November 2023  

Dear Friends,  

Andover Choral Society is excited to kick off our 95th season and our second year with music director, Matthew Buono.  Under Matthew’s direction, we performed Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem at our winter concert, and Antonio Salieri’s Mass in D and Franz Schubert’s Mass in G at our spring concert.   We capped off the year with Diverse Voices, one of the largest events ever held by Andover Choral Society.  Twenty-two community organizations and twelve performing-arts groups gathered for an afternoon of music, dance, and conversation, celebrating the diversity of ethnicities, languages, and cultures in the Merrimack Valley.   To continue our efforts to bring people together through music, we count on your financial support. Please consider making a donation to Andover Choral Society today, to help make our upcoming season possible.  

On Sunday, February 4, 2024, at 3 p.m., at Wood Hill Middle School in Andover, the chorus will present A Celebration of Bach.  The concert will showcase Bach’s extraordinary music and explore his influence on other composers. Part of the program will highlight three chorales from St. Matthew Passion.  In 2020, the Bach Choir of London commissioned three pieces in response to these chorales. We are privileged to be the chorus selected for the American premiere of these pieces. Finally, the program will include Bach’s Leichtgessinte Flattergeister, a cantata written and performed for the second Sunday before Lent in Bach’s first year at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. We are featuring Emma Roberson, soprano, Alexandra Dietrich, alto, Josaphat Contreras, tenor, and John Salvi, bass as soloists.  

Our spring concert, titled Americana, will continue our community outreach efforts.  The concert, which will be held on Sunday, May 5, 2024 at 3 p.m., will celebrate the changes in the American musical landscape over the last 200 years.  A visual artistic interpretation of the music will be provided by students from several local schools.    

This year we also kicked off the post-COVID reboot of our Choral Scholars program.  Your generosity allows us to encourage high school juniors and seniors to sing with us at no cost to them.  In addition to this benefit, the scholars receive mentorship in choral singing from the music director and from individual members of Andover Choral Society.  

Bringing our community together through these collaborative efforts has become an important part of our mission, and we want you to be a part of that effort. You have helped us in the past through your financial contributions and concert attendance. I know that you receive many requests for help at this time of year, but I hope you will include Andover Choral Society in your annual giving. Please help us to continue bringing music to the Merrimack Valley with your generous donation. A contribution of any amount is welcome.    

I have attached a donation form that you may include with your contribution in the return envelope provided, or you may donate online at http://andoverchoralsociety.org/support. All contributions are fully tax deductible.   

On behalf of all the members of Andover Choral Society, I thank you for your continued support.  

Sincerely,  

Tom Connolly  

President, Andover Choral Society Board of Directors