Women's Choir to Perform at Carnegie Hall

MANSFIELD, PA—The women of the Mansfield University Concert Choir has been invited to perform as the Nun’s Chorus in a concert performance of The Sound of Music at Carnegie Hall in New York City on April 24, 2012.
Rob Fisher, an internationally distinguished artistic director, conductor and pianist, was a judge at the 2011 International Musical Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Wales last July, where the MU Women’s Choir took first place. He has directed and produced a number of performances at Lincoln Center and supervised Broadway revivals of Anything Goes, Hair, The Apple Tree and Wonderful Town. Fisher also was the music director for Garrison Keillor’s American Radio Company and frequently guests on Prairie Home Companion.
In a letter to Director of Choral Activities Peggy Dettwiler, Fisher wrote, "It was a pleasure hearing your choirs compete, and I was happy to be able to announce them as winners a couple of times."
After consulting with his colleagues at Carnegie, as well as the director of the Rodgers & Hammerstein estate, Fisher issued the invitation.
"Most groups have to pay dearly for an opportunity to sing in Carnegie, and usually they are part of a massed ensemble,” Dettwiler said. “To think that we are being sponsored and are the only ensemble featured as the Nun's Chorus is truly an honor.”
The MU singers will spend three days in New York City to rehearse and perform in the renowned Carnegie Hall with all expenses paid.
“We will keep the community informed about ticket sales, as I am sure that the performance will be sold-out,” Dettwiler added. “Another beautiful coincidence is that Mansfield University will produce The Sound of Music as the spring musical in March so we will be ready to go."
To watch the Mansfield Women’s Choir’s winning performance at the 2011 International Musical Eisteddfod, and all of MU’s ensemble performances at the festival, go to llangollen.tv/en/groups/cor-prifysgol-mansfield/