On March, 25th, the Germantown Friends School Choir visited Monteverde Friends School and performed a great concert that was free and open to the community.
The concert program featured Maurice Durufle’s Requiem, newly re-scored for choir and string orchestra. It also included Eric William Barnum’s Afternoon on a Hill, folksongs from Bosnia, Ireland, Haiti and Costa Rica, and contemporary Gospel selections.
The Germantown Friends School Choir is an ensemble of 45 students selected by audition from grades 10-12. Directed by Stephen Kushner, the Choir performs frequently throughout the year, often collaborating with many of Philadelphia’s leading professional musicians. Recently, the group has performed with the Singing City Choir, with members of the Philadelphia Pops Orchestra, and with the Yale Glee Club. They have also sung the Philadelphia premiere of “somewhere I have never travelled, gladly beyond” by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon.
The GFS Choir has a long tradition of travelling nationally and internationally, including concert tours to China, England, Scotland, France, Scandinavia, Canada, Poland, Russia, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Puerto Rico. In 2008, the Choir toured the southern United States, culminating in an extended stay in New Orleans where, in addition to their concert, the students volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, helping to rebuild homes that were destroyed in hurricane Katrina. This was the Choir’s first tour to Costa Rica and they stoped by MFS to share their talents and friendship.
