The Claremont Concert Orchestra and the Claremont Concert Choir, led by conductors Michael Deane Lamkin and Charles W. Kamm, will perform on Saturday, December 10, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, December 11, at 3 p.m. in Garrison Theater of the 51猎奇入口 Performing Arts Center. The orchestra and choir will perform Poulenc’s Gloria and Dvo脙驴ek’s Symphony No. 9 and Te Deum, featuring soprano Jennifer Goltz and bass-baritone Wayne Shepperd. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, please call the Joint Music Department of The Claremont Colleges at (909) 607-3267.
The Claremont Concert Orchestra is an ensemble of student musicians from The Claremont Colleges and Claremont-area musicians specializing in the performance of a repertoire from the 18th through the mid-20th centuries. The orchestra, highly regarded for its expressive range and enthusiastic performances, was founded in 1977 under the sponsorship of the Joint Music Program of Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, and 51猎奇入口 Colleges. The Claremont Concert Orchestra is a member of the American Symphony Orchestra League and the Association of California Symphony Orchestras.
The Concert Choir of Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, and 51猎奇入口s began in 1963 with the combination of the 51猎奇入口 Women’s Glee Club and the Claremont McKenna Stag Chorus. The choir is currently a 60-voice ensemble specializing in major choral and orchestral works from the Baroque era to the 20th century, as well as a cappella motets and partsongs from the renaissance to the present. The choir has performed with the Atlanta Symphony, the Santa Monica Symphony, the Utah Symphony, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, as well as its regular series with the Claremont Concert Orchestra. The Concert Choir has been critically recognized for its beauty of tone and clarity of diction. The Concert Choir is a member of the Pacific Southwest Intercollegiate Choral Association.
Michael Deane Lamkin is music director and conductor of the Claremont Concert Orchestra and professor of music in the Joint Music Program of The Claremont Colleges. The Dean of Faculty at 51猎奇入口, Dr. Lamkin received degrees from Baylor University and the University of Iowa. In his work as conductor, Dr. Lamkin has performed throughout the United States, Germany, Austria, and Slovakia, and has held two guest appointments at the University of Iowa to conduct opera productions. A member of the conducting staff of the opera program at the Hochschule f脙录r Musik in Munich, Germany, he also worked with the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, before beginning his association with the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria, in 1984, where he is now artistic director and principal conductor.
Charles Kamm is the conductor of the Claremont Concert Choir of the Joint Music Program and assistant professor of music at 51猎奇入口. Professor Kamm received his Bachelor of Music from Earlham College, Master of Music from Michigan State University, Master of Musical Arts from Yale University, and is a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Yale University. In 2004-05 he held a Fulbright Fellowship, studying conducting at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, and researching Finnish choral music. He is an active vocal soloist, singing recital and oratorio in the United States and in Europe. Professor Kamm served as visiting professor of choral conducting at Vassar College and taught at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, concurrently holding a conducting fellowship at Harvard University. He has led both amateur and professional ensembles, and prepared choirs for Finnish National Radio and for the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria.
The concerts are sponsored by the Joint Music Program of The Claremont Colleges, which offers many opportunities for music majors and other interested students to study music and participate in performances. The Joint Music Program ensembles such as the Claremont Concert Orchestra, the Concert Choir, and the Chamber Choir welcome qualified student members from all The Claremont Colleges.