Bellevue Chamber Chorus: The Bellevue Spirit of Music Past, Present, & Future
$20 ($15 senior, $10 student ages 13 & over, $5 ages 12 & under)
- Ben Luedcke, conductor
Kyle Pederson — Can We Sing the Darkness to Light
André J. Thomas — I Hear America Singing
Elaine Hagenberg — Refuge
Traditional — Over My Head (arr. Adam Todd & Matt Todd; trad. spiritual)
Marianne Forman — The Gift to Sing
Josef Rheinberger — Lockung, Op. 25
Alice Parker / Traditional — Hark! I Hear the Harps Eternal
Franz Joseph Haydn — Die Schöpfung ("The Creation"), Hob. XXI:2 ("The Heavens are Telling")
Eric William Barnum — Dawn
Shawn Kirchner / Traditional — Bright Morning Stars (trad. Appalachian)
Frank Ticheli — There Will Be Rest
Join us for our final concert of our 40th season in which we sing of the past, present, and future! We are thrilled to be joined by former Artistic Director, Dr. Fred Lokken, who will lead the Bellevue Chamber Chorus and alumni singers as we ponder where music first came from, sing of past glories, and celebrate the sounds of the making of heaven and earth. Come enjoy all life has to offer as the tunes of ancient times that reside deep in our collective subconscious compel us to live life to its fullest. In the present tense, we celebrate the gift that music brings to our lives and the power it has to stir our feet and inflame our hearts. Looking ahead to the future, we uphold young artists as we collaborate and support student instrumentalists and present the winner of our Student Composer Competition. Join us for a night of celebration as we close forty years of choral singing and look forward to many more!
This program will receive two in-person performances:
- Saturday, May 18, 7:30pm at First Congregational Church of Bellevue
- Sunday, May 19, 2024, 3pm at Emmanuel Episcopal Church on Mercer Island
It will also be streamed online on Saturday, June 1.
About Bellevue Chamber Chorus
Bellevue Chamber Chorus, founded in 1984, performs a minimum of three major concerts each season, encompassing a variety of choral literature from the classical standards and contemporary works to world music, Broadway hits, and vocal jazz. The Chorus often joins other ensembles in performances of major choral/orchestral works, such as Mozart’s Vespers and Requiem, Faure’s Requiem, Verdi’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Brahms’ Requiem, Rutter's Mass of the Children, and Ariel Ramirez' Misa por la Paz y la Justicia. The ensemble has premiered works by regional composers, including commissioned works for the Washington State Centennial Celebration, the grand opening of the Theatre at Meydenbauer Center, a special 20th anniversary season commissioned piece, That Music Always Round Me, by Seattle composer, John Muehleisen, and co-commissions of pieces by Andre Thomas and Eric Whitacre. The Chorus has released three CDs, “Timeframes”, “Retrospective”, and our 2013 holiday CD, “Christmas Visions, Winter Dreams”. Bellevue Chamber Chorus tours often and has performed in Carnegie Hall, various locations in Europe, the International Music Festival (2000) in Sydney, Australia, and twice at the invitational Kathaumixw International Choral Festival in Powell River, British Columbia, where they won first place in 2008 in the adult mixed chorus category. Other performances include the Leavenworth International Choral Festival, the international “Rolling Requiem” in memory of September 11th, as one of the regional choruses in the NEA sponsored American Masterpieces Choral Festival in Seattle, and in Kelowna, B.C. as part of the Okanogan Choral Society Series. The Chorus toured the south of France in the summer of 2017 and participated in the 22nd International Choir Festival in Provence, and the 9th International Choir Festival in Aveyron. The Chorus has been selected as one of only six choirs to perform in a special GSCC event “Welcome Home Morten Lauridsen” in October 2019. Bellevue Chamber Chorus has active memberships in the Bellevue Downtown Association, Greater Seattle Choral Consortium (GSCC) and Chorus America. The Chorus is supported in part by the Bellevue Arts Commission and 4Culture.
http://bellevuechamberchorus.org/About Ben Luedcke, conductor
Ben Luedcke is in his fifth season with the Bellevue Chamber Chorus, as he began as Artistic Director in 2019. Ben is also the Minister of Music at Seattle First Baptist Church in downtown Seattle. He is currently finishing his Doctorate of Musical Arts at University of Washington and he has held teaching positions in the choral, musicology, and English departments.
Before moving to Washington, Ben was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Monmouth College, where he conducted the Monmouth Chorale and Chamber Choir. Ben has also served as faculty at Grinnell College, where he conducted both the Grinnell Singers and the Grinnell Oratorio Society. Ben is known in Madison, Wisconsin for several of his startup organizations: he was the co-founder and director of Voces Aestatis, a Wisconsin-based professional choir that specialized in the a cappella repertoire of the sixteenth century. Likewise, Ben was the founder and artistic director of Madison Summer Choir, a community chorus that performed large orchestral works. He lives in Seattle with his wife, Vanessa, and their two dogs, Luthor and Oona.
https://bellevuechamberchorus.org/about/#artistic-director