The Orange Park Chorale<\/a>, a local non-profit ensemble of choral voices, invites the community to enjoy a patriotic celebration of our country and uplifting spiritual tunes of hope as the choir presents its free fall vocal concert, “Stars, Stripes & Spirituals,” in three inspiring performances.<\/p>\nOn Saturday, Nov. 7, the Orange Park Chorale will perform at 4 p.m. at Orange Park Presbyterian Church, 1905 Park Ave. The second concert is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 14, at 4 p.m. at Riverside Park United Methodist Church, 819 Park St.<\/p>\n
The third concert will be held on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 4 p.m. at Penney Memorial Church, 4465 Poling Blvd. This performance will feature a very special premiere by the Orange Park Chorale of a commissioned song in celebration of both the church\u2019s 100th anniversary and the 100th anniversary of Penney Retirement Community. \u201cCome Unto Me\u201d by Donald McCullough is a mixed chorus and piano work based on the gospel text of Matthew 11:28\u201329, serving as a beautiful embodiment of Penney Retirement Community\u2019s mission to provide a safe and restful environment for retiring adults.<\/p>\n
\u00a0The Chorale is pleased to welcome accompaniment from the Gainesville Brass Quintet for all three performances. Concert attendance is free, though donations will be gratefully accepted.<\/p>\n
Led by Artistic Director David Holladay, “Stars, Stripes & Spirituals” honors the nation\u2019s 250th anniversary year with song selections deeply rooted in American history. The program celebrates the love and pursuit of freedom while recognizing the benevolent hand of God in securing our liberty. Complementing the theme are spiritual melodies that re-emphasize land and home, illustrating hope for our future resting place of blessings and delight.<\/p>\n
The featured patriotic work for the fall concert is “The Testament of Freedom,”\u00a0composed by Randall Thompson using four passages from the writings of Thomas Jefferson, to commemorate the bicentennial of Jefferson\u2019s birth in 1943. The four settings include \u201cThe God Who Gave Us Life,\u201d which refers to life and liberty being forever joined, from Jefferson’s notes in 1774; \u201cWe Have Counted the Cost,\u201d a rally supporting the cause against slavery where Jefferson wrote about the necessity of taking up arms, from 1775; \u201cWe Fight Not for Glory,\u201d a stance that we must defend the freedom that is our birthright, again from 1775 writings; and \u201cI Shall Not Die Without a Hope,\u201d taken from an 1821 letter to John Adams where Jefferson expresses firm confidence in the continuing light and liberty of America established on July 4, 1776.<\/p>\n
Other patriotic concert selections include \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner,\u201d \u201cBattle Hymn of the Republic,\u201d and \u201cHymn for America,\u201d a floatingly beautiful lyric by Michael Dennis Brown set to music by Stephen Paulus that celebrates our country\u2019s natural landscapes while emphasizing hope, care and gratitude.<\/p>\n
Additional spiritual tunes feature \u201cSimple Gifts,\u201d a Shaker dancing song written by Elder Joseph Brackett in 1848; \u201cI Got a Home In-a That Rock,\u201d a movement from a set of three spirituals arranged by Howard Tappan identifying God as the rock, an unshakeable, ever-present refuge; and \u201cBound for the Promised Land,\u201d a traditional American Hymn written by Samuel Stennett and arranged by Mack Wilberg which offers a robust and rhythmic journey of early pioneer optimism and the Christian pilgrimage toward eternal life.<\/p>\n
For more information about the Orange Park Chorale or the group\u2019s upcoming fall performances, visit orangeparkchorale.org\/upcoming-performances<\/a> \u00a0or contact Board Chair Mary Jeanette Howle at (904) 868-6666.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Clay Today ORANGE PARK –\u00a0The Orange Park Chorale, a local non-profit ensemble of choral voices, invites the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435687,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3496,3487,3495,3498,3488,3493,116,118,117,3492,3494,3499,3490,3489,3497,3491],"class_list":["post-435686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-argyle","tag-clay-county","tag-doctors-inlet","tag-eagle-harbor","tag-fleming-island","tag-green-cove-springs","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-keystone-heights","tag-lake-asbury","tag-margaret","tag-middleburg","tag-orange-park","tag-pace-island","tag-penney-farms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}