Penn Singers

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The Logo of the Penn Singers Light Opera Co.
The Logo of the Penn Singers Light Opera Co.

The Penn Singers are a light opera company at the University of Pennsylvania. The group was founded in 1957 as the University's first all-female choir and was converted into a co-ed light opera company in 1972. The group performs two major productions each year - a Broadway-style musical or revue in the fall,[1] [2] and a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta[3][4] in the spring.

[edit] History

The Penn Singers Light Opera Company had its origins in the Pennsyngers, an all-female chorus founded in 1957 by two University of Pennsylvania students, Meryl Moss and Edie Herman. Moss and Herman created the group as an outlet for female singers as an alternative to the all-male Penn Glee Club. In that first year, the women directed themselves. The next year, Bruce Montgomery, then head of Student Performing Arts, hired Ernest Ganz as their director. A number of other directors followed over the next thirteen years.

Then, in 1970, the Philadelphia Orchestra premiered Montgomery's Herodotus Fragments, a concert piece written for orchestra and two choruses. The Pennsyngers and Penn Glee Club sang at the piece's premiere. In 1971, Montgomery took over as their director and made the group a co-ed ensemble. That year, the group was renamed the Penn Singers.

In 1972, the Penn Singers performed a two act show: the first act contained the Buxtehude Missa Brevis, Schubert's Mass in G, and five pieces from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar. The second act was Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial By Jury.

With the arrival of Montgomery as a full-time director[5] and the opening of the ensemble to male singers, the group then decided to transform itself into a light opera company. The next year, the Penn Singers performed a fully-staged Pirates of Penzance followed by a modernized version of Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience. The Singers have performed a Gilbert and Sullivan light opera every year since 1972 (except 1996 and 2006).

In addition to their two major productions each year, the Singers travel each year to perform a concert version of their spring show for the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of New York.

[edit] Recent Productions

In 1996 and 2006, the Singers performed Spindrift, an original musical written by Montgomery.[6]

In the fall of 2006, the Singers performed a new version of Leonard Bernstein's Candide. The Singers' edition was largely based on the Royal National Theatre's highly acclaimed rendition of the operetta, but also synthesized elements of the many prior productions of Candide which had appeared over the years.

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1] Penn Singers history from website.
  2. ^ [2] Geschwind, Melissa, "Penn Players put on fun show." Daily Pennsylvanian, Dec. 3, 1993. Retrieved Jan. 24, 2007
  3. ^ [3] Green, Jorie, "Amusing 'Mikado' performance opens." Daily Pennsylvanian, April 2, 1993. retrieved Jan 24, 2007
  4. ^ [4] de Leon, Melissa, "Penn Singers present light operatic fare." Daily Pennsylvanian, April 8, 1994. retrieved Jan. 24, 2007
  5. ^ [5] Krieger, Zeev "For conductor, a final encore." Daily Pennsylvanian, May 3, 2000. retrieved Jan. 24, 2007
  6. ^ [6] Boar, Jessica, "Penn Singers honor founder on 25th anniv." Daily Pennsylvanian, April 10, 1996, retrieved Jan,. 24, 2007
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