FREE CONCERT by The St Louis Festival Choir and Rejoice Gospel Choir

The St. Louis Festival Choir is an ensemble made up of several choirs is the St. Louis region: Manchester United Methodist Church Chancel Choir, the St Louis County Community Chorus and St Louis Symphony Orchestra IN UNISON Chorus. This collaborative ensemble has joined together for several tours to Carnegie Hall, as we as performances in St. Louis. Dedicated to serving the community through music, the Festival Choir prides itself in bringing together singers from many backgrounds to present the finest choral music.

Conductors

Andy Waggoner