Saratoga Choral Festival presents a concert for children

Join us this July for the sixteenth season of the Saratoga Choral Festival. Singers will meet for rehearsals over a three-week period in Saratoga Springs beginning Tuesday, July 12th, and will perform in a concert open to the public at the SPA LITTLE THEATER on Sunday, July 31st, at 3:00 p.m. This summer's performance celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Performing Arts Center in a concert of music written for an audience of children featuring a semi-staged production of the extremely popular Magic Tree House- The Musical. Rehearsals are part of a three-week workshop. Also included on the program will be setting of children's songs Kitty Alone, Byem Bye, Goin to Boston, and Buffalo gals by Alice Parker in celebration of her 90th birthday, Sing a Song of Sixpence by John Rutter, and the Never-Ending Song, a Young Person?s Guide to the Choir, and more. The Magic Tree House: The Musical is based on the popular series of children's books by Mary Pope Osborne. By special permission from Ms. Pope and composer Randy Courts, the Choir has obtained the rights to perform music from the show that has seen sold out performances for its national tour. Several musical selections have been adapted for chorus, and special guest performers from the Saratoga Childrens Theater will provide extra speaking roles and also sing with the choir. This will be a brand new adaptation of the musical. The Saratoga Choral Festival began in 2001. The chorus has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Mahler's 3rd Symphony with the Harlem Boys Choir at SPAC, with Charles Dutoit conducting. Previous seasons have featured music ranging from Bach'Magnificat with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Gretchaninov's Liturgia Domestica to performances of the music of Karl Jenkins, Dave Brubeck, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland and a 2015 special celebration for the Saratoga Springs Centennial. Performances are held in the Spa Little Theater, the summer home of Opera Saratoga and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in Saratoga Spa State Park.