TSU Choir, Concert Chorale of Nashville to perform

Release Date: 1/30/2002. Expired: 2/4/2002

In its continuing series of free Recitals in the Rotunda, The Renaissance Center presents the Tennessee State University Choir Monday, Feb. 4, and the Concert Chorale of Nashville Monday, Feb. 18. Both recitals begin at 7 p.m.

Directed by Dr. Darryl Nettles, professor of Music at TSU and adjunct music instructor at The Renaissance Center, the TSU Choir is comprised of 57 music students, 38 of whom will perform at the recital at The Renaissance Center.

“These will be the old-timers who have been around since last semester,” Nettles said. “None of the new students will be there this time.”

Nettles said the choir will perform a “smattering of everything” from classical to spiritual.

Dedicated to making beautiful music together, the Concert Chorale of Nashville is an auditioned, 24-voice ensemble perpetuating the enrichment and education of the community through choral music.

Sherry Hill Kelly, director, founded the chorale four years ago with the express purpose of a continued commitment to the very best traditions of choral singing.

“I taught voice and was a choral conductor at Belmont University for 23 years,” Kelly said, adding that she established the CCN partly because her former students had no outlet for performing the kind of music they performed in college.

“There was a void,” she said.

Kelly said CCN is further dedicated to fostering classical music in the community and keeping choral music alive, to providing a performing outlet to music teachers and other trained singers, to developing musical talent, to providing entertainment and educational services to the public, and to serving Middle Tennessee as a cultural resource and source of civic pride.

The chorale consists of veteran choristers. Although there are some full-time professional musicians in the chorale, the group is very diverse. CCN includes music teachers, a physician, a carpenter, homemakers, professors, nurses and those from other noble professions.

“CCN consistently performs challenging works superbly, spreading chords and ringing them,” said Mark Block, bass section leader for the Nashville Symphony Chorus. “They are delightful. After the first time I heard them I wanted to hear them again, and have now been to several concerts.”

After a recent concert John Coates, director of Music at Christ Presbyterian Church, said Nashville is fortunate to have an organization of the caliber of CCN.

“CCN exquisitely performed a variety of music, delighting even the most discerning listener,” he said. “Even though they are highly professional, they display a warmth and passion for their music which is rarely seen.”

The 50-piece Trevecca Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Timothy Cierpke, will accompany the Chorale on Serenade to Music.

The concerts begin 7 p.m. in the rotunda at The Renaissance Center. Admission is free.

For more information call The Renaissance Center at (615)740-5600.

The Renaissance Center is located at 855 Highway 46 South in Dickson, just 35 minutes west of Nashville on Interstate 40 at exit 172.