Westminster Choir
The Westminster Choir and conductor Joe Miller will celebrate their return to Princeton after a January concert tour of Oklahoma and Texas with a free concert for the community.
The concert will preview one of the ensemble’s performances at the 2014 Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, S.C. The program is set to feature two settings of Te Deum, the early Christian hymn of praise, by George Frideric Handel and Arvo Pärt.
Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum, written in 1743 to celebrate King George II’s triumphant return from defeating France in battle, features all the radiance and intricacy of Baroque choral music.
Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s setting, written in 1985, mimics the effortless harmonies associated with bells, paired with their anomalous overtones.
The Westminster Festival Chamber Orchestra is set to accompany the choir.
The Westminster Choir is composed of students at Westminster Choir College, a division of Rider University’s Westminster College of the Arts. It has been the chorus-in-residence for the Spoleto Festival USA since 1977, performing both in concert and as the opera chorus.
The choir has made three recordings with Joe Miller. Its latest, The Heart’s Reflection: Music of Daniel Elder, has been hailed by Classics Today as “first rate” and “highly recommended.”
Miller is conductor of two of the Westminster Choir and the Westminster Symphonic Choir. He is also artistic director for choral activities for the Spoleto Festival USA.
The concert also celebrates the Princeton Adult School’s 75th Anniversary.
The performance is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. March 10 at Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall on the Princeton University campus.
Admission is free; however tickets are required. Tickets are available through the Princeton University ticketing office at (609) 258-9220 or princeton.edu/utickets.
