Renaissance Center choral ensembles to debut under new director

Release Date: 12/10/2008. Expired: 12/18/2008

The Renaissance Center’s choral ensembles will make their debuts under new director Chris Greene next week with their annual holiday concerts.

The Training and Children’s Choirs will perform at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 16, in the Performance Hall. Tickets are $5.

The Community and Chamber Choirs will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 18, in the Performance Hall. Tickets are $5.

Greene was selected to direct the vocal ensembles following the departure of Jenny Nolan Diamond last spring when she and her family relocated to Florida. Diamond had directed the choirs since The Renaissance Center opened in 1999.

Greene was named choral director after an extensive review process that included all of the candidates meeting with and directing each choir, with members ranking the candidates.

“I am very excited about being named the new choral director at the Renaissance Center,” Greene said following his appointment last summer. “I have been impressed with the quality of musicianship that the choirs have exhibited over the years, and I look forward to working with these ensembles. I especially look forward to meeting the people who sing in the choirs and making new friendships as we work together to grow and expand the choral program.”

A Burns resident and Dickson County High School graduate, Greene has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Music Education from Austin Peay State University and is licensed by the Tennessee Department of Education as a music teacher for K-12. He is currently working on obtaining his Master’s Degree in Music Education.

He has served as director of music and youth ministries at First United Methodist Church in Dickson since 1994, where he directs seven different music ensembles, four of which are touring groups. His groups have performed in New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral, St. John the Divine, for the Pope at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice and cathedrals in Toronto and San Francisco.

While at APSU, Greene performed in operas such as The Magic Flute and Carmen, while studying under Dr. Thomas King and Dr. George Mabry. He plays the piano, trumpet, handbells and organ.

A member of United Way of Dickson County’s Board of Directors and founder and chairman of the board for Resurrector’s Mission Camp, Greene works as development and volunteer manager for the Dickson Division of Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity.

The Renaissance Center’s Training Choir (students in first-second grades) and Children’s Choir (students in third-sixth grades) will present A Children’s Christmas in Tuesday night’s concert.

The Training Choir will perform a variety of holiday songs, including Ding, Dong Merrily on High, Feliz Navidad and the always-popular Christmas song from the Chipmunks.

The Children’s Choir’s program includes a variety of sacred and secular holiday fare, from Child of Peace and Il Est Ne, Le Divin Enfant to You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch and A Charlie Brown Christmas.

The two choirs will combine to conclude the program with Christmas… In About Three Minutes.

The Renaissance Center’s children’s choral programs are free participation with auditions required for the Children’s Choir. The groups rehearse weekly and present two annual concerts.

The adult choral programs will present An Evening of Christmas Music on Thursday, Dec. 18.

The Chamber Choir, which is a smaller ensemble dedicated to performing more difficult choral pieces, presents a program of gospel songs like Go Tell It On the Mountain and classical pieces such as O Magnum Mysterium to popular seasonal music like Baby, It’s Cold Outside and a choral arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies.

The Community Choir’s program ranges from Carol of the Bells and O Little Town of Bethlehem to Mary, Did You Know? and Gloria in Excelsis.

The program concludes with a performance of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus in which all former choir members are invited to join the current ensembles.

The Renaissance Center’s adult choral programs are free participation with auditions required each fall. The groups rehearse weekly and present two annual concerts.

For more information on The Renaissance Center’s choral ensembles’ holiday concerts, call (615) 740-5600 or visit www.rcenter.org. To purchase tickets, call (615) 740-5601.

To learn more about being a part of one of the center’s choral groups, contact Greene at (615) 326-0951 or greene_chris@bellsouth.net.

The Renaissance Center is a fine arts education and performing arts center at 855 Highway 46 South in Dickson, just 35 miles west of Nashville off Interstate 40 at exit 172.

Visit the Events - Concerts and Recitals page for more about musical performances.

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