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The Fresno Community Chorus
performs John Rutter’s “The Reluctant Dragon” and “Requiem” in a
three-concert series Nov. 8 and 9 at California State University, Fresno
beginning a season that will include the chorus’ return to Carnegie Hall
and a tour to Austria and the Czech Republic.
A highlight of the first concert series will be a 10:30 a.m. Nov. 8
performance of a children’s program, featuring “The Reluctant Dragon.”
The work is based Kenneth Grahame’s story about a girl dreaming about
adventure and a dragon that’s more into poetry. In addition to
entertaining, the story delivers a message for all ages about prejudice
and reconciliation.
The concert also features music from the Bach Children’s Choir under
director and founder Valerie Quiring, a Fresno State alumna and
children’s music education specialist.
After the performance, there will be an opportunity to meet the dragon
and other characters. Grants from the Bonner Family Foundation and the
First 5 Fresno Commission help fund the children’s concert. First 5 has
50 free tickets for low-income families of children 5 and younger.
Concerts at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8 and 2:30 p.m. Nov. 9 will include “The
Reluctant Dragon” and Rutter’s “Requiem,” an orchestral and choral
composition based around the traditional Catholic Latin Mass, Gregorian
chant and the texts of Psalms 23 and 130.
All performances are at the Concert Hall in the Music Building, 5241 N.
Maple Ave. Children’s concert tickets are $5, with a $10 maximum per
family. Admission to the two other concerts is $15 general and $8 for
students. Tickets are available at
www.csufresno.edu/music/concerts/index.shtml.
The Fresno Community Chorus features more than 100 volunteer singers
from Fresno and surrounding communities who are directed by Dr. Anna
Hamre, a music professor at Fresno State. The chorus made a pre-Olympics
tour of China in March and plans to visit Salzburg, Vienna and Prague in
June, after performing in New York’s Carnegie Hall two months earlier.
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