Department of Music

The UVa Chamber Singers invite the UVa and Charlottesville communities to a free concert on Friday  April 25th, at 8:00 pm at First Presbyterian Church, 500 Park St. in Charlottesville.  The UVa ensemble’s spring 2014 program, given jointly as part of the church’s Music on Park Street concert series, is entitled “Modern Mystics” – an exploration of the music of Arvo Pärt, Philip Glass, Morten Lauridsen, and John Tavener.  Works include Pårt’s sublime and transporting Magnificat and The Beatitudes, Tavener’s The Lamb, Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium, and works sung by the Chamber Singers during Philip Glass’s recent UVa residency.  The chorus, led by UVa faculty conductor Michael Slon, will be joined by several guest artists, including First Presbyterian organist and music director Jeremy Thompson.

Founded in 2005 and conducted by Michael Slon, the University of Virginia Chamber Singers is a select ensemble drawn from the University Singers, and performs a wide variety of music for chamber choir ranging from early music to contemporary compositions. Recent performances have included the Palestrina Missa Brevis, Britten’s Hymn to St. Cecilia, Bach's Cantata 150, and Mass in B minor with the University Singers, Schubert's Mass in G, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Brahms' Neue Liebeslieder Waltzes, a spoof concert of PDQ Bach, and Orff's Carmina Burana with the University Singers and Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra. In addition, the group has performed popular standards by Harold Arlen and Jerome Kern, and new music by MeredithMonk (with the Meredith Monk Vocal Ensemble), and Eric Whitacre. In 2010, the Chamber Singers made their first appearances at the Staunton Music Festival, including a performance with Grammy-award winning baritone Kevin McMillan.

Active as a conductor of choral, orchestral, and operatic repertoire, Michael Slon is currently Conductor of the University Singers, Chamber Singers, and a professor on the music faculty at the University of Virginia, where he also guest conducts the Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia. He also serves as the Music Director of the Oratorio Society of Virginia. In 2006-2007, he was named a member of UVa's Mead Honored faculty, an award recognizing outstanding faculty mentors.

First Presbyterian Church is located at 500 Park Street in Charlottesville Va.  (Map)

For more information please call the McIntire Department of Music at 434.924.3052.