The Claremont Chamber Choir and the Concert Choir, led by conductor Stephen Gothold, will perform “Songs of Life and Time” on Saturday, April 23, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, April 24, at 3 p.m. in Garrison Theater at the Scripps College Performing Arts Center. The Claremont Chamber Choir and the Concert Choir are composed of students from Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges and include members of the Claremont community. Both concerts are free and open to the public. For more information, please contact the Joint Music Department of the Claremont Colleges at (909) 607-3267.
The Concert Choir is a hundred-member ensemble specializing in major orchestral and choral compositions from the Baroque to the present. The choir has performed with the Atlanta Symphony, the Santa Monica Symphony, the Utah Symphony, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, as well as its regular series with the Claremont Concert Orchestra. It has been critically recognized for its beauty of tone and clarity of diction. The Concert Choir is a member of the Pacific Southwest Intercollegiate Choral Association.
The Claremont Chamber Choir, well known for its lively presentations at the annual December Madrigal Dinner at Claremont McKenna College, also represents the other constituent colleges, performing goodwill concerts for alumni, trustees, faculty, and students. Student conductors from Scripps College and the Claremont Graduate University often have the chance perform with the choir in public concerts.
Dr. Stephen Gothold served as director of choral activities at Whittier College from 1977 until 2003. Recently retired from Whittier College, he is currently serving as a visiting assistant professor of music in the Joint Music Program of The Claremont Colleges. He is the founding conductor and longtime music director of Chorale Bel Canto. Gothold is also the composer and narrator for an edition of Tajar Tales, a children’s book and audiocassette. An alumnus of Whittier College, he received is M.A. from Occidental College and Ph.D. from the University of Southern California.
The concerts are sponsored by the Joint Music Program of The Claremont Colleges, which seeks to offer many opportunities for music study and performance to music majors and other interested students who attend The Claremont Colleges. The program seeks to foster a supportive and intimate environment in order to stimulate productive means of personal and artistic fulfillment for the students involved.