsal and concert dates are already on our calendar.  We hope to have all venues confirmed for both semesters by the end of August.  Concert dates that you can mark on your calendar now are:

FALL 2023: 

  • Saturday, November 18, 7:30 pm
  • Sunday, November 19, 4:30 pm

SPRING 2024: 

  • Saturday, April 27, 7:30 pm
  • Sunday, April 28, 4:30 pm

Auditions for those who would like to join the Chrismon  Chorale for the first time, but who have never sung with Larry, and those who have not sung with the Chorale since the COVID suspension, will occur on Tuesday evening, August 29, from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm in the Music Room at Cedar Valley Church (our rehearsal room). Those who plan to sing for Larry need to contact Chorale Board President, John Halvorsen — (ejejpj@comcast.net, or 651-341-8101 by phone or text) so that I can place them on the audition schedule.

The Chorale also has several important personnel needs.  If you are interested in any finding out more information about the positions listed below, please email or call/text John Halvorsen at the contacts noted above

  • A Social Media Director to manage Facebook, Youtube, and other social media sites.
  • Additional Board Members. Board membership is not restricted to Performing Members, but includes those who have a passion for sacred choral music and who possess a variety of leadership, financial, and administrative skills.
  • Chorale Singers. As is true for most community choirs, more tenors and basses are always welcome.
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Spring Concert Announcement

Following successful Fall 2022 Concerts, Chrismon Chorale is pleased to announce its Spring 2023 Concert schedule:  Friday, May 19, 7:30 pm at St. Paul Reformation Lutheran Church; Saturday, May 20, 7:30 pm at Bloomington Covenant Church; and Sunday, May 21, at Presbyterian Church of the Way.  More details are found under the Concert Schedule tab.  Please mark your calendars now, since we will no longer mail postcards.
 

The Spring Concert will focus on choral Prayers and Psalms.  Musical texts include those from Psalms 1, 8, 9, 11 ,14, 30, 42, and 150, and Romans 8, I Corinthians 14, and Ephesians 3.  Prayers include works by Craig Courtney, Jocelyn Hagen, and Gabriel Fauré.

Please join us as we celebrate God’s love, power, and presence.

As always, we want to remind you that the Chorale also needs your financial help to continue its ministry. You can contribute in several ways:

  • Mail a check from your personal account to Chrismon Chorale, PO Box 130334, St Paul MN 55113.
  • Click the “Donate” button in the upper left corner of the main website page to give online using a credit card.
  • If you have a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from an IRA account and you do not need the funds, donating to charity is a great option. Your RMD will be included in your taxable income and cannot be rolled into other tax-deferred accounts. However, donations from your RMD are qualified charitable distributions and will not be taxed up to $100,000.
  • Donate to the Chorale from a Donor-Advised Fund.

All contributions to Chrismon Chorale are tax deductible. Our Federal tax identification number is 56-2676271. We are also registered as a charity with the Minnesota Secretary of State with the Corporate Charter Number 2570451-2

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Fall Newsletter

Chrismon Chorale successfully completed its Fall Semester concerts this past weekend – the first concert since Fall 2019. The audience response was enthusiastic and encouraging with many affirming verbal comments following the concert, such as,

  • This is the best choral sound that I’ve heard from this group.
  • Thanks for such a spiritually refreshing and nourishing concert.
  • This was a concert that gave me hope and comfort in these difficult times.

We also received affirming written comments, such as,

  • Loved the text. Loved the vowels. Loved the phrasing. Loved the unison. Loved, of course, the keyboard and conducting. Above all, loved the gift of music and the message! Beautiful choral unisons! Blessing to all of you!
  • Great performance tonight. When it’s my time to go I only hope the angels can sing as sweetly as you.

We look forward with even greater anticipation to our 2023 Spring Concert Schedule, with performances on Friday, May, 19, Saturday, May 20, and Sunday, May 21. Since we will no longer mail postcards to alert people of our concert schedule, we ask that you please go to our website – www.chrismon-chorale.org – and enter your name and email address in the SUBSCRIBE section found in the lower right corner of all website pages. You will then automatically receive updated information about the Chorale.

Starting anew following a two-year hiatus, the Chorale also needs your financial help to continue its ministry. You can contribute in several ways:

  • Mail a check from your personal account to Chrismon Chorale, PO Box 130334, St Paul MN 55113.
  • Click the “Donate” button in the upper left corner of the main website page to give online using a credit card.
  • If you have a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from an IRA account and you do not need the funds, donating to charity is a great option. Your RMD will be included in your taxable income and cannot be rolled into other tax-deferred accounts. However, donations from your RMD are qualified charitable distributions and will not be taxed up to $100,000.
  • Donate to the Chorale from a Donor-Advised Fund.

All contributions to Chrismon Chorale are tax deductible. Our Federal tax identification number is 56-2676271. We are also registered as a charity with the Minnesota Secretary of State with the Corporate Charter Number 2570451-2

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We are Chrismon Chorale Now

Following a two-year COVID-induced suspension of choral activity, Twin Cities Master’sChorale is eagerly, optimistically, and enthusiastically resuming rehearsals and concerts for the Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 Concert Season, re-vitalized and re-imagined — even with a new name. TCMC is now Chrismon Chorale.

Rehearsals began September 6 in a new location — Cedar Valley Church in Bloomington.

Fall concerts will occur on November at St Paul-Reformation Lutheran (7:30 pm, Friday,11/11), Bloomington Covenant (7:30 pm, Saturday,11/12), and Presbyterian Church of the Way (4:30 pm, Sunday, 11/13).

About the new name: The Chorale began as Contati Evangelica, and was renamed Twin Cities Master’s Chorale when it was officially incorporated as a nonprofit organization. As the Board of Directors began to re-imagine the Chorale, they determined that, with its “fresh start,” the timing was again right to give it a new name.

The term “chrismon” is a contraction of the Latin phrase “Christi monogramma” — “monogram of Christ”. Since early Christianity, “chrismon” has referred to any symbol or figure that represents the name of Christ. A common chrismon is the chi (X)-rho (P) — in Greek, the first two letters in Christ (ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ, Khristos). This new name represents the Chorale’s mission to embody Christ through its music, from ancient to contemporary, and the truth contained in its message.