"Gloriana," Utah's resident professional chorus, has been honored with an invitation to perform at the New York International Choral Festival at Lincoln Center March 12-15.
Since the music for this program contains a number of works that "Gloriana" has not yet sung in Salt Lake City, the group has decided to present a preview of the New York concert Monday, March 9, at 7:30 p.m. The concert, which is free of charge, will be at Mount Olympus Presbyterian Church, 3280 E. 3900 South.According to Deuane Kuenzi, founder and artistic director of "Gloriana," "this is the second year of the festival. I was involved with it last year as adjudicator, and I was also invited to adjudicate this year and asked to bring `Gloriana' with me this time.
"We'll be sharing the concert with the Moses Hogan Chorale of New Orleans. They're an incredible African-American group. They'll be doing spirituals, and that helped us decide what we'll do on our program."
"Gloriana's" program will feature American folk songs, including such favorites as "Deep River" and "Shenandoah," all of which are on the group's latest CD, "Music of America."
Kuenzi, who started "Gloriana" in 1993 after moving to Salt Lake City from Seattle, credits his wife, Karen, as the one responsible for the group's sound. "Karen is both `Gloriana's' accompanist and vocal coach," Kuenzi explains, "and before each rehearsal, she takes the group through a 20-minute vocal training session where they work on vowels and sounds."
Kuenzi's conducting style is also a significant contributor to the group's sound - a very energetic and physical style of conducting that lets the audience visualize the music it hears.
"I don't know how conductors can stand still in just one place," Kuenzi admits. "I've noticed that when I move around, the sound changes. We achieve a more joyful sound."
Kuenzi, who recently was hired by the Kennedy Center to organize and arrange the Capitol Choral Festival for April 1999, notes that one of the reasons he and his wife decided to settle down in Utah was the cultural life here. "The culture here promotes the arts. Everybody sings here from the time they're born.
"Let me give you an example. When we started a similar choral group in Seattle we had 60 singers who auditioned. After we moved here I was interviewed by Gene Pack on KUER. Afterwards, we had 240 who auditioned for us. That tells you something about Utah."