Concordia’s rich and storied musical history continues with several updates for the new academic year, drawing upon the excellence of both the College and the Conservatory.
The new Concordia Community Choir has begun rehearsing in advance of its first performance at Homecoming & Reunion Weekend 2019. Open to every registered student of the College, the Concordia Community Choir counts among its membership residential students, commuters, adult education students and Impact U students. With a focus on sacred repertoire, the choir will represent Concordia throughout the local region. The Concordia Community Choir is conducted by George Heath ‘00, an alumnus who received his degree in Music Education from Concordia and MA in Voice Performance from Hunter College. Mr. Heath also serves as Cantor for Village Lutheran Church, and Music Instructor and Band and Choir Director for The Chapel School. Under his leadership, The Chapel School Select Choir has sung at Mets games for the last fourteen seasons, and this year will perform in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular for the second time. He has performed as a soloist in many venues, including on Broadway with Kristen Chenoweth.
Accompanying the choir will be Jon Klibonoff, a longtime Concordia Conservatory faculty member who has appeared as orchestra soloist, solo recitalist, and chamber musician throughout the U.S. and abroad. The winner of numerous awards, Mr. Klibonoff has performed as guest artist with chamber groups including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Shanghai, Miami, Emerson and Lark String Quartets, and has been heard in recital at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the 92nd Street Y, and the National Gallery and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., in addition to Sommer Center, where he regularly performs as part of the College’s Hoch Chamber Series.
In his new role as Conservatory Department Chair, Conservatory faculty Keith Kreindler will build curriculum around Concordia’s music programming, including the College’s Music concentration. Mr. Kreindler has been with the Conservatory since 2008 as an instructor of woodwinds, music theory, and chamber music, and is head of the Conservatory’s Academy honors program and its Summer Chamber Music and Summer Academy programs. He has also served administratively as the Program Coordinator for the past two years. Keith performs on bassoon with orchestras, chamber groups, opera companies, and contemporary music ensembles, and his woodwind doubling has brought him to the pits of countless musicals on and off Broadway.
In addition, Arts for Healing has become part of Concordia College as a department of the Conservatory. Arts for Healing has long been known as the finest provider of creative arts therapies to people of all ages with special needs in Fairfield County, offering music therapy, art therapy, and dance/movement therapy both privately and in group sessions, along with outreach programs throughout Fairfield County. Concordia is delighted to bring this mission-aligned organization to the community within a higher education setting.