artistic director: constance chase
Artistic Director of Connecticut Chamber Choir since 2008, Constance Chase has led the ensemble in performances of J.S. Bach’s Magnificat, Vivaldi’s Gloria,Haydn’s Paukenmesse, the Fauré and Duruflé Requiems,Bernstein’s MASS, and programs of significant chamber choir repertoire, including its 2011 New York City debut at St. Patrick’s Cathedral’s annual “A City Singing at Christmas.”
Artistic Director Constance Chase has led Connecticut Chamber Choir since 2008 in biannual performances of major works including J.S. Bach Magnificat, Haydn Paukenmesse and Lord Nelson Mass, Fauré and Duruflé Requiems, Bernstein MASS, and chamber works spanning the sixteenth to twenty-first centuries. She conducted Illumination—CCC’s collaboration with renowned period instrument ensemble The Sebastians featuring early cantatas of J.S. Bach—in January 2017, the U.S. premiere of Donald Fraser’s arrangement for chamber choir and string orchestra of Elgar’s Sea Pictures in May 2016, its 2015 appearance at the inaugural ChoralfestUSA at Symphony Space, and CCC’s New York City debut in 2011 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. As Director of West Point Glee Club since 1999, Ms. Chase has conducted the renowned college choir in the nation’s finest concert halls including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Tanglewood, Kaufmann Center, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and venues as varied as Trinity Wall Street, Yankee Stadium, and Madison Square Garden. She has directed national concert tours and numerous recordings, including closing credits for We Were Soldiers (Paramount), Stand Ye Steady (Curtain Call) with Tony Award winner Lea Salonga and composer-arranger Donald Fraser, Marina at West Point: Unity through Diversity (PBS) with cross-over pianist Marina Arsenijivec, ‘Til the Last Shot’s Fired (Capitol) with country artist Trace Adkins, which they performed live with Mr. Adkins at the 2009 ACM Awards Show, and CDs “Voice of the Corps” and “Live at Notre Dame.” She recently led the Glee Club in recording sessions at renowned Skywalker Ranch for a forthcoming CD and documentary film. Under her preparation, the Glee Club garneredNew York Times’ critical praise for its “robust and well-prepared singing” in a 2008 Carnegie Hall performance with Opera Orchestra of New York, Eve Queler, Director, of The Tsar’s Bride. Recent guest conductor appearances include Symphony of the Americas and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
Ms. Chase is an adjunct professor in applied voice at Western Connecticut State University’s School of Visual and Performing Arts. A lyric soprano and accomplished soloist in recital and chamber works, Ms. Chase has performed as a choral artist under the batons of Gerard Schwarz, Louis Langree, Nicholas McGegan, and Jane Glover. She is a member of and presents workshops across the country for ACDA, NATS and AGO. She is co-author with the late Shirlee Emmons of Prescriptions for Choral Excellence, Oxford University Press (2006).
