Department of Music

Following graduation, the educational and musical experiences continued for 75 singers from the UVA University Singers, as they recently completed a 10-city, 11-day concert tour of the Northeast U.S and Canada.  Led by faculty conductor Michael Slon, the tour marks the group’s first performances in Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal – as well as return visits to Buffalo, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. Other stops included Cleveland, Albany, Staunton, and Charlottesville for a special UVA Reunions concert, as the group met familiar alumni, and made new friends and fans along the way.  

Performing repertoire that included Ešenvalds’ “Only in Sleep,” Chesnokov’s “Spaseniye sodelal,” and Whitacre’s “little man in a hurry” (a work co-commissioned by the University Singers), the musicians had a chance to perform in a variety of stunning acoustics, including Albany’s Cathedral of All-Saints (a block from the New York capitol building), Philadelphia’s Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul (where two Popes have said mass), and Montreal’s famed Notre-Dame Basilica, a favorite with the students.  One alum wrote about the group’s ambassadorial efforts after the Philadelphia concert: “Tour is a wonderful gift to those of us who cannot make it to Charlottesville as often as we'd like.  Please continue sharing [it]… as the world needs now more than ever a connection with beauty greater than themselves.”  

In Buffalo, the singers collaborated with the semi-professional Vocalis Chamber Choir and their director James Burritt for a joint concert.  After singing their own selections, the groups paired up for Canadian composer Don MacDonald’s “Winter Sun,” and Professor Slon’s own composition, “On the First Day,” commissioned by Vocalis for their 15th anniversary in 2017.  Tour also afforded cultural experiences of other kinds, as students had a chance to visit the Cleveland Museum of Art, view Niagara Falls for the first time, sing at and tour the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, and share musical perspectives in a workshop with the Herndon High School choirs in northern Virginia.   

The ensemble’s domestic tours are arranged with the assistance of two student tour managers, this year a role filled by 4th years Tristen Gulley-Davenport and Conor Merricks.  “This time around, I truly gained a new appreciation for this organizational feat,” said 4th year Elizabeth Roden, who also serves as a U-Singers student officer.  “One of the best parts about my job as Historian was being able to capture and publish the sights, sounds, and emotions of tour through multimedia platforms…  I believe that touring is such an important aspect of musicianship as a whole; song is meant to be shared within and between communities.”  

The group is also grateful to many local contacts and hosts, including alumna Dagmar Fellowes who arranged a pre-concert UVA reception in Cleveland.  Those in attendance included former UVA basketball star Ricky Stokes, who played on teams with Ralph Sampson the last time the Hoos made it to the NCAA Final Four.  

And of course most concerts wrapped up with the familiar UVA songs, as choral alumni joined the current Singers on stage.  In Toronto, U-Singers and Chamber Singers alumna Yoonju Hong happened to be visiting from South Korea, and was able to re-join for the “The Good Old Song.”  She later wrote, “What sets the Singers apart is not just the singing itself – it also is the spirit and dedication.  My heart still feels full thinking about the [Toronto] concert… – I got to see you and the Singers for the first time since graduation in 2008!” 

The University Singers is UVA’s flagship choral ensemble, and recently joined the Charlottesville Symphony on the steps of the Rotunda to perform at UVA’s Bicentennial Launch Celebration, before an estimated crowd of 20,000.  This past fall, the University Singers gave the regional premiere of Bernstein’s Mass at the Paramount Theatre; in recent years the Singers have also performed for Les Misérables creators Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil during their UVA residencies, sung for the 2016 UVA Holiday video (which received more than 400,000 views on social media), and taken a two- week concert tour of England, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Austria.  Recent repertoire has included Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9, Bach’s Mass in B minor and St. John Passion, Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah, as well as premieres of commissioned works by Stephen Paulus, Forrest Pierce, Judith Shatin, and Eric Whitacre. 

For more information visit: www.music.virginia.edu/usingers  

 [University Singers perform in Montreal’s Notre-Dame Basilica, 2019]

[University Singers are joined by alumni in Philadelphia’s Cathedral Basilica, 2019]