Press Release Posted on October 4, 2016July 19, 2023 From Dr. Whitmire: PLEASE PUBLICIZE THIS EVENT Event: Annual Chorus Benefit Concert: Ein Liederabend Date/Time: Tuesday, October 25, 7:30 p.m. Place: Schlesinger Concert Hall, Alexandria Campus Description: music by NOVA Community Chorus Admission: no tickets required for NVCC students faculty and staff Contact: 703-845-6097 The NOVA Community Chorus (Dr. Mark Whitmire, Director) will present its Annual Chorus Benefit Concert on Tuesday, October 25, at 7:30 p.m. in Schlesinger Concert Hall (AL). This year’s concert, “Ein Liederabend,” features Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Two Pianos, performed by Christine and David Hagan. The chorus will sing Miriam’s Song of Triumph by Franz Schubert, Nachtlied, by Robert Schumann, and the famous How lovely is thy dwelling place from the German Requiem by Johannes Brahms. No tickets are required for NVCC students faculty and staff. A donation is requested. For information, email [email protected] or phone 703-845-6097. Dr. Mark Whitmire is Director of NOVA Community Chorus and Professor of Music at Northern Virginia Community College. Dr. Whitmire has received numerous grants and awards, including a scholarship for post-graduate studies at the Britten-Pears School in England (where he studied with Sir Peter Pears), and a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for research and writing on the music of Benjamin Britten. He was been named “Outstanding Faculty of the Year” by the college in 1999 and 2010, and in 2004 he was awarded the “President’s Sabbatical.” He has been conductor-in-residence at Gloucester Cathedral (2003), Westminster Abbey and Canterbury Cathedral (2006) in England. In 2008 he conducted performances in Leipzig, Germany, including a performance at the famed Gewandhaus. He led a choral tour of France in 2010, conducting performances at Chartres Cathedral, Rouen Cathedral, La Madeleine (Paris) and Notre Dame Cathedral. In 2013 Dr. Whitmire led performances at San Marco Basilica (Venice) and St. Peter’s Basilica (Rome). In summer 2015 he directed the NOVA Community Chorus in performances at the Salzburg Choral Music Festival in Austria. In summer 2016 he will was conductor-in-residence at Worcester Cathedral in the UK. Dr. Whitmire attended Abilene Christian University, the University of Texas, and the University of Maryland, where he received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree. This season marks Dr. Whitmire 33th year as choral director at NVCC Alexandria. NOVA Community Chorus is a one-hundred-voice ensemble that combines singers from the NVCC Music Program and the surrounding community. The chorus performs regularly with the Alexandria Band, the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic and the Alexandria Symphony. Special engagements in past years have included Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and the National Theater. The chorus toured Spain and performed at the 1992 World’s Fair in Seville. Members of the chorus sang in England (2003 and 2006), at the Leipzig International Choral Festival in Germany (2008), in France (2010), and in Italy in summer of 2013. In the summer of 2015 members of the NOVA Community Chorus performed at the Salzburg Choral Music Festival in Austria.