Cheyenne Chamber Singers announce upcoming season

CHEYENNE — Melding the voices of new singers with seasoned choir members, the Cheyenne Chamber Singers have been preparing for their 34th season.

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Cheyenne Chamber Singers conductor and artistic director Sean Ambrose.

Conductor and artistic director Sean Ambrose has been working tirelessly through the few rehearsals the group has had so far to build a strong ensemble.

“We finally sort of climbed out of COVID-19,” Ambrose told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. “I’ve got a lot of young, new singers. Almost 25% of my choir is new to the ensemble this year.”

A third-generation Wyomingite, Ambrose has been with the choir nearly since 1993 and became conductor in 2011, following founder Jane Iverson.

“We’ve brought in some great new talent,” Ambrose told the WTE. “It’s exciting to see this ensemble that’s been around for almost 35 years continue to reinvent itself, to add new, younger voices that mix well with the people that have been singing with us for 20 or more years.”

This season consists of three independent and two collaborative shows. Only a few rehearsals into the season, the choir will have its first performance Nov. 3. The ensemble has roughly seven to eight rehearsals for each show.

“It’s about learning our voices and each other,” Ambrose said. “So really, my work and my process is to figure out how to take 32 individual voices and make them into a beautifully blended choral sound. I think that’s always the real challenge.”

The singers are expected to learn the music outside of rehearsal so that during rehearsal the group can focus on building a cohesive sound.

All shows are designed to be family-friendly and welcoming to audience members of all ages.

“Some of our concerts are more serious, some are a little bit more whimsical, but we try to do a nice balance to provide something for everybody,” Ambrose said.

Though this season is full of new shows and new voices, it also has some nostalgic aspects for Ambrose.

“I’m digging back into some of my childhood memories of the songs that I love,” Ambrose told the WTE. “So I guess in many ways, this season has a lot of personal connection for me and I hope for others.”

SerenadeThe first show of the Cheyenne Chamber Singers’ 34th season, called “Serenade,” will be composed of relatively traditional choir music.

“This is a work I had a chance to do as a freshman in college,” Ambrose told the WTE. “It sort of changed the course of my trajectory in pursuing music education.”

The show will be using some American poetry from Robert Frost with works from American composer Jocelyn Hagen.

Violin soloist Stacy Lesartre, concertmaster with Cheyenne Symphony, will be a special guest in this show. While not all shows have a guest soloist, Lesartre is incredibly talented and will elevate this performance, Ambrose said.

“The linchpin work that we’re doing on this first concert is for choir, solo violin and piano,” Ambrose said. “We’re bringing Stacy on as our guest violin soloist for this first concert. She’s a fabulous player. She’s been with the Cheyenne Symphony for many, many years.”

“Serenade” will take place Nov. 3 at 3 p.m. at the Surbrugg-Prentice Auditorium at Laramie County Community College. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students.

MemoriesThe Christmas concert Dec. 7 will be composed of traditional Christmas music, mixing secular and sacred music playing to the memories of choir and audience members.

“I’m kind of going for the songs I remember from my childhood,” Ambrose told the WTE. “And I’ve asked other singers and audience members to share some of their favorite musical memories from around the holiday season. It’ll be a nice mix of sacred and secular.”

This show will contain familiar Christmas carols, such as “Silent Night,” playing to the carols that audience members are most familiar with.

“We’re going to be doing a musical setting of the children’s story to ‘The Night Before Christmas,’” Ambrose said.

This show is unique from the others as it is free of charge. The group will take donations should audience members be in the giving holiday spirit; however, there is no financial obligation to attend.

“That is our gift to the community every year,” Ambrose said. “We do accept donations, but there is no cost to attend that particular concert. … It gives everyone the chance to come and provide if they wish.”

The Memories concert will be Dec. 7 at the First United Methodist Church at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free, but donations are gratefully accepted.

Holiday MagicThe choir will join the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra alongside All-City Children’s Chorus and En Avant Dance Studio for the Holiday Magic concert Dec. 14. Another dazzling night of holiday music combining carolers and musicians, this concert will continue the holiday cheer. The performance will be festive and full of holiday favorites.

The show will include a wide variety of music, mostly chosen by the symphony. The choir will be singing the songs the symphony plays.

The Holiday Magic concert will be Dec. 14, from 7:30-9:30 p.m. at the Cheyenne Civic Center. Tickets will cost $23-$53 for adults and $12 for students.

HomesteadThe Homestead concert will tap into the western heritage of Cheyenne, showcasing traditional western music. Including songs like, “Oh, Bury Me, Not on the Lone Prairie,” “Home on the Range,” and potentially even some John Denver, this concert will be classic cowboy. These songs speak to Wyoming and the American West.

“It’s going to feature very familiar music, both contemporary and more kind of cowboy Western stuff,” Ambrose said. “Mostly things that everybody’s heard at some point in time. Not necessarily from a choir, but just in popular culture.”

Homestead will show two nights, on March 7 at 7:30 p.m. at the Pine Bluffs Historic Gym with $20 tickets and on March 8 at 7 p.m. at the Cheyenne Historic Depot, with $50 tickets.

Carmina The final show of the season will be a choral orchestral masterwork called “Carmina Burana,” by German composer Carl Orff. Five choirs will participate alongside the Cheyenne Symphony for the choral orchestral concert May 10.

The roughly hour-long work will likely be recognized in parts, Ambrose told the WTE, as segments of it have become popular in pop culture and TV shows.

The Cheyenne Chamber Singers will be joined by the University of Wyoming choirs, the LCCC choirs, the All City Children’s chorus and Cheyenne Capital Chorale.

“Literally, every choral ensemble in Cheyenne and Laramie,” Ambrose said. “We will have about a 250-voice choir with the symphony for that concert. It’s a massive, big, bombastic work.”

Carmina will be a part of the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra’s Fortune and Glory show May 10 at 7:30 p.m. at the Cheyenne Civic Center. Tickets can be purchased on the symphony’s website, $11.50- $26.50 for students and $23-$53 for adults.