University Singers Fall Concert 2021
The University Singers, the University of Virginia’s flagship choral ensemble, return to the stage with a fall concert celebrating women at UVA and 50 years of full co-education – Friday, November 12th at 8:00 pm in Old Cabell Hall.
The concert will also be available live on the UVA Music YouTube channel and will remain up for a limited time after the concert
The program will feature works by composers including Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw, emeritus UVA faculty composer Judith Shatin, and choral legend Alice Parker, as well as works by Abbie Betinis, Rosephanye Powell, Joan Szymko, and a chant in the time of plague by the Sisters of the Monastery of Santa Clara, Portugal. The Chamber Singers will also appear, with a preview of their Nov. 19th Choral music from Broadway concert. The concert is generously co-sponsored by the Maxine Platzer Lynn Women’s Center at UVA, and tickets are available at https://artsboxoffice.virginia.edu/ | 434 924-3376. The Singers look forward to sharing their music with you!
Led by UVA faculty conductor Michael Slon, the University Singers is the University of Virginia’s flagship choral ensemble, heard by thousands each season in performances of a cappella and accompanied choral repertoire, including major works with orchestra. In 2017, the group joined the Charlottesville Symphony on the steps of the Rotunda to perform for UVA’s Bicentennial Launch Celebration, before an estimated crowd of 20,000. In recent years, the Singers have also sung for Les Misérables creators Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil during their UVA residencies, sung for the 2016 UVA Holiday greeting 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. During the pandemic, they continued to present virtual performances, and hosted online master classes with Eric Whitacre, Alice Parker, and other choral luminaries.
Founded in 1957, the group became a primarily student ensemble soon after UVA began admitting women in 1970, and celebrated their 60th anniversary with the 2017-2018 season. Historical highlights have included concerts and workshops with Bobby McFerrin, Meredith Monk, and Otto-Werner Mueller, a performance for Hillary Clinton, a performance for the 2010 VMEA Conference, and frequent collaborations with the Charlottesville Symphony including for the popular Family Holiday Concerts. Recent repertoire has included Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 with the Charlottesville Symphony, Bach's Mass in B minor, Handel’s Messiah, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Verdi’s Requiem, and Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem, premieres of works by Stephen Paulus, Forrest Pierce, Judith Shatin, and Eric Whitacre, and a program featuring African-American composers such as Nathaniel Dett, Moses Hogan, and H.T Burleigh. Recent North American tours have taken the group to Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Charleston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Montreal, New Orleans, Orlando, New York City, Philadelphia, Providence, Toronto, and the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. The group has also been heard on previous tours in Italy, Belgium, Germany, Russia, and Switzerland, and recordings include a CD of Mozart's Coronation Mass and Vesperae Solennes de Confessore. The 2018-2019 season began with performances of Bernstein’s Mass at the Paramount Theater as part of the Leonard Bernstein centennial, and 2021-2022 includes collaborations with the Oratorio Society of Virginia and Charlottesville Symphony. 
Students in the University Singers come from UVA's eight undergraduate schools, including Arts and Sciences, Education, Nursing, and Engineering, as well as several of the graduate and professional schools. While approximately 25% are music majors, the ensemble is open to any student by audition, and is a for-credit curricular class. Together, members enjoy an esprit de corps arising from the pursuit of musical excellence, and the camaraderie the singers develop offstage.
Tickets are available at the UVA Arts Box Office in the Culbreth building, online at https://artsboxoffice.virginia.edu/ or by calling (434) 924-3376.
Old Cabell Hall is located on the south end of UVA's historic lawn, directly opposite the Rotunda (map). Parking is available in the Central Grounds parking garage on Emmet Street, in the C1 parking lot off McCormick Road, and in the parking lots at the UVA Corner.
For more info visit: www.music.virginia.edu/usingers or www.music.virginia.edu
To make a gift visit: https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/21729/donations/new or contact the group at university-singers@virginia.edu.
Auditions: Auditions for the University Singers take place at the beginning of each semester.
Please call the Music Department at 434.924.3052 for more information.
All events are subject to change