{"id":180231,"date":"2023-01-18T17:07:54","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T01:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eugeneweekly.com\/?p=188784"},"modified":"2023-01-18T17:07:54","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T01:07:54","slug":"continuing-the-legacy-of-courage-hope-and-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/18\/continuing-the-legacy-of-courage-hope-and-joy\/","title":{"rendered":"Continuing The Legacy Of Courage, Hope and Joy"},"content":{"rendered":"

It performs as a full choir just twice a year, so now would be a great time to take in the melodic voices of the Women\u2019s Choral Society.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under the direction of Melissa Brunkan, the choir\u2019s 18th conductor overall and third woman to hold the position since the organization\u2019s first performance in 1935, the 65-strong WCS on Jan. 22 takes on the works of Ron Kean, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Vivaldi in <\/span>Courage, Hope, Joy \u2014 Women\u2019s Choral Society Winter Concert 2023<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kean\u2019s four-movement <\/span>American Mass<\/span><\/i>, which opens the concert, combines the formality of traditional Latin choral music with the enthusiasm of American gospel music.<\/span><\/p>\n

From there, University of Oregon School of Music and Dance students Grace Miller and Emma Jones \u2014 who are this year\u2019s recipients of the WCS Densmore Scholarship Fund \u2014 take center stage with arias. Miller will sing \u201cVedrai Carino\u201d from <\/span>Don Giovanni<\/span><\/i>, and Jones sings \u201cSposa Son Disprezzata\u201d\u00a0 from <\/span>Bajazet<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

As is its custom, the WCS program is eclectic and fun. Besides the formal fare, there are contemporary works by the likes of Dolly Parton (\u201cLight of a Clear Blue Morning\u201d), American folk and blues singer Lead Belly (\u201cBring Me Little Water, Silvy\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n

Also featured are works by Consuelo Velazquez and Jim Papoulis as well as compositions from rising composers May Erlewine and Elaine Hagensberg.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

WCS got its start when Maud Densmore was approached in 1934 with the idea of establishing a women\u2019s choir in Eugene. Densmore took the idea to patrons at Mu Phi Epsilon, a co-ed international professional music fraternity, which said yes to funding the project.<\/span><\/p>\n

With funds secured, more than 300 women applied for the choir, and 110 were accepted. They gathered on April 18, 1935, at the UO for the very first concert. It cleared $161.20, according to the WCS website. Densmore was the pianist who accompanied the choir. For the past 20 years, the pianist for WCS has been Vicki Brabham, a staple of Eugene\u2019s music scene.<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the year, a smaller ensemble of WCS \u2014 the 14-member traveling company called Grace Notes \u2014 reaches out to the community, as the WCS website notes, as \u201cambassadors of musical fun,\u201d going to retirement and long-term care facilities as well as for community groups. Brabham is the director and accompanist.<\/span><\/p>\n

Courage, Hope, Joy \u2014 Women\u2019s Choral Society Winter Concert 2023<\/span> is 3 pm Sunday, Jan. 22, at Beall Concert Hall at the University of Oregon. $8-$16. Proceeds go to the Densmore Scholarship Fund for UO music students. More information about the Women\u2019s Choral Society is at WomensChoralSociety.org.<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It performs as a full choir just twice a year, so now would be a great time to take in the melodic voices of the \u2026 Continue reading\u00a0\u2192<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89,3,101,83,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts","category-blog","category-ew-extra","category-music","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180231\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}