Bruce Vantine’s
CORNERSTONE
CHORALE AND BRASS
P.O. Box 249, Florissant, Missouri 63032 website: www.cornerstonechorale.org
(314) 838-4383 e-mail:
NEWS RELEASE: September 10, 2013
THE CORNERSTONE CHORALE & BRASS
PRESENTS A POWERFUL SOCIAL JUSTICE MESSAGE:
“Be Not Afraid: Finding Courage to Care”
Bruce Vantine’s Cornerstone Chorale & Brass, a widely acclaimed professional
touring ensemble, will present a new production on MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 7:00 pm,
at the AUGUSTANA LUTHERAN CHURCH, 2710 NE 14th Avenue, PORTLAND OREGON.
Special guest narrator will be KYLE IBOSHI – CHANNEL 8 NEWS.
The program features a unique combination of traditional choral and instrumental
music with narration -- woven together with newly composed musical themes.
New York music critic Ken Smith wrote of Cornerstone’s Lincoln Center
performance:
“The Cornerstone Chorale & Brass is a top-notch ensemble with a high
level of musicianship. Vantine’s 22 singers are superb, worthy of any
studio. The choir demonstrates a fine blend of vocal quality with dead-
center pitch and a rhythmic precision most vocal ensembles would kill for.
The brass quintet is crisp, carefully balanced both within itself and with
the chorus. The evening provided a message of great importance.”
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New York critic Barrett Cobb wrote of Cornerstone’s Carnegie Hall performance:
“Part church service, part Passion play, part concert, this program assumes a unique
form….diction was exemplary…beautiful sound, excellent intonation and sincerity….
the audience loved it!”
Santa Fe, NM music critic Norma Lynn writes of Cornerstone’s “beautiful tone
quality and superb musicality and musicianship. This ensemble is drawn nationally from
the creme de la creme. What a pleasure to hear such a wonderful sound produced with
such freedom and yet with such control....[and their] very rich, in-depth music making.
Don’t miss them!”
Cornerstone is the creation of its conductor, DR. BRUCE VANTINE, and consists
of 30 professional vocalists, instrumentalists, narrators and staff currently on a 3 week
tour including 15 performances in the central and northwestern U.S. Members of the
ensemble include experienced professional performers from all over the United States.
The group is marking its 25th year presenting uplifting programs which often help raise
funds for charities in the local sponsoring community.
This engaging and uplifting program is designed to encourage people to
live their faith at a higher level of commitment – especially in reaching out to those in
need.
Each year, composer and conductor Bruce Vantine chooses a specific theme to
develop, often from scripture. He chooses a variety of choral and instrumental pieces of
music, collects quotations from both sacred and secular sources and composes musical
interludes which develop thematically, somewhat like motion picture music. Vantine
then carefully weaves all the elements together to create a seamless texture of music and
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the spoken word. The result is a kind of concert drama that encourages individuals to
respond to the needs of others. Touching on religious, family and thanksgiving themes,
the programs speak to relevant social justice issues such as poverty, homelessness,
children’s issues, racial or religious tolerance and spiritual development.
The presentations have been described as “wonderful musical creations with a
powerful and essential message.” These festive and meaningful concerts are sometimes
sponsored by clusters of churches, ecumenical organizations, the arts community and
business leaders to benefit a local charity and to re-energize cooperation in addressing
human need. In this way Cornerstone, helps to build community.
“Cornerstone offers a message encouraging unity and hope in a time when many
Americans are often discouraged by the difficulties we face as a nation,” says Vantine.
“It helps us see that it is within our power as individuals to make a difference, and that
we have many opportunities to work together and to respond to human need.”
Bruce Vantine is founder and conductor of The Cornerstone Chorale & Brass. He
was associate professor of music at the University of Missouri-St. Louis from 1980 to
1993 when he left to concentrate his work on developing Cornerstone. A native of
Bismarck, North Dakota, Vantine holds degrees from Concordia College, Moorhead,
Minnesota, where he studied under Paul J. Christiansen; Michigan State University at
East Lansing, where he worked with composers H. Owen Reed and Jere Hutcheson; and
a doctor of musical arts degree in choral performance from the University of Illinois at
Champaign-Urbana, where he studied with Harold A. Decker. Vantine’s original
compositions and arrangements are performed nationwide.
Tickets: $15 – adults $10 -- students
TICKET TOMATO: www.tickettomato.com (503) 432-9477
For information: (503) 288-6174