Deer Creek Returns to Carnegie
On April 9, 2022, members of the Deer Creek Chorale will be performing at Carnegie Hall alongside a professional orchestra and soloists. The focal point of the concert will be “Alzheimer’s Stories”, by Robert S. Cohen, an epic choral work about the challenging disease that affects more than 6 million Americans. This piece is presented by National Concerts and endorsed by the Alzheimer’s Association.
You might ask how this all came about? It all started at the ACDA National Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah when our assistant director saw a performance of this monumental composition dealing with a very emotional subject. The work was commissioned by the South Portland Choral society by a woman who had lost her mother to Alzheimer’s. Composer Robert Cohen struggled with the libretto and how to bring the challenges of this insidious disease to a choral composition. He decided to divide it into three parts: The Numbers, The Stories and For The Caregivers. The librettist sent questionnaires to the choir members and from the feedback, the script was born.
Considering the nature of the work, the Artistic Director traveled to Portland, Maine to see a performance of the piece. Her motivation was to see the audience reaction and how the choral society dealt with the subject matter. After discussion with the composer himself, she decided to perform the piece in the spring of 2017.
In collaboration with Dr. Daniel McDavitt and Goucher College, the project came to fruition with a pre-performance lecture with the composer himself, the guest conductor Bruce Rogers from California and representatives from the caregiving community at John Hopkins. Clips from the moving documentary “Alive Inside” were also featured helping to prepare the audience.
Krashauur Auditorium was sold out and the stage was set for the orchestra, combined choirs and soprano and tenor soloists. Bruce Rogers was so moved as was the composer by the performance that afterwards, a future project at Carnegie Hall was envisioned. Originally it was to be performed in April 2020, but the pandemic happened.
The Deer Creek Chorale is very excited to once again have the opportunity to perform Alzheimer’s Stories with Bruce Rogers and the composer Robert Cohen at Carnegie Hall in April. Joining the Deer Creek Chorale will be the Buffalo Philharmonic Choir which recently won a Grammy award and the Mt. San Antonio College Chamber Choir from East Los Angeles. Tickets will be available soon through the Carnegie box office so stay tuned!