Georgia College Max Noah Singers
EuroTrip 2016
Letter from Oliver Scofield, President of KIconcerts
"I write to thank you for the participation of the Max Noah Singers in the Wyatt Festival in Hungary and Austria. I do so with the benefit of some time to reflect on the great contribution your singers made.
I will leave it to others more qualified than I to comment on your musicianship (which I thought was outstanding – I was especially taken with your bold programming as were those who attended the concerts). However, I wish to comment more on your ability to lead, your vision and the notion of ambassadorship you engender in your students.
Your understated while purposeful leadership was a joy to watch. Everyone else attending learnt something from your management of the choir. Your ability to get the most from your students when it mattered, giving them the space and independence to learn and explore the local cultures when they were not in rehearsal, performance or touring mode was a pleasure to watch. Their obvious respect for you and their ability to focus on the music while engaging the audiences with passion and energy (even when we’d tired them out after a long day) was exemplary.
Your vision for the program, the students and tour was evident from our first contact with you when you sought to model the itinerary to deliver the optimum outcomes for your students…negotiating with us to ensure your singers had the highest value for money equation of all the choirs attending and seeking the best concert opportunities. We know that Georgia College considers carefully where it invests scarce resources and your ability to drive the tour process, ensuring the highest flags were flown by your students on tour, was a testament to your custodianship of this vision.
This brings me to my last point…ambassadorship. Your students were a great credit to the college, to Georgia and the USA. As I said above, they shone in every concert setting be that as part of the massed choir where they had to share their talent or in your individual concerts where the Max Noah Singers were able to seemingly engage every member of the audiences. I found your students outside of concert mode to be gentle and attentive to the cultural differences they absorbed around them.
They were a joy for my team to interact with and I know they made many local friends along the way. I wish that more of our college groups had the level of receptivity you instill in your students.
I know I run the risk of sounding a little over enthusiastic but put simply, all aspects of dealing with the planning and operations of your tour demonstrated your professionalism, dedication, flexibility based on a determined sense of what would be best for your students.
This is from where our admiration for your work flows."
Letter from Larry Wyatt, Festival Director
"I wanted to write you first thing to thank you for your wonderful preparation of the Max Noah Singers for our festival performance of the Lord Nelson Mass. Your students were so well prepared and professional in every way.
Your group’s individual performances on the concerts were just superb. Your literature was sophisticated and your performances of it were polished and musical.
I appreciate all of the hard work that went into this endeavor and hope that we can work together again in the future."
Sunday, May 22
Monday, May 23
Tuesday, May 24
Wednesday, May 25
Thursday, May 26
Friday, May 27
We checked out of our hotel and boarded the coach to Vienna. We had lunch on our own in the Naschmarkt in Vienna and then visited the Schönbrunn Palace, the fabulous baroque summer residence of the Hapsburg Emperors. We had dinner at Heuriger: Breitenecker (a family winery and then checked into AUSTRIA TREND EVENTHOTEL PYRAMIDE.
Saturday, May 28
We took a guided city tour of Vienna including the Hofburg Palace and St Stephen’s Cathedral. After some free time and lunch on our own, we performed a CONCERT with Bob Jones University Singers at ST PETERSKIRCHE.
The 'first' St. Peter Church in Vienna was founded in the second half of the fourth century, on the site where the current church is located. It belonged to the old Roman settlement of Vindobona. The church was torn down and rebuilt between 1701 and 1733 and dedicated to St. Peter. Today, it is one of the most beautiful Baroque churches in Vienna.
The rest of the afternoon and evening provided opportunities for us to explore Vienna, shop, and attend concerts such as a Mozart Requiem performance.
Sunday, May 29
We checked out of our hotel and boarded the coach for the Vienna airport. We departed Vienna in the early afternoon, connected through Amsterdam, and arrived in Atlanta in the evening.
BUDAPEST & VIENNA INVITATION
Max Noah Singers (MNS) was invited to perform in an international festival in two European artistic centers, Budapest and Vienna. This invitation was based on a recording which was submitted and peer-reviewed by both the festival director and the chairman of KIConcerts.
From the invitation letter from Dr. Larry Wyatt, the director of the festival: "Thank you for submitting your recording of your choir at Georgia College for consideration for participating in the KI Festival in Budapest, Hungary in late May 2016. Congratulations on your fine work with your singers there. I am pleased to extend an invitation for you and your choir to perform on the festival.”
From the invitation letter from Oliver Scofield, President of KIConcerts: "It is with great pleasure that we extend an invitation for the Max Noah Singers to feature in the Haydn Lord Nelson Mass in Budapest, Hungary, in May 2016. I have listened to the two recordings and your exceptional musicianship warrants this high level invitation.”
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Dr. Jennifer Morgan Flory, Director of Choral Activities, Professor of Music
Dr. Jennifer Flory has been Director of Choral Activities at Georgia College in Milledgeville since August 2005. She conducts the University Chorus, Women's Ensemble, and the auditioned Max Noah Singers and teaches choral and vocal music education and conducting courses. From December 2009 until June 2016, she served as Graduate Coordinator for the MME program. In August 2015, Flory was promoted to Professor of Music. Flory was selected as a Governor’s Teaching Fellow for the 2014 Summer Symposium Program after a highly competitive application and selection process. Since August 2006, Flory has also served as Director of Music at First Presbyterian Church in Milledgeville. She also performs as a mezzo-soprano soloist.
Flory has commissioned a number of new choral works from composers such as Emma Lou Diemer, David Hamilton, David Johnson, and John Hennecken, and premiered them with Georgia College ensembles. Flory’s most recent articles are about the music of prolific New Zealand composer, David Hamilton, and are featured in the Research Memorandum Series, a Journal of The American Choral Foundation, published by Chorus America. Flory has presented sessions for the Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) and the North Carolina Music Educators Association. Flory also serves as an adjudicator for GMEA LGPE, GMEA Solo & Ensemble, and GHSA Literary. She also conducted the GMEA District 11 Women’s Honor Choir in February 2015, the Newton County Fifth Grade Honors Choir in March 2012, and the GMEA District 11 High School Mixed Honor Choir in January 2008.
Email: jennifer.flory@gcsu.edu
Website: http://www.gcsu.edu/employee/dr-jennifer-m-flory
Location: CBX 066, Milledgeville, GA 31032
Phone: 478-445-4839
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jmflory
Twitter: @gc_choral