A Haydn Mass to Draw the Masses

VOICES Chorale hosts its ‘Summer Open Sing’ at Music Together in Hopewell.

By: Rachel Marx

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Alison Davy will be a featured soloist at VOICES Chorale’s "Summer Open Sing" at Music Together in Hopewell.


   Do you ever want to go back to ’98? 1798, that is. Well, if you don’t happen to have a DeLorean on hand, try sheet music.
   Hopewell’s VOICES Chorale invites choral music lovers to its second "Summer Open Sing" for an informal read-through of Joseph Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Aug. 16 at Music Together in Hopewell. Back by popular demand, soprano Alison Davy will grace the musical notes penned by Haydn at the end of the 18th century. Richard Garrin, music director of the Summit Chorale, will be the guest-conductor alongside VOICES’ own conductor and music director Lynne Ransom.
   The sing will offer the opportunity to hone sight-reading skills and work on vocal technique. If that isn’t enticing enough already, an ice-cream social following the event is a place to meet new friends and catch up with longtime buddies.
   "It’s a chance for people in the community to come home after work and create something beautiful instead of, say, watching ‘Gilmore Girls’ reruns," Ms. Davy says. "I like to think of the score as a sort of road map. People who have never uttered a word to each other can sing an oratorio together."
   Ms. Davy describes the Lord Nelson Mass as "a very exuberant, joyful piece," which is right up her alley as a lyric coloratura soprano. The title, she says, tells of her penchant for "vibrant, clean, fast-moving notes." She thinks that everyone can enjoy Classical music —"with a capital C," she says, laughing, "meaning that it’s from the Classical period. It’s very lively and accessible." And this is coming from someone whose iPod has "everything from Johnny Cash to Wilco to Deborah Voigt on it."
   Singers will have a chance to enjoy the new Music Together Community Room in Hopewell. "The room is beautiful," praises Ms. Davy, "and, more importantly, it sounds beautiful." But still, as she joked at her last appearance: "I didn’t come here from New York for the Mozart, I came for the ice cream."
VOICES Chorale will hold its second Summer Open Sing at Music Together, 225 Pennington-Hopewell Road, Hopewell, Aug. 16, 7:30 p.m. A $5 donation will be collected at the door, and scores will be provided. For talented, serious singers with good reading skills who would like to participate in VOICES’ upcoming 20th anniversary concert season, auditions will take place before the open sing. To schedule an appointment, contact Sandy Duffy, membership chair: (609) 799-2211; [email protected]. VOICES Chorale on the Web: www.voiceschorale.org