ClevelandClassical
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Akron Symphony welcomes its new chorus master
by Daniel Hathaway
When the Akron Symphony Chorus sings Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music on Saturday evening, it will mark the chorus' first appearance on this year's concert series. Yes, they did sing on the opening concert in September, but this time they'll be onstage rather than hidden away atmospherically in the balcony.New chorus Master Maria Sensi Sellner came onboard in July and had little to do with the selections on the menu for the chorus this year, but she's excited about preparing the Vaughan Williams. "It's not your typical choral piece with orchestra, with all the different solo lines and punctuations by full chorus which are often very short, but have to have a significant impact. There's also the density of the choral texture. Voices are divided into six parts each, women and men, and often move in contrary motion in waves of phrases that almost seem to go against each other. Making them effective is a challenge!"
The work in question is Vaughan Williams' wonderful tribute to Sir Henry Wood, who invented the London Proms. For his silver anniversary, the composer set luminous words from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice for sixteen soloists who had worked closely with the conductor over the years. After its premiere, Vaughan Williams arranged the work for chorus and soloists, the version Akron Symphony goers will hear it in at E.J. Thomas Hall.
Ms. Sellner, who graduated from Carnegie-Mellon with double majors in engineering and music, continues to live in Pittsburgh, where she is an assistant conductor with the Mendelssohn Choir and conducts the all-University Orchestra at Carnegie-Mellon. She worked as an engineer before finally deciding that music was her natural metier. "My husband of six months almost pushed me into this. He printed out my application to graduate school. 'I can't stand seeing you being this unhappy'". But her training in sciences has paid off as a musician. "The analytical skills and cognitive organizational skills that made me think i was an engineer also really obviously makes me a conductor and affects the way I function within an organization. You have to be pretty organized, and a good planner".
Maria Sensi Sellner moved quickly into her new responsibilities in Akron. "The first thing I did when i came to town was to audition the entire chorus. That created a lot of nervous tension, but it paid off. Things gelled very quickly and I've been very pleased with the first couple of months. The chorus embraced me very quickly and they've been so concerned about my commuting. We're now trying to do some building and recruiting, especially in the male sections. We're running a nice ad in the program booklet: 'We need a few good men!'"
Coming up in the second half of the year is the Akron Symphony Chorus' solo concert, featuring a mass composed by her friend and Pittsburgh composer Nancy Galbraith. "There are lots of rhythmic elements, minimalism and fabulous serene moments. I was sneaky — we read through a couple of movements on a choral retreat in August and they immediately loved the piece, so I went forward with it." Also on the spring menu is the Mozart Requiem under guest conductor David Lockington. And in Pittsburgh, concerts with her orchestra, now in its ninth season, which also includes a chamber orchestra called String Theory. "It reflects the geeky heritage of Carnegie-Mellon".
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