Favorite Links

Berkshire-Hudson Singing

The internet clearinghouse for choral music in the Berkshire hills and the Pioneer and Hudson valleys.

Vox / In Camera

A classical music calendar, reviews and previews of events in northeast New York, western Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont – within a two-hour drive of SUNY-Albany.

Cyberbass

Free rehearsal tracks.

Past Repertoire

Programs we have presented over the past ELEVEN years:

2010-2011 Season Britten “Saint Nicolas” and “Te Deum” in C Kodaly “Missa Brevis” and Carissimi “Jepthe” Brahms “Liebesleider” Waltzes and More   2009-2010 Season “Krestliedjes and Noels” Handel’s Messiah (Parts II and III) “Every Time I Feel the Spirit”   2008-2009 Season “Regards to Broadway” Mozart “Requiem” “Rhyme and Rime” (Vermont poets)   2007-2008 Season “Christmas with the Masters” (Bach, Buxtehude and more) Honegger “King David” “These Green Hills” (Vermont composers)   2006-2007 Season “Kids, Carols and Tubas” Rossini “Petite Messe Solonelle” “P.D.Q. Pops”   2005-2006 Season “Hail! Bright Cecilia” Mozart “Vespers”-Brahms “Nanie” and more “A Night at the Opera”   2004-2005 Season Bach “Christmas Oratorio” part 1 Vaughan Williams “Dona Nobis Pacem” “Rhythm and Spirit”   2003-2004 Season “Carols, Noels and Villancicos” Haydn “Creation” “Folk Music of the British Isles”   2002-2003 Season “Handel!” Durufle “Requiem” and Vaughan Williams “Mystical Songs” “Topsy-Turvydom”   2001-2002 Season “Wolcum Yole!” “Psalms and Prayers” with Bernstein “Chichester” “Passport”   2000-2001 Season “What Child is This?” Mendelssohn “Elijah” “All’s Well”

RECORDINGS!

Did you know?

CD recordings of many of our concerts are available for sale!

For details, contact Joel Patterson, 216 Goodell Road, Petersburgh, NY 12138 [telephone (518) 658-9549; e-mail: mountaintop@taconic.net].  The price, $15 per copy, postage-paid (but please be sure to ask about any recent changes in these terms).

Our Director

 

Edwin T. Lawrence first conducted the Bennington County Choral Society in 1976.  Since that time, he has conducted the group in performances of works from the ninth to the twenty-first centuries, including a special performance of Poulenc’s Gloria and Carmina Burana with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.

 

Mr. Lawrence has taught at Bennington College and is presently an adjunct instructor of keyboard instruments and a teaching assistant at Williams College.  He is also Minister of Music for the First Congregational Church in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

 

Mr. Lawrence also enjoys a career as a composer: Vermont orchestras, chamber music groups and singing groups of all ages have delighted in his music for over two decades. Six of his songs were chosen as part of a concert to represent the State of Vermont at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the Bicentennial. He was a founding member of the Consortium of Vermont Composers.

Giving

GIVING to the Bennington County Choral Society

YOUR financial support is critical to our success!

We are eager to welcome you as a contributor. Your tax-deductible contribution will assist us in purchasing music, covering advertising and program printing costs, paying our conductor, and hiring a rehearsal accompanist, concert orchestra and soloists. 

The value of your contribution doesn’t end there, however. A portion of your donation also fosters the development of young musical talent. Scholarships for musical study are awarded each year to area high school students through the BCCS Music Scholarship competition. 

PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY! 

And be assured that the applause you hear at our concerts will be not only for the performers but for you as well–as a proud supporter of the local choral arts! The Bennington County Choral Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation; your contributions are tax deductible.

For additional information, please write us at P.O. Box 44/Bennington,VT 05201

About Us

The primary focus of the Bennington County Choral Society is to promote choral singing. 

 

This goal is accomplished by presenting three concerts each season.  Members hail from Bennington County and towns in Western Massachusetts, and neighboring New York State. The BCCS is open to all ages and singing/reading abilities; auditions are not required to join. Members are expected to bring a love of singing, and are asked to pay dues of $25.00 per concert. The BCCS encourages future generations of musicians in practice of musicianship by granting the BCCS Music Scholarships. A competition is held in the spring, allowing students to compete before a panel of judges for prize money and for constructive comment. The BCCS takes great pride in the numbers of previous winners who return to enrich the musical life of the community.

How to Join Us

Rehearsals begin in September, January and April of each concert season.  Details will be posted here, or you may contact us by mail (P.O. Box 44, Bennington, VT 05201).  Watch the local paper for announcements.  The chorus normally rehearses at 7:30 PM on Monday evenings at the Second Congregational Church, Hillside Street, Bennigton.  First rehearsals begin at 7:00 PM to allow time for registration.

Regular attendance is expected and required.  Dues are payable at the first rehearsal, but your participation is important to us.  If you are unable to pay, please speak to the current Membership Director, the Treasurer or the President and we will make arrangements to help.