Concert Schedule

(Confirmed concert dates are listed here when scheduled.)

Tapestry presents a Christmas concert of German sacred choral music and seasonal carols on Saturday, December 17, 2011, 7:00pm at St. James Episcopal Church, 9 Williams Street, Clinton, NY, 13323. Admission, at the door, will be $10.00 for adults, $5.00 for senior citizens and students. We suggest an early arrival. Parking is limited and, on Williams Street, is available on the west side only. Additional parking is available on adjacent streets or in the village parking lots on College Street or at the corner of Fountain Street and South Park Row.

Tapestry will also sing a service of Lessons and Carols for Advent on Sunday, November 27, 2011, at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 12 1/2 Madison Street, Hamilton, NY. The service begins at 10:00 am.

Auditions

Auditions have been completed and all choral parts for this season filled. If you wish to audition for a future season, please email: tapestrysings25@gmail.com

Candidates should have classical choral experience, good sight reading skills, and live in the central New York area.

Rehearsals are held each Tuesday evening at 6:30pm in Clinton, NY. Rehearsals and concerts are scheduled throughout the year. Tapestry usually does not meet during the month of August.

Singers

Howard Amann

Howard started singing seriously in high school and has been singing ever since. Along the way he had voice lessons that enabled him, occasionally, to do solo work. Although trained as a bass/baritone (at times, having sung basso profundo), in Tapestry Howard sings tenor or bass, as needed. He is a family physician with "a great family, a bunch of hobbies and a love of the outdoors."

Margaret M. Bornick **

A Clinton Native, Margaret began singing in her church choir and has broadened her singing horizons with the Utica Community Chorus, The Clinton Community Chorus and the Hamilton College Oratorio Society. She assists the St. Thomas Episcopal Church choir (Hamilton) for special festival occasions. Margaret is a Tapestry Co-founder and sings alto.

Thomas E. Brackett *

Tom is a Maine native with extensive vocal experience, starting in a boy's church choir at the age of six. Locally he has sung at the Earlville Opera House and in the Sherburne Community Chorus and in the Hamilton College Community Oratorio Society. He has sung at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center under the direction of Robert Shaw and Eugene Ormandy, and continues to sing tenor in the Choir of St. Thomas Church, Hamilton, as well as with Tapestry.

Suzanne B. Bryere

Suzanne enjoys her job as a Civil Engineer, but her passion is singing. She began

singing in school and church choirs and then moved on to various ensembles such as the Oneida Area Civic Chorale, Sweet Adeline's and the Mohawk Valley Chorale Society to name a few. She currently sings Alto and Second Soprano with the Grace Episcopal Church Choir, the Hamilton College and Community Oratorio Society and most recently, Tapestry.

Brian Collett

After singing counter-tenor with various college choral societies in Cambridge, England, Brian switched continents and voice parts to mostly sing baritone with the chapel choir during his graduate work in Physics at Princeton. For three years in the DC area he sang tenor with and directed the NIH madrigal singers and sang with a small semi-professional group specialising in15th century polyphony. He has been a Physics professor at Hamilton College since 1986 where he has sung with the Oratorio Society and the College Hill Camerata. He has also sung minor and major roles in local musical productions and Gilbert & Sullivan operettas.

Katherine Collett

Katherine has sung in choirs and madrigal groups at Wellesley College, Cambridge University, Princeton University, and Gaithersburg, Maryland before coming to Clinton. Here, she has sung with the Hamilton College and Community Oratorio Society, Camerata, in the chorus of Scrooge, Oliver, Evita, and several Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, and in St. James' Church Choir. She joined Tapestry in 1996 and sings alto and second soprano.

Ted Fondak

Ted, a baritone and wannabe Music major, is an alumnus of Vassar College, where he sang in the Mixed Choir, a group of sixty choristers, under the direction of Christine Howlett and the Madrigals Ensemble, a group of sixteen singers, under the direction of Drew Minter. Ted also studied voice at Vassar (and Hamilton College,) but really just loves being a chorister. Ted came to Clinton three years ago and has had the good fortune to find many opportunities to create music in the area: he currently sings in the Oratorio Society under the direction of Rob Kolb, has participated in a Gilbert and Sullivan opera directed by Rob, and performed in concerts in Old Forge and Washington, D.C. He is very thankful for the opportunity to sing in Tapestry.

Alan Frederick

Alan received his Bachelor of Music Degree from SUC at Potsdam, and his Master of Music Degree from Florida State University. In both colleges he performed with select choral groups, opera, and opera workshops. From 1981 to 1994 he served as Director of the Clinton Community Chorus. He currently plays trombone in the Utica College Band. A Tapestry member since 1994, he also sings with the Westminster Presbyterian Church Choir, and rings in the handbell choir. Alan serves as Tapestry's Assistant Director.

Richard Frost *

Dick, Tapestry's esteemed bard and author of "I Never Saw a Silver Swan" sings bass. As a student he performed musicals and barbershop at Swarthmore College, and oratorios in the city chorus of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Locally he sang with the Hamilton College Oratorio Society and the Colgate University Chorus. Dick spends several month in Santa Fe, NM, where he has sung with the Santa Fe Symphony Chorus, the Santa Fe Men's Camarata and the Canticum Novum and is a regular member of the choir of Church of the Holy Faith.

