MARKING A MILESTONE: The Westminster Choir, conducted by Joe Miller, will present a concert titled “Appear and Inspire: 100 Years of Singing” on Sunday, November 10 at 3 p.m. in Bristol Chapel on the campus of Westminster Choir College.

The Westminster Choir will present a concert titled “Appear and Inspire – 100 Years of Singing” on Sunday, November 10 at 3 p.m. in Bristol Chapel on the campus of Westminster Choir College. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students and seniors and are available by phone at (609) 921-2663 or online at rider.edu/arts.

Led by conductor Joe Miller, the concert will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the ensemble’s founding in 1920, and it will feature repertoire rooted deep in the Westminster Choir’s history. A highlight will be Benjamin Britten’s Hymn to Saint Cecilia, reflecting Westminster Choir’s spirit and mission as it has “appeared and inspired” thousands of choral musicians over the past century. The program will also include the premiere of Psalm 96 “Sing to the Lord a New Song,” composed by Westminster Professor Christian Carey to celebrate the ensemble’s 100th anniversary. Speaking about the new work, Carey said, “It seemed to be an especially appropriate text to celebrate the college’s rich tradition of music-making and express hope for its continued vitality.”

The program also includes Daniel Elder’s O Magnum Mysterium, Frederick Hall’s arrangement of Steal Away, Jake Runestad’s Let My Love Be Heard and Arnold Schönberg’s Friede auf Erden, as well as works by O’Regan, Hession, and more.

Composed of students at Westminster Choir College, a division of Rider University’s Westminster College of the Arts, the Westminster Choir is also the chorus-in-residence for the Spoleto Festival USA, where it has performed in concert and as the opera chorus since 1977.

In addition to this performance, the ensemble’s 2019-2020 season includes a concert tour of the western United States; a performance of J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music’s Bach Festival 2020; a 100th Anniversary concert at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Dayton, Ohio, where the Westminster Choir was founded in 1920; concerts and broadcasts at its home in Princeton; and its annual residency at the Spoleto Festival U.S.A. Recent seasons have included concert tours in China and Spain, as well as participation in the World Symposium on Choral Music in Barcelona and performances of Julia Wolfe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Anthracite Fields at the historic Roebling WireWorks as part of Westminster’s Transforming Space project.

In addition to serving as conductor of the Westminster Choir, Joe Miller is conductor of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, which performs regularly with some of the world’s leading orchestras. Miller is also artistic director for choral activities for the Spoleto Festival USA and director of the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir.