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Plano Civic Chorus BOARD OF DIRECTORS President Lisa Tuggy Vice President Mandie McMurdie Treasurer Margaret Nichols Secretary Barbara Hanson Members At-Large Jenny Holcomb - Marketing Dawn Belie - Membership Outside Directors Eduard Qualls Robert Draper |
About Plano Civic ChorusSince the debut performance in 1973, Plano Civic Chorus has provided audiences in North Texas with a high caliber of choral artistry, performing a diverse repertoire of new and traditional music, including great choral-orchestral masterworks. Hailed for its powerful performances, technical precision, and creative programming, Plano Civic Chorus is led by newly appointed Artistic Director and Conductor, Dr. Randy Hooper.
The 100-voice auditioned chorus performs regularly with the Plano Symphony Orchestra and has also performed with the Dallas Chamber Orchestra, Irving Symphony Orchestra and Allen Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. Plano Civic Chorus seeks to educate, engage, provoke, and inspire listeners through creative programming of a wide variety of styles, and audiences enjoy beautiful music from nearly every genre and period. The inclusion of female and underrepresented composers, as well as featuring local and emerging talent, is part of PCC’s commitment to increasing representation in the choral repertoire. PCC’s history is rich with the performances of choral masterworks, including Bach’s Magnificat, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Brahms’s German Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Rachmaninoff’s Vespers, Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, Verdi’s Requiem and Vivaldi’s Gloria. Most recently, PCC performed Mahler’s 2nd symphony with the Plano Symphony Orchestra. PCC has had many notable successes in its 50 year history. Highlights of the chorus’s history include a performance of Mozart’s Requiem at New York’s Carnegie Hall as part of the North Texas Festival Chorus, an appearance at the Texas Choral Directors’ Association convention in San Antonio, and a guest performance at the Hot Springs Music Festival’s 10th anniversary in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Completing several tours to Europe, the Plano Civic Chorus gained international exposure. Its first tour, in 2002, featured performances throughout the British Isles and at the Criccieth Choral Festival in Wales. Subsequent tour itineraries have included Austria, the Czech Republic and the International Church Music Festival in Bern, Switzerland (2005), performances at St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice and Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris (2008), and concerts throughout Germany and Italy, including an international music festival in Berlin (2011). In a tour through France and Spain in 2014, the chorus was invited to perform again in Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral and was also selected to sing at Barcelona’s stunning basilica, Sagrada Familia. Its most recent tour was to Italy, where the choir sang in the Church of the Twelve Apostles, Sorrento Cathedral, and for Mass Service at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. As a cornerstone of the North Texas performing arts community, Plano Civic Chorus also regularly participates in community events such as the annual tree lighting celebrations at Galleria Dallas, Flags of Honor, Plano Memorial Day Event, Heritage Farms Museum, sports events, and Caroling in the Arts District with WRR 101.1 FM. PCC is also a founding member of the newly created Collaborative Arts of Plano consortia and was selected as a member of the steering committee for the new Plano Arts Plan. In recent years Plano Civic Chorus has taken great strides in education initiatives. In 2022 the Merritt Felmly Memorial Scholarship Program was formed and two students were awarded scholarships from a memorial fund. Additionally, the Emerging Choral Composer Competition, a new competition encouraging composers under age 30 and residing in Texas, was formed, and its first winner was honored in 2022. In the summer of 2023, PCC hosted a high school Choir Leadership and Conducting Camp led by Dr. Randy Hooper. For more information on the Plano Civic Chorus, email us at info@planocivicchorus.org. |