CHESTERTOWN, MD— On Saturday evening, November 22 at 7:30, the Washington College Bella Voce chorus and the Washington College String Orchestra will come together for a winter concert.  The performance will be held in Decker Theatre in The Gibson Center for the Arts on the College’s campus at 300 Washington Ave. 

Tickets can be purchased online at music.washcoll.edu or at the door. Prices are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors 65 & over, non-WC college students, and WC Faculty/Staff, and free for youth 17 and under. 

Bella Voce is directed by Professor Douglas Byerly and features the voices of 16 Washington College women. The name Bella Voce translates to “beautiful voices,” and their program promises a beautiful and challenging array of contemporary works by composers that include Norweigen Ola Gjeilo, Americans Eric Whitacre, Moses Hogan, and Vijay Singh.  

The Washington College String Orchestra performs under the direction of Professor Kimberly McCollum and will be conducted by J. Ernest Green for this performance. They will perform Capriol Suite for String Orchestra, by Peter Warlock and Salve Regina, RV 616 by Antonio Vivaldi, featuring vocal soloist Chris Dudley, countertenor. 

J. Ernest Green is the Artistic Director of Live Arts Maryland, the Music Director of the Annapolis Chamber Orchestra, and Music Director and conductor for the Annapolis Chorale. He served as a Cover Conductor with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts from 2001-2012. In 2002 he was given the Performing Arts Award by the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County and a decade later was awarded its Lifetime Achievement Award. He is the only person to have been awarded both. This spring, Green will lead the Pittsburgh Symphony and later will conduct a new production of “I Pagliacci” with the Naples Opera in Florida. 

Chris Dudley is a Professor and Music Lecturer at Washington College. He works as Artistic Director for the choral group, The District Eight. He also performs as a soloist for many choral groups, including the Washington Bach Consort and the Handel Choir of Baltimore. He received his bachelor’s degree in music from the University of East Anglia in England and his master’s degree in Music, Performance & Pedagogy from the Peabody Institute and Conservatory of Music.

– Catalina Righter ’17