FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Music professor and South Bend Chamber Singers director
Nancy Menk, right, looks over music with composer Howard
Terrell, center, and Robert Nance, conductor of the Heartland
Chamber Chorale. (Photo courtesy of Robert Nance.)
Media contact:
Gwen O’Brien
Director of Media Relations
Saint Mary's College
(574) 284-4579
May 3, 2011 (Notre Dame, Ind.)— The name Howard Terrell might not be familiar in the world of music, but it is definitely not for lack of passion. The 90-year-old composer from Howe, Ind. has been composing for decades, knowing full well that most of his music would likely never be played for an audience. Not so! Terrell has wrangled a performance for his oratorio, Sing a New Song, composed in 1987, which will be performed by the South Bend Chamber Singers (SBCS) and the Heartland Chamber Chorale (HCC) from Fort Wayne for the first time ever.
“An oratorio is a major choral and orchestral work with soloists, usually based on a Biblical subject,” said South Bend Chamber Singers director and founder Nancy Menk, professor of music at Saint Mary's College. She became involved with the work when Terrell came to her 10 years ago in an attempt to produce the oratorio. Menk did not have the resources and it was such a big work that she had no way to produce it. Two summers ago, Terrell called and met with Menk for over three hours, telling her all about his life and his music.
“By the time he left, I just felt like I had to do this,” Menk said. “I had to figure out a way to do this piece for him. I just couldn’t imagine having written all the music he had and not having the chance to hear it.”
Menk went home, played through the piece and decided it was really good music and deserved to be heard. Still, she had to figure out how exactly to go about performing it. Menk called up Robert Nance, director of the Heartland Chamber Chorale, since the HCC and the SBCS had collaborated in the past, and they decided to put the work on together. Both groups made the oratorio part of their 2010-11 concert seasons.
“Howard is so excited he can hardly stand it,” Menk said. “I’m so excited to give him this opportunity to hear his music. He finally gets to hear it at ninety years old. I admire all the work, time and dedication he put into it. A lot of composers today won’t even write a piece unless they know they’re going to have a performance of it.”
In addition to being a composer, Terrell enjoys playing instruments too. According to an October 17, 1988 article in the Sturgis Journal, the tuba, baritone horn, French horn, trombone and upright string bass are among the many instruments he can play. Terrell used to play in the Army Air Corps Band and a few Air Force Bands back in the day. He was a music teacher for over 30 years at a private military school in New York and the Howe School (formerly Howe Military Academy) in Howe, Indiana, one of the locations set to perform the oratorio in June.
The oratorio, which focuses on the New Testament and the life of Christ, birth to crucifixion, will last about an hour and half. Terrell made an orchestral reduction to make the production less expensive and more doable for Menk and Nance. The orchestra will consist of two pianos, an organ, a harp, and percussion. Both Menk and Nance will conduct the oratorio, which consists of arias, choruses, and instrumental numbers.
The oratorio is an unusual work for the SBCS, a select group of 27 male and female voices. The choir usually sings concerts consisting of shorter works. The group is comprised of members in the community who re-audition every year to remain in the choir. Auditions will be held in early September this year.
“I look for singers with a good voice and excellent music skills- a good ear and strong sight reading,” Menk said. The choir usually performs three concerts a year: one around Christmas, one in March, and usually one in the spring. Sing a New Song will be their third concert this year.
Sing a New Song will be premiered three times, in Fort Wayne on June 3, at the Howe School on June 4, and at Saint Mary’s College in O’Laughlin Auditorium on June 5. The performance at Saint Mary’s will take place at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $6 for students, $11 for faculty and staff, $13 for senior citizens and $16 for adults, and can be purchased online at moreaucenter.com.
About Saint Mary’s College: Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., is a four-year, Catholic, women’s institution offering five bachelor’s degrees and more than 30 major areas of study. Saint Mary’s College has six nationally accredited academic programs: social work, art, music, teacher education, chemistry and nursing. Saint Mary’s College ranks among the top 100 “Best National Liberal Arts Colleges” in the U.S. News & World Report 2011 College Guide. Founded in 1844, Saint Mary’s is a pioneer in the education of women, and is sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Cross.