Pioneer Valley Symphony: Alice Parker Festival
$15-$35 sliding scale ($5 student/youth)
- Pioneer Valley Symphony Chorus
- Allegra Martin, conductor
- Brattleboro Concert Choir
- Jonathan W. Harvey, conductor
- Da Camera Singers
- Sheila Heffernon, conductor
- Illumine Vocal Arts Ensemble
- Arianne G. Abela, conductor
- Keene State College Chamber Singers
- Sandra Howard, conductor
- Mount Holyoke College Chorale
- Colin Britt, conductor
- South Hadley Chorale
- Anita Anderson-Cooper, conductor
Alice Parker, a renowned figure in choral music with a passion for melody, wrote many operas, song-cycles, cantatas, works for chorus and orchestra, choral suites, and original hymns. She also arranged spirituals, hymns, and folk songs, including French, Spanish, Hebrew, and Latino folk songs, many of which have become part of the repertoire of choirs around the world. A lifelong resident of Massachusetts, Parker had strong ties to the Valley, including being a Smith College alumna. She passed away at her home in Hawley on December 24, 2023 at the age of 98.
On February 22, 300+ singers from seven local choirs will fill the beautiful Abbey Chapel at Mount Holyoke College for an afternoon celebrating Alice Parker’s prolific body of work and her dedication to music, language, and the singing voice.
The Alice Parker Festival is organized by the PVS under the leadership of Chorus Director Dr. Allegra Martin and hosted by Mount Holyoke College under the leadership of Dr. Colin Britt.
Concert length is approximately 2 hours with a 15 minute intermission.
About Allegra Martin, conductor
About Jonathan W. Harvey, conductor
About Arianne G. Abela, conductor
About Keene State College Chamber Singers
https://dept.keene.edu/music/ensembles/chamber-singers-ensemble/
About Sandra Howard, conductor
About Mount Holyoke College Chorale
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/academics/arts-mount-holyoke/music-ensembles/choral-ensembles
About Colin Britt, conductor
About Anita Anderson-Cooper, conductor
Anita Anderson Cooper received degrees from Westminster College, Boston University and Delta State University. She has worked as a professional musician, conductor and performer and has taught classes at Manhattan School of Music in New York City and Smith College. She is a frequent soloist and guest conductor throughout New England and has premiered many new vocal compositions including Willis Bridegam's Robert Frost cycle and seven Emily Dickinson settings performed for the re-dedication of the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst. She has received four National Endowment for the Humanities grants including time to study Mozart's music in Vienna, Austria and the Blues, Gospel and Spirituals in the Mississippi Delta and Voting/Civil Rights in Selma and Montgomery, AL. She completed her first program of composed songs, "Snapshots of Civil Rights," in 2019 and her song cycle of the poet Dr. Gloria House (Aneb Kgostisile) was premiered in July, 2022 at Sevenars Music Festival. More of her original music is available on the YouTube channel Anita Anderson Coooper Music.
Her many choral ensembles have won MICCA Gold Medals and her Amherst Chorale and Hurricane Singers won the WGBY television series Together in Song four years straight and WGBY produced an Emmy-nominated special We Sang to the Top about her work with the ensemble.
Abbey Chapel and Interfaith Sanctuary at Mount Holyoke College
50 College StSouth Hadley, MA 01075
United States