200 Singers from the Holland Community gather for A Choral Festival & Durufle’s Requiem, Op. 9  

The Hope College Chapel Choir, SPERA, and College Chorus are eagerly looking forward to hosting A Choral Festival at Hope College on Saturday, April 15th. This Choral Festival will bring together 200 members of the Holland community across multiple generations. Participants in the Festival Chorus  include members from the Holland Chorale, Evergreen Chorale, Lakeshore Community Chorus, as well as students from local High Schools including Holland Public and Fennville Public. 

The Festival Chorus will gather in the morning on Saturday, April 15th to rehearse the selected repertoire which includes “O Love” by Elaine Hagenberg as well as “The Road Not Taken” by Z. Randall Stroope. An especially exciting element of the Festival is that world renowned composer and conductor Dr.  Z. Randall Stroope will be present for the Festival itself! The Festival will feature the world premiere of “The Road Not Taken”, which was recently commissioned by Dr. and Mrs. Charles Walvoord in appreciation of heroic M.D. 's (Musical Doctors) and to honor the memory of their beautiful daughter, Kristi. 

The Choral Festival will culminate in a concert at 3pm in Jack H. Miller Concert Hall – Admission is Free! The program will feature an exciting presentation of “Requiem, Op 9.” composed by Maurice Duruflé, performed by the Hope College Chapel Choir, SPERA and College Chorus. This piece, written for chorus, organ and cello will feature organist Jackson Merrill playing the Casavant organ in Jack H. Miller Concert Hall. At the conclusion of the Requiem, all 200 members of the Festival Chorus will gather on stage to perform the Festival Chorus pieces. 

Hope College is grateful for the support of the choral organizations and respective conductors of the ensembles coming together, as well as the support of Dr. and Mrs. Charles Walvoord and Dr. Z. Randall Stroope in helping to bring together the community in this meaningful and significant manner. This is sure to be an experience that you will not want to miss!