Knox College Choir to Reprise Carnegie Hall Concert

In a repeat performance of a recent concert in Carnegie Hall, Laura Lane, professor of music at Knox College, will direct the Knox College Choir, Galesburg Community Chorus, and Monmouth College Chorale in the "Lord Nelson" Mass by Franz Joseph Haydn at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 20 in Central Congregational Church on the Public Square in Galesburg. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 senior citizens and free to all students.

The three choral groups will be accompanied by members of the Knox-Galesburg Symphony and joined by four soloists, Kim Pokin Lee, Janet Mensen Reynolds, John Hines and Terry Chasteen. Lee, Reynolds and Hines performed with the choral groups in Carnegie Hall.

The March 25 concert in the famed Carnegie Hall in New York City featured a 122-voice choir directed by Lane -- including members of the Knox College Choir, Monmouth College Chorale, Galesburg Community Chorus and Nova Singers; along with several Knox College alumni from Chicago and students from St. Ambrose University and their choir director Keith Haan.

The Carnegie Hall concert was "a life-changing experience for all" of the singers, Lane told the Dispatch-Argus newspapers website QCOnline. The singers "couldn't believe how good the orchestra was, how good the soloists were," Lane said.

This is the second time Lane has directed a concert in Carnegie Hall. She led the Knox College Choir and singers from other colleges in a 2005 performance of "Dona Nobis Pacem" by Ralph Vaughn Williams. "What was different about this [year] was, all the conductors (of participating choirs) were friends of mine. We were all on the same page in terms of our preparation. We were able to get the chorus to a higher level of polish this time."

The "Lord Nelson" Mass challenges singers, according to Tim Pahel, assistant professor of music and director of Choral and Vocal Activities at Monmouth College. "The music is brilliant and innovative, with moments of great drama alternating with a pure and moving lyricism," Pahel said. "The strings are active and virtuosic, creating a rhythmically intense and melodically rich backdrop for the singers' text. There is only one movement in which the chorus does not sing."

Soloist Biographies
Kim Pokin Lee is a full-time voice teacher in Lombard, Illinois. She graduated from Knox College and did graduate study at Florida State University, where she sang the role of Cunegonde in Florida State University's production of Candide and was soprano soloist with Grace Lutheran Church in Tallahassee, Florida for Saint-Saëns' Christmas Oratorio.

Janet Mensen Reynolds is a Knox College graduate,  has sung for more than 20 years with the Lyric Opera of Chicago as a member of the chorus. She has performed with orchestras and ensembles throughout the Chicago area, including the West Suburban Symphony, The Tower Chorale and the International Chamber Artists, and operates a home studio of 30 students.

John Hines is an associate professor of voice at the University of Northern Iowa, with a multi-faceted career as a concert and operatic artist, master class clinician, and vocal teacher. Since 2007 he has made five solo concert tours to St. Petersburg, Russia performing both traditional art song recitals as well as concerts of Russian operatic, classical, and popular romance music.

Terry Chasteen is an associate professor of music in voice and vocal area coordinator at Western Illinois University. He has appeared with the Longview and Abilene operas in Texas, New Hampshire's Opera North, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Indianapolis Opera and Opera Memphis.

About Choir Director Laura Lane
Laura Lane is professor of music and director of choral activities at Knox College, and the founder and music director of Nova Singers, a 20-voice professional choir. In addition to conducting the Knox College Choir and the Knox Chamber Singers, she teaches conducting, voice and music history. Under her direction, the Knox College Choir has toured throughout the United States and Europe and has released seven compact discs. She is past-president of the Illinois chapter of the American Choral Directors Association.

The concert is sponsored by The Register-Mail, Galesburg Cottage Hospital, City of Galesburg, OSF St. Mary Medical Center and Knox College, and supported, in part, by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.