GMChorale to Open 40th Concert Season with Duruflé’s Requiem

From Marcia Bliven, GMChorale Publicity Committee co-chair
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GMChorale invites you to join them on Sunday, November 13, 2016, at 4 pm for their performance of Duruflé’s Requiem and motets at New Britain’s South Congregational Church. Under the baton of Artistic Director Joseph D’Eugenio, guest organist Larry Allen will accompany the Chorale.

The GMChorale opens its 40th season with a concert devoted to commemorating the 30th anniversary of composer Maurice Duruflé's death by performing his most noted choral works.  Duruflé’s Requiem will be the featured work sung by the entire GMChorale, accompanied by organ, timpani and cello.  Duruflé’s a cappella motets will be sung by the GMChorale Chamber Singers.

In celebration of the GMChorale’s 40th anniversary season, the Chorale has invited former Music Director from 1980 - 1992, Larry Allen, to accompany the Requiem and play Duruflé’s acclaimed virtuosic Toccata from his Suite for Organ, Op. 5.  A celebrated concert organist, Allen brings special insights into Duruflé's music.  He received the Premier Prix when he studied with famed organist and master teacher, Marie-Claire Alain, a former student of Duruflé at the Paris Conservatory.

Speaking about his association with Alain, Mr. Allen reflects, “As Duruflé’s colleague, she had many insights about the composer's intentions in the organ works.  Moreover, visiting the churches in Paris where the Cavaille-Coll instruments were located (and much of the music was written for these instruments) opened my ears to the sounds the composer desired and helped me adapt other organs to let the instrument make music as the composer intended.”

In the 1970s, while Allen was singing with a choir at Center Church in Hartford, Madame Duruflé visited and accompanied the group for their performance of the Requiem. He notes, “She was quick to point out things in the score which the composer had altered or which she could better interpret for us.  It shaped my feelings and understandings about the work in ways that last to this day.”

This concert will be the GMChorale’s debut performance at South Congregational Church in New Britain, one of the most renowned spaces and venues for great music in central Connecticut, and home of the distinguished “Music Series at South Church.”  Tickets are $35 for adults and $15 for students.

GMChorale (Greater Middletown Chorale) is an 80-member auditioned symphonic chorus committed to excellence in performing outstanding music for all generations of listeners, with 30 CT towns represented in their membership. Visit http://www.gmchorale.org for further information and tickets.