Molly Glesmann *

A Boonville native, Molly graduated from Crane School, SUNY Potsdam where she participated in the 1980 Winter Olympic Chorus. Molly has sung with the Saratoga-Potsdam Choral Institute and, in Germany, with the Duesseldorf Chamber Ensemble. She presently teaches instrumental music in the Utica Parochial Schools and sings soprano with Tapestry.

Terry HoutzNeil

Terry grew up in Lewiston, New York and has always been involved with music, especially in the church. She graduated from SUNY Oswego with a BA in Music and German and continued her music studies at the University of Buffalo where she sang in ensemble groups and performed in summer workshops. Terry has taught voice, piano, guitar and has directed youth and adult choirs. She currently sings in St. James Episcopal Church choir and sings soprano or alto with Tapestry.

Deborah J. Knuth Klenck

Debbie grew up in Queens, NY, and studied voice at Smith College with Dorothy Stahl. She has sung in ensembles of various sizes at both Yale and Oxford Universities. A member of the English Department at Colgate, she has also performed with the Earlville Opera House Summer Savoyards. Debbie sometimes persuades her husband, Thomas Klenck, to join Tapestry’s instrumental ensemble playing harpsichord, viol or recorder.

Lauralyn Kolb

Lauralyn Kolb holds degrees in music from Occidental College and Smith College, and has appeared throughout the United States as a recitalist, oratorio, and opera singer. She has been a Lecturer in Voice at Hamilton College since 1981, and also taught voice at Colgate University for nineteen years. Her love of ensemble singing began in the East Bakersfield High School Chamber Singers under the direction of Robert G. Hasty, and was further nurtured by singing with Howard Swan, Iva Dee Hiatt, and G. Roberts Kolb.

Onno Oerlemans

Onno was born in The Netherlands, moveing to Canada when he was four, and began

singing in my mother's very small-town choirs at seven. He has sung with the Hamilton Oratorio Society, the Ottawa Choral Society, the Victoria Choral Society, St George's Cathedral Choir (Kingston), and many others. Onno is a Professor of English at Hamilton College. When not singing or teaching, he enjoys cycling on the lovely roads around Clinton, or cross-country skiing.

Fred Wiginton

Fred has been singing all of his life - from church and community choirs to select school groups including conference allstate choirs. After singing with the St. Lawrence University Chorus and a children's entertainment quartet in Massena, Fred moved to the Mohawk Valley and recently started singing with the Oratorio Society at Hamilton College. While enjoying a career as a quality manager in manufacturing, Fred enjoys classical music as one of many hobbies. Fred Sings tenor with Tapestry.

E. Adger Williams

Adger has sung with the Caltech madrigal singers (without attending Caltech), and Holland Michigan's Consort of Voices. He has played the violin since the tender age of six, and recorders since slightly later. A graduate of Princeton and UCLA in such fascinating yet somehow useless fields as Chinese history and Slavic linguistics. Adger sings in Tapestry’s tenor section and occasionally masquerades as an alto.

** Founders
* Charter Members

Musical Director: G. Roberts Kolb, Ph.D.

Tapestry is pleased to welcome G. Roberts Kolb as our Director of Music.

G. Roberts Kolb is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Music at Hamilton College, where he is a past holder of the Christian A. Johnson “Excellence in
Teaching” Chair. A graduate of Occidental College, his postgraduate education includes a year of study at the School of Theology at Claremont, California, a master's degree in Choral Conducting from the California State University at Fullerton, and a doctorate in Choral Music from the University of Illinois. He is a contributing author to Up Front! Becoming the Complete Choral Conductor (E. C. Schirmer) and Five Centuries of Choral Music (Pendragon Press).

Before coming to Hamilton College in 1981, Dr. Kolb taught at Smith College, where he conducted the Smith Choirs and Glee Club. Past musical director of both the Syracuse Vocal Ensemble and the Cayuga Vocal Ensemble (Ithaca, N.Y.), he is director of music at the Stone Presbyterian Church in Clinton, N.Y. Also active in the
musical theatre world, he has directed Gilbert and Sullivan productions for the
Earlville Opera House, served as musical director for the Hartford Players Youth
Theatre, and been musical director for several Summerstage productions at the
Rome Capitol Theatre. Onstage roles include Cervantes/Don Quixote (Man of La
Mancha), Sweeney Todd (Sweeney Todd), The Lord Chancellor (Iolanthe), The
Cowardly Lion (The Wizard of Oz), Henry Higgins (My Fair Lady), Nicely-Nicely
Johnson (Guys and Dolls), and Captain Hook (Peter Pan).

Madrigal Introductions: "I Never Saw A Silver Swan"

"I never saw a silver swan.
They rarely come that color.
The swans I know are white as snow
Or black and oh so duller."

So begins the introduction to the quintessential madrigal, "The Silver Swan", by Orlando Gibbons. Poetic madrigal introductions are one of Tapestry's most popular and unique performance traditions.

I Never Saw A Silver Swan: Poetic Introductions to Madrigals of the Renaissance, 1530 - 1630, a collection of madrigal introductions written by Richard H. Frost, Tapestry's Bard and a charter member of the ensemble, is now in print. The book includes introductions for 146 madrigals (including the entire Oxford Book of English Madrigals), and a score of additional generic introductions and "interludes". The composers are primarily English and Italian, with several French madrigalists. Among the leading composers are Thomas Morley, Orlando di Lasso, Thomas Weelkes, John Wilbye, Orlando Gibbons, Claudio Monteverdi, William Byrd, and Clement Janequin. Here is a delightful example:

Thomas Morley, "My Bonny Lass She Smileth"

My lady says that I'm a fool
And turns a cool fish-eye to me.
Now I, more surely fool than she,
Can better judge a fool to be.
And any youth who asks his love
To smile less oft upon his face
For fear he'll burn too much, or trace
His path from carnal, temporal grace
In truth's a greater fool than I,
Whom love may lash, but cannot fry.
And so we'll sing a Morley tune
For those who fear love's crushing boon.

Tapestry is offering to share these introductions with other choral ensembles that enjoy performing Renaissance polyphonic music. The single copy price of I Never Saw A Silver Swan, ordered by a college, university or other non-profit organization, is $19.95 plus $4.95 for USPS priority mailing, a total of $24.90. Orders by individuals may require additional sales tax. Please contact us for that amount. We regret that we cannot accept credit card orders.

Telephone inquiries can be made to 315 853-6282. Click on the following link to send an email message: tapestrysings25@gmail.com

Make your check payable to:
Tapestry - The All-Centuries Singers

Mail to:
Tapestry, 3298 Craig Road, Clinton, NY 13323.


Here is a brief video of author Richard Frost delivering his first introduction, "To Shorten Winter's Sadness".

How to engage Tapestry

Polyphonic choral music is alive and well in Central New York!

Your church could plan a Service of Lessons and Carols for Advent for your congregation and community. Tapestry could enliven your organization's meeting or banquet with a madrigal program, presented by costumed singers. You might prefer a full concert, including motets and madrigals by the finest early music composers.

To schedule a Tapestry performance, please contact Alan Frederick, our Business Manager. He will negotiate a performance fee based on the program length and travel distance. After consulting the ensemble about their availability, he will contact you and discuss the details of the performance.

TAPESTRY – The All Centuries Singers
Alan Frederick, Business Manager
10497 Cosby Manor Road
Utica, NY 13502 USA

Phone 315.732.8483
E-mail: ALANNEM@roadrunner.com

History

Tapestry first rehearsed at Trinity Lutheran Church in Utica, NY, with Director Peter Carole. JoElyn Wakefield Wright became our director shortly before we accepted the Kirkland Art Center's offer of rehearsal space and moved to Clinton. Currently we meet at St. James Episcopal Church in Clinton, where we have often presented Christmas Concerts. We thank the Vestry and the Rector of St. James for their hospitality.

One of our early performances, for an American Guild of organists meeting, was held during a Central New York sleet storm. The Audience that evening barely outnumbered the singers. By contrast we sang for hundreds at the Welsh National Gymnafa Ganu in Utica's Stanley Theater. No matter where we sing, our a cappella music and our costumed madrigal presentations are well received.

While most community-based choral groups plan two or more completely different concerts each year, Tapestry has become a repertoire company, with a lengthy list of sacred and secular songs. This allows us to accept singing engagements with fairly short notice, by choosing music that requires a minimum amount of rehearsal time.

We have been invited to sing at many different venues. Here is a greatly abbreviated list of past concert sites:

American Guild of Organists Regional Convention, Pittsfield, MA
B# Club, Utica, NY
Chenango Festival, Hamilton, NY
Christ Episcopal Church, Cooperstown, NY
Christmas Candlelight Weekend, Farmer's Museum, Cooperstown, NY
Cobleskill Performing Arts Series, Cobleskill, NY
Earlville Opera House, Earlville, NY
Kirkland Art Center, Clinton, NY
Lorenzo State Historic Site, Cazenovia, NY
Mohawk Valley Center For The Arts, Little Falls, NY
Munson Williams Proctor Art Institute, Utica, NY
Old Forge Art Center, Old Forge, NY
Remsen Barn Festival of the Arts, Remsen, NY
Rome Art and Community Center, Rome, NY
Rome Taste of the Arts, Rome, NY
St. James Episcopal Church, Clinton
St. Malachy's Roman Catholic Church, Sherburne, NY
St. Stephen's Church, Syracuse, NY
St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Hamilton, NY
Stone Presbyterian Church, Clinton, NY
Unity Hall, Barneveld, NY
Welsh National Gymnafa Ganu, Utica, NY

Of course we'll never forget our trips abroad: Spain in 1988, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Hungary in 1991, and, in 1993, Quebec City, Canada, where for four days we sang to enthusiastic crowds at Les Médiévales de Québec.