Spring 2012

During the Spring of 2012 the Austin Singers, in conjunction with the choirs of Austin Community College, will present a concert featuring traditional spirituals and contemporary choral gospel music.  The ensemble rehearses on Monday evenings from 7-9 p.m. at the Austin First Baptist Church, with rehearsals start on January 23, 2012.  Concert dates are April 28 & 29, 2012 in Austin.  Singers are also eligible to register for academic credit through ACC.  See audition information here.

Let All the World

Austin Singers, the Austin Community Choruses, and Brass Ensemble present Rutter’s Gloria and Britten’s Ode to St. Cecelia along with works by Vaughan Williams, Purcell, and The Beatles.

Monday, November 14, 2011, at 7:30 p.m.
St. Matthews Episcopal Church
8134 Mesa Drive.
Austin, Texas

$5 General Admission.
Tickets available at the door.

Sign Language Interpreter Provided Upon Request. Contact aint@austincc.edu or call 512- 223-6151 at least 48 hours prior to the event.

Announcing Fall Season and Artistic Director

Austin Singers is proud to announce their association with Joshua T Miller.

Joshua Miller comes to Austin from southern West Virginia were he was the Director of Vocal Studies at Concord University.  Miller is now the interim choral conductor at Austin Community College.

He has conducted staged operatic productions for the Boston Opera Collaborative, Opera Columbus, M.I.T. and the College Light Opera Company.  Miller has also prepared choruses and coached singers for the Harvard University Lowell House Opera.  He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music Education from Marshall University and Master of Music Degree in Choral Conducting from The Ohio State University.

Miller has participated in the Eastman School of Music Conductor’s Institute and was a conducting fellow at the Yale University Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.  He made his European conducting debut in public performances of opera overtures by Rossini and Wagner at the International Conductor’s Institute.  Miller is currently in his first year of graduate studies in the Butler Opera Center at the University of Texas.  http://sites.google.com/site/joshuatravismiller/.

The fall concert in conjunction with the combined choirs of ACC will include Rutter’s Gloria and Vaughn Williams’  Let All the Earth in Every Corner Sing from  Five Mystical Songs.  The concert will be November 14, 2011, at 7:30 p.m.  at St. Matthews Episcopal Church, 8134 Mesa Drive.

Spring Concert Announcement! Auditions Ongoing!

Rehearsals begin Jan 24th, 7:00pm at the Austin First Baptist Church.

Spring Program, featuring music by some of the greatest living choral composers (plus Bartok):

miserere Arvo Pärt
Five Hebrew Love Songs Eric Whitacre
The Lord is My Light and My Salvation John Rutter
Hungarian Folk Songs Bela Bartok
Untraveled Worlds Paul Halley

With a world premiere commission “The Road was lit with Moon and Star” by award-winning Austinite David Jones based on an Emily Dickinson poem!

The Austin Singers presents Arvo Pärt’s “miserere.” Along with some of Austin’s
finest vocal and instrumental sololist, this 20th century masterwork composed by one of the
world’s greatest living composers is a powerful display of musical genius. Pärt’s brilliance comes in
his ability to create new works using plainchant and early polyphonic techniques, skillfully bridging the
gap between early and contemporary music. This concert will also feature “Five Hebrew Love Songs” by Eric Whitacre and a newly commissioned work by award winning Austin composer David Jones. Concerts will be held at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, 8134 Mesa Dr., on April 8 and 9 at 7:30pm.

To audition, contact Jim Shepherd by clicking on the “contact us” link to the right and sending an email, or call 512-233-4008.

Auditions Begin August 16

The Austin Singers will be holding auditions for the upcoming season beginning the week of August 16th. The choir will be singing the Karl Jenkins “The Armed Man Mass: A Mass For Peace” with orchestra and video (see youtube clips below). The choir will combine with the Austin Community College Chorus to make a choir of over 130 singers. Rehearsals are Mondays from 7-9:30PM at the First Baptist Church downtown. Rehearsals begin August 23 and run until the concerts on November 19 and 20. The spring concert will feature the contemporary choral music of Eric Whitacre, Dan Forrest, Jonathan Dove, Morten Lauridsen, and a world priemere by Austin composer David Jones. The spring season will rehearse approximately from the end of January until the end of April. Please click the “contact us” link to set up an audition or for more information.

Rehearsals Begin August 23

Rehearsals for the new season begin August 23 at the Austin First Baptist Church at 7pm. The choir will be performing the critically acclaimed contemporary choral masterwork “The Armed Man Mass: A Mass For Peace” by world renowned British composer Karl Jenkins. This work, written in 2001, has quickly become a standard piece in the choral repertoire with over 800 performances in less than a decade. The Austin Singers will perform this work on November 19 and 20 at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, with both concerts beginning at 7:30pm.

A few of the movements from the mass:

News Release – New Artistic Director

May 31, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Shannon Birk, (512) 314-5532

The Austin Singers Announce New Artistic Director

Dr. Jim Shepherd, the director of choral and vocal music at Austin Community College, will become the new Artistic Director for The Austin Singers at the start of the new 2010-2011 season. The appointment of Dr. Shepherd represents a major change for the 15-year old choral organization.

Originally, an outgrowth of Chorus Austin, the 50 voice group was founded in 1995 by Lanier Bayliss who directed the choir for its first ten years. Dr. Shepherd hopes to integrate his main choral group at ACC with The Austin Singers. This would both increase the numbers of The Austin Singers and provide diversity. He also hopes to tap the resources that he has access to as a member of the music faculty at ACC. Shepherd is an associate professor at the Northridge campus.

Before moving to Austin, he taught high school choral music at a Top 100 Grammy Signature School in Indiana. As an instructor at The University of Texas at Austin, he served as the director of the Longhorn Singers and assistant director of the Choral Arts Society.

Shepherd keeps a busy schedule presenting at conferences and workshops, as well as guest conducting choirs. His recent presentations were made at the Texas, Kansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Southwestern MENC music conferences, as well as the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development International Conference. He earned a DMA in choral conducting in 2008 from The University of Texas at Austin. At ACC he teaches concert and jazz choral ensembles, as well as voice, conducting, and music fundamentals.

Dr. Shepherd will, no doubt, put his own stamp on the chorus. The Austin Singers have gained a unique position among Austin-area performing groups. Its innovative programming uniquely focuses on choral works from different cultures and countries, recognizing and reflecting the diversity of the Austin community and the power and beauty of music throughout the world and throughout time, a vision begun by the original director. According to choir leadership, Shepherd is keenly interested in keeping The Austin Singers closely involved in the local community and in strengthening the connections the group has formed with other non-profits, churches, and other performing groups.

For more information about The Austin Singers, visit www.austinsingers.org.

Dr. Jim Shepherd, New Artistic Director of the Austin Singers

April Concerts

“Rejoice and Sing”

Come experience two magnificent master works with us: Benjamin Britten’s “Rejoice in the Lamb” and Handel’s “Dettingen Te Deum” with a chamber orchestra and soloists.

April 23rd, 8:00 pm, First Baptist Church located at 901 Trinity Street, Austin, TX 78701 ( View Larger Map in New Page )
April 24th, 8:00 pm, St. Albert the Great Church located at 12041 Bittern Hollow, Austin, TX 78758 ( View Larger Map in New Page )

Ticket prices are: $15 general admission, $12 for seniors, and $5 for students. For ticket information, please email Austin Singers at ASauditions@gmail.com.

*Contributions from this concert will benefit North Central Caregivers in Austin. For more information about this important charitable organization, click here

By supporting the Austin Singers, you support your local community!

First Baptist Church:

View Larger Map

St. Albert the Great Church:

View Larger Map

November concerts

“A Poetic Portrait” will be given on November 21 at 8 p.m. and November 22 at 4 p.m. in the sanctuary of University Presbyterian Church.

Timothy Workman, Artistic Director

Congratulations to the winners of the Austin Singers High School Poetry Contest offered in conjunction with the their fall concert, “A Poetic Portrait”.

First Place:  Camille Peeples
“Ode to Three Muses”

Second Place: Emily Glickman
“Moment Lost”

Third Place: Kyle Obermann
“The Rock”

Honorable Mention: Alexandra Noll
“Soldier’s Pledge”

Our 2008-2009 season performances

A summary of our performances for the 2008-2009 season:

“Motets, Madrigals, and Mayhem”
October 24 and 26, 2008

A stunning variety of works ranging from medieval songs, both sacred and secular, to contemporary choral pieces and arrangements of Broadway tunes.

“Colors of Christmas”
December 12 and 13, 2008

Sparkling a cappella gems, including majestic carols and works featuring harp, oboe, and violin. A special benefit for the Micah 6 food pantry.

“Harmonie and Thyme”
April 18 and 19, 2009

John Rutter’s magical “The Sprig of Thyme” for chorus, soloists, chamber orchestra, and harp. And Franz Joseph Haydn’s exuberant “Harmoniemesse” for choir, soloists, and orchestra.

Click here to view Austin Singers’ page on FaceBook!