Intergenerational choir performance comes to Norfolk

NORFOLK — The Litchfield County Choral Union will be joined by a younger generation of singers for a collaborative concert Friday, May 22, at the Battell Chapel.

Beginning at 7 p.m., the Torrington High School Select Chorus will perform alongside the 127-year old singing institution for a “high quality, high energy” program, according to LCCU President Felix Graham-Jones.

Graham-Jones said the event – a new addition to the group’s calendar this year – is meant to encourage a new generation of singers to get involved with the historic choir.

While the group’s member retention remains strong, he said, the choir’s next challenge is to attract new talent.

“I’m in my eighth decade, and I’m one of the young ones!” he said with a laugh. “We really need to be reaching into a younger demographic and building, building, building.”

He said he hopes to make the event a yearly fixture in the LCCU’s annual schedule, which centers around a summer performance in Norfolk’s historic Music Shed, a 1906 concert hall that is also used as a venue for the Yale University-hosted Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.

Friday evening’s performance will feature individual performances by each choir before culminating in a combined rendition of “Freedom Trilogy,” a piece written by renowned composer and choral conductor Paul Halley.

The piece was written for the acclaimed Farmington-based children’s choir Chorus Angelicus, founded by Halley in 1991.

“It’s a very clever piece of writing,” Graham-Jones said.

He explained it combines three sources – European plainsong, African chant, and the hymn “Amazing Grace” – into what he described as a “crowd-pleaser” for both singers and audience members alike.

“It’s absolutely rewarding to be involved,” he said of performing the work, “especially if you’ve got a bunch of energetic, young voices getting excited behind the African chant.”

The performance will be directed by LCCU Music Director Gabriel Löfvall, who also serves as the music director for the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford and the artistic director behind Chorus Angelicus.

Graham-Jones said Löfvall’s experience with the piece itself and working with youth choirs positions the upcoming collaboration well for success, and will set the groundwork for future collaborations with the younger choirs throughout the Northwest Corner.