The Department of Music in the College of Charleston School of the Arts will present a spring concert by its nationally acclaimed Concert Choir led by Dr. Robert Taylor. The event will take place at 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 22, 2012 in the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul, 126 Coming St. The concert will feature J.S. Bach’s Lobet den Herrn, Arvo Part’s Magnificat, and motets by Josquin des Pres, William Byrd, Thomas Tallis, William Walton and others. Admission is $10 at the door and free for College of Charleston students.
The College of Charleston Concert Choir is the premier touring ensemble in the Vocal/Choral program at the College of Charleston. It has been featured in national and regional conventions and festivals. In fall 2011, the College of Charleston Concert Choir was chosen to perform at the prestigious National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO) National Convention, held on the campus of Colorado State University and also in the 2008 NCCO Convention at the Cincinnati Conservatory in Ohio. Other honors include performances at the 2005 American Choral Directors Association National Convention in Los Angeles, the 2004 American Choral Directors Association Southern Division Convention in Nashville, state and regional American Guild of Organist conferences, and annual performances in the renowned Piccolo Spoleto Festival.
The Concert Choir also regularly performs with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, most recently Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra. The Choir has participated in performances of Prokoviev’s Alexander Nevsky, Leonard Bernstein’s Candide, Brahm’s Ein Deutches Requiem, Bizet’s Carmen and many others.
Recent members of the choir have gone on to study in prestigious graduate programs throughout the United States as well as performing with major and regional opera companies, in major Broadway productions, and in major motion pictures.
Dr. Robert Taylor is Director of Choral Activities at the College of Charleston, the Founding Artistic Director and President of the Taylor Festival Choir and Taylor Music Group, Director of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chorus, and Chorus Master/Conductor with Opera Charleston. Called a “rising star in the national choral scene,” Taylor’s choirs have been described as sounding “more musical than would seem possible,” and have received numerous plaudits from critics and choral specialists for their technical proficiency, musicality and beautiful sound production.
Taylor’s ensembles have performed throughout the United States and Europe. Recently, he was awarded a Piccolo Spoleto Lifetime Achievement Award by the city of Charleston. He has conducted over 30 major choral/orchestral works to critical acclaim. Taylor’s semi-professional ensemble, the Taylor Festival Choir, has been hailed by critics and choral specialists alike as being one of the nation’s finest. He also directs the choral strand of the College of Charleston’s Master of Arts in Teaching in the Performing Arts degree, and serves as editor of the Robert Taylor Choral Series with Colla Voce Publications.