By CATHERINE DONNELLY
Special to the NEWS
HARLINGEN, TX—The Chorus of the Rio Grande Valley, featuring San Benito area talent, will perform its Masterworks concert at the St. Anthony Catholic Church here Sunday starting at 3 p.m. and again on South Padre Island on April 20, 2024.
Joining the Chorus is Alium Spiritum and the Stringphonics, performing music from masters such as Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Faure, Haydn, Mozart and contemporaries such as Whittaker and Hagenberg. They will be performing “The Heavens are Telling” featuring Nocturne.
As per its background, the Chorus has auditions each August and stages four performances throughout the year, according to Chorus of the Rio Grande Valley Director, Joel Cruz. In the fall, the Chorus performs a pops concert and there is always a holiday concert in winter, he said. In the spring, the Chorus presents the Masters and in summer, it performs “Celebrate,” which is inspired by the 4th of July.
Membership in the choral is adults 18 and up and the performers are from all walks of life, said Cruz, himself a Los Fresnos CISD music director. Cruz described his singers as a dedicated group that travels from South Padre Island, Brownsville, Edinburg, Harlingen and all the little towns in-between to rehearse and perform, adding that they are representative of the entire RGV.
“I’m a native of Harlingen, but was teaching in Houston when the pandemic hit,” said Cruz. “And that’s when I moved back.”
Cruz described how he was well into his choral career and realized that there was a void that needed to be filled, especially due to the isolation of COVID. He still knew some choral singers and he felt the need for gathering and nurturing and bringing back that sense of community in as safe a manner as possible.
“So, 11 years after the other group’s demise, I cautiously announced a rehearsal in 2021 to prepare for a holiday concert,” said Cruz. “The group got together and made plans on how to execute this under our new normal. Their first concert was at St. Anthony’s.”
Cruz explained that they talked about the pros and cons of rehearsing and performing with or without masks. They ultimately decided to space people out appropriately to have as much distance between them as possible.
Last season was the group’s first full year of concerts and they plan on giving the four seasonal performances going forward. Fans should look for announcements starting in July regarding the annual rehearsals to join the group.
The Chorus of the Rio Grande Valley will perform this Sunday, April 14, at St. Anthony Catholic Church, 209 S 10th St., Harlingen at 3 p.m. The box office will open at 2 p.m. Interested parties can purchase tickets from Chorus members or by emailing the group at chorusrgv@gmail.com.
A reprisal of this concert will be performed on Saturday, April 20 at 6 p.m. at The Chapel by the Sea on South Padre Island. For more information, call 956-464-7633.
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