OPUS ONE – Berks Chamber Choir – Free Concert – 1pm

Opus One: Berks Chamber Choir was founded in 2012 as a non-profit choral ensemble based in the Reading, Pennsylvania. Our mission is to encourage participation in and appreciation of the choral arts in our community. Participants have a wide range of music experience, from amateur musicians and college students, to music teachers and professional artists. Currently, our ensembles include the flagship SATB Chamber Choir, a small specialized ensemble called ECHO, and the large Masterwork Chorus. Over the years, we have also offered additional programs such as masterclasses, solo recitals, and even a podcast.

Since our beginnings, we have endeavored to create a family-like ensemble that gathers weekly to make music together. We have found our niche in programming repertoire that is either underperformed, unexpected, or slightly off the beaten path. This span includes pieces that are both sacred and secular in nature, pieces in English and those written in languages from all over the world, catchy 20th century jingles by Gershwin to the early Baroque works of Dietrich Buxtehude. Our adaptability, our innovation, and our openness to new artistic experiences continues to be our greatest strengths.

Opus One has collaborated with many other local musical ensembles such as Berks Youth Chorus, Berks Opera, Reading Pops, Brickhouse Theatre, and Opera Lancaster. We have also partnered with and supported local non- profits such as Helping Harvest, SafeBerks, Keystone Goodwill, and the LGBT Center of Greater Reading.

Opus One has performed several notable works including, Schütz’ Musikalische Exequien, Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri, Purcell’s Funeral Music for Queen Mary, Vivaldi’s Magnificat, Haydn’s Missa in anguistiis, Beethoven’s Elegischer Gesang, Schubert’s Mirjam’s Siegesgesang, Fauré’s Messe Basse, Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noel, Debussy’s La damoiselle élue, Poulenc’s Un Soir de Neige, Bloch’s Sacred Service, Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man, Clausen’s A New Creation, Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna, and Gjello’s Sunrise Mass.

Our performance of Mozart’s Requiem marking the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks was recognized by the Reading Eagle as one of Reading’s top 10 music performances of 2016. Two years later, in 2018, we were again recognized for our performance of Vaughan Williams’ Hodie. In May of 2022, Opus One was honored to present the American premiere of The Garden of Proserpine, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ first choral-orchestral composition (composed in 1898, only rediscovered in 2011).

Social Media Links:
Website: www.OpusOneChamberChoir.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OpusOneBerksChamberChoir/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@opusonechamberchoir
Instagram and TikTok: @opusonechamberchoir