Our Singing School Expands..

In partnership with the Syracuse chapter of the Jane Austen Society of North America, which has supported our Singing School since its inception, we decided to expand our program to include English country dancing. We recruited the help of JASNA Co-Coordinator & Dancemistress Lisa Brown to teach our new (male!) participants two dances. Here is a photo of dance rehearsal:

The bulk of our program was drawn from festive readings and church music from the Christmas season in Georgian England. The men joined us in well-known carols like Joy to the World, The Twelve Days of Christmas & O Come All Ye Faithful. The ladies worked hard to prepare beautiful arrangements of lesser known carols like Let an Anthem of Praise, Rejoice Ye Tenants of the Earth & Christians Awake!

We were fortunate to add the talents of string players Caroline Manring & Emily Dean as well as flutists Eleanor Wilcox & Katherine Klein. Our pianist, Claire Howard, who has partnered with us since our first concert, unified the sound and rehearsed with both singers and musicians tirelessly. Our musicians, who generously donated their time, created a lovely soundscape that supported the voices most elegantly.