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Alumni Choir

The Calvin Alumni Choir is established to organize and promote choral singing of the highest caliber.

Through rehearsal and performance, the choir, in community, will cultivate and develop an awareness, understanding, and appreciation for the Christian faith, for choral music both sacred and secular, and for Calvin University.

The Alumni Choir will achieve these purposes by sponsoring and participating in concerts, providing a ministry of music in church worship services, and by engaging in other performance opportunities.

Will you join the song? The choir is a self-sustaining organization, raising money through individual an business patrons as well as advertising revenue in our concert programs. We would love to have you help continue our mission.

Become a patron of the Calvin Alumni Choir.

Donate to the Calvin Alumni Choir

 

2024-2025 Season

October 5  (Saturday)- National Anthem at the Homecoming football game, 1:00 p.m. Grand Rapids Christian High School athletic field

November 10 (Sunday) Morning worship service, Neland Avenue C.R.C. , 10:00 a.m.

December 13 (Friday)  Christmas at the Chapel, 7:30 p.m. Calvin University Chapel (no tickets required)

December 17 (Tuesday evening)- Christmas caroling Sunset Manor, Jenison, 6:30 p.m.

April 26 (Saturday)- Masterworks Concert  with the Calvin Capella, Calvin University Chapel, 3:00 pm

May 3 (Saturday)- Spring concert, Mayflower Congregational Church , 2345 Robinson Road, Grand Rapids, Michigan (no tickets required)

Worship Services

The choir participates in church services several times a year in the West Michigan area. If you would like to have the Calvin Alumni Choir sing in a worship service in your church, please contact: alumnichoir@calvin.edu

Interested in singing with us?

The choir holds annual auditions in to fill our roster (usually in August). If you would like to find out more about our rehearsal schedule, attendance requirements, or would like to schedule an audition, please contact the business manager.

 

Explore Alumni Choir

 

History

The Calvin Alumni Choir was founded in 1977 by Helen Hoekema Van Wyck, now the Director of Choral Activities at Trinity Christian College, and conducted by various choir members. In 1981, Anton Armstrong, current conductor of the St. Olaf Choir, became the choir’s fourth conductor. During Dr. Armstrong’s tenure, the choir performed for the ACDA National Convention in Salt Lake City (1985). Dr. Charles Smith, Director of Choral Activities at Michigan State University (emeritus), was the choir’s fifth conductor. In 1998, Dr. Pearl Shangkuan became the choir’s sixth conductor and led the choir for twenty years. Sean Ivory, the seventh conductor of the choir, picked up the baton in the spring of 2019. He led the choir through their first virtual performance in the spring of 2020, a collaboration with Dan Forrest of “How Great Thou Art.” He also led the ensemble through a year of rehearsals culminating in their first virtual concert in May 2021. The choir was accompanied by Dr. Kenneth Bos from 1980-2022.The current accompanist is Dr. Julia Brown. Guest directors have included eminent composers and conductors such as Sir David Willcocks, Semyon Bychkov, John Rutter, Moses Hogan, André Thomas, Joseph Flummerfelt, and Maria Guinand.

Members of the choir are admitted by audition. Spanning from the most recent graduating class to the 1970s, the singers are all alumni of Calvin University and represent a variety of professions. In addition to its annual concerts, the Calvin Alumni Choir participates in worship services at area churches and other community functions.

The choir has released several commercial recordings and commissioned new works, many of which have become staples in choral repertory sung around the world. The choir has performed with the Grand Rapids Symphony as the featured guest chorus in performances of the B Minor Mass and the Magnificat by Bach at the Grand Rapids Bach Festival. In 2010 the choir received third place in the American Prize competition that recognizes the very best in the performing arts in the United States. The choir also performed at the prestigious Templeton Prize ceremony honoring Calvin graduate and former professor Dr. Alvin Plantinga.

Nationally recognized for its choral artistry, the Calvin Alumni Choir has been invited multiple times to performances at conferences of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) at national, division, and state levels. The choir has also performed for the National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM) and the American Guild of Organists (AGO). The choir has toured Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Taiwan, the Netherlands, and most recently as the anchor choir for an international festival in France and Switzerland.

 

 

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