TCCW Gives Back to Area Troops

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Tonya Robles

202-802-8392

October 24, 2013

The City Choir of Washington

Partners with USO Metropolitan Washington

For Haydn The Creation ticket donations

Washington, D.C. – The City Choir of Washington (TCCW) is pleased to announce a partnership with USO Metropolitan Washington to provide free tickets to military members and their families. Singers in TCCW are purchasing tickets and donating them back to a USO drawing. Choir members have enthusiastically received this initiative.

"The City Choir of Washington supports our troops and the sacrifices they make, and we are pleased to work with USO Metropolitan Washington in distributing complimentary tickets to militarymembersand their families," stated Artistic Director Robert Shafer. He continued, "We have personal connections to the military among our leadership: our new Executive Director and Assistant Conductor are military spouses [Tonya Robles and Jennifer Gotten, respectively], and I grew up as a military brat."

The intimate setting of the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center at the Northern Virginia Community College Alexandria campus is the venue for TCCW’s presentation of Haydn’s The Creation on Friday, November 1 at 8:30 pm. Written between 1796 and 1798, this oratorio is regarded by many as Haydn’s greatest masterpiece. The composition celebrates the creation of the world as described in the Old TestamentBook ofGenesis, the Biblical Psalms,and John Milton’sParadise Lost. This jubilant work was a product of the composer’s later life, and it enabled him to embrace a musical form that featured a mighty chorus and orchestra in the style of G. F. Handel.

The City Choir of Washington will present Haydn’s The Creation with full orchestra under the direction of Robert Shafer and with acclaimed soloists Rachael Evangeline Barham,soprano; Dann Coakwell,tenor; and James Rogers,bass. Tickets are available for $25-$50 at citychoir.org or by calling 301-572-6865.

The City Choir of Washington, under the leadership of Grammy® Award-winning Artistic Director Robert Shafer, has been named as one of the D.C. area’s first-class choruses (The Washington Post). Since its 2007 debut, TCCW has performed with The National Symphony, the Washington National Opera Orchestra and The Wolf Trap Orchestra at The Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap Park for the Performing Arts, Washington National Cathedral, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

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P.O. Box 9673, Washington, DC 20016 | 202-495-1613 | www.citychoir.org