All singers are welcome to these popular choral reading sessions that happen three times each summer.
The UMS Choral Union invites you to take part in its 25th season of Summer Sings. Just come as you are to these no-audition, no-performance evenings of memorable music-making.
As many as 250 singers from southeastern Michigan, northern Ohio, and Canada have joined each session in singing through great choral repertoire with some of the nation’s most respected choral conductors and outstanding soloists. We rehearse portions of the score during the first half, break for refreshments, and then re-convene to sing through the entire work.
Music will be provided to all singers on site (included in registration fee).
Works to be Included:
Bless The Lord, O My Soul
Communion
900 Miles
Johnny Has Gone For A Soldier
Psalm 150
About the Conductor
World-renowned composer and conductor Dr. René Clausen has served as conductor of The Concordia Choir since 1986. He is the artistic director of the Emmy Award-winning Concordia Christmas Concerts, which are frequently featured by PBS stations throughout the nation. Clausen is a renowned composer and arranger, having written dozens of commissioned compositions for famed performances, including “MEMORIAL” and “Crying for a Dream” for the American Choral Directors Association. He is also a frequent guest conductor, composer and lecturer. Clausen has conducted such works as Mozart’s “Requiem,” Beethoven’s “9th Symphony,” Brahms’ “Requiem” and several of his own works including “Gloria” – in three movements – performed at Carnegie Hall in New York. “Life and Breath: Choral Works by René Clausen” is a 13-track recording by the Kansas City Chorale. This CD of compositions by Clausen won two Grammy Awards in 2013, including Best Choral Performance. Clausen was commissioned by Concordia College to compose a major work to observe the 500th anniversary of the Reformation titled “The Passion of Jesus Christ,” which premiered at Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, in April 2017. Clausen graduated in 1974 from St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, and received Master of Music Performance and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of Illinois, Urbana. Prior to his appointment as conductor of The Concordia Choir, Clausen was director of choral activities at West Texas State University, Canyon, and assistant professor of choral music at Wichita (Kan.) State University. He also served as senior editor of Mark Foster Music Company and as interim conductor of the National Lutheran Choir of Minneapolis. In 2018, he received the Weston H. Noble Award for Lifetime Achievement from the North Central American Choral Directors Association.
Registration for each session begins at 6:30 pm. Sessions begin promptly at 7 pm. Admission to each session costs only $5—less than a ticket to the movies!—and we’ll provide the musical scores (if you need to borrow) and refreshments. Auditors are welcome to attend at no charge.
