The Claremont Conce rt Orchestra and Concert Choir, led respectively by conductors Michael Deane Lamkin and Anna DeMichele, will perform Bach’s Magnificat and Brahms’ Symphony #3 on December 13, at 8:00 p.m., and December 14, at 3:00 p.m. in Garrison Theater at the Scripps College Performing Arts Center. The Claremont Orchestra and Concert Choir are composed of students from Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer and Scripps Colleges and 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.
Representing an ensemble of student musicians from four of The Claremont Colleges and sponsored through the Joint Music Program, the Claremont Concert Orchestra is conducted by Michael Deane Lamkin, professor of music and dean of the faculty at Scripps College, and the Concert Choir is led by Anna DeMichele, professor of music at Scripps College. The Bach Magnificat will feature soloists MaryBeth Haag, soprano; Jane O’Donnell, mezzo-soprano; Graydon Beeks, tenor; Wayne Shepperd, bass; and Paul R. Bishop, organ.
The Claremont Concert Orchestra numbers 88, while the Concert Choir includes 80 members. The orchestra and choir present four large concerts annually, each concert presented twice, for a total of eight performances.
Dr. Lamkin conducts the annual concert series, which has included Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Haydn’s Creation, and Mozart’s Requiem, among others. As current managing director of Classic Music Festival in Einstadt, Austria, Lamkin frequently conducts opera, choral, and orchestral performances in Austria, Germany, and the United States. Lamkin received his B.M.E. and M.M. from Baylor University and his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa.
Dr. DeMichele is also part of the music departments of both Scripps and Claremont Graduate University, and an assistant professor of music for the Joint Music Program. In addition, she is a frequent guest conductor, vocalist, and choral and vocal adjudicator throughout Southern California. DeMichele previously taught music and conducting courses at Fullerton College, and Mt. San Antonio College. DeMichele received her B.M. from California State University, Long Beach and both her M.A. and D.M.A. from Claremont Graduate University.
The winter concert is 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.
The Scripps College Performing Arts Center, opened in October of 2003, houses teaching studios, sound-proof practice rooms with pianos, staff and faculty offices, a recording studio, the Nancy Hart Glanville Music Library, the MaryLou and George Boone Recital Hall, Lee Pattison Court, as well as the newly-renovated mainstage, Garrison Theater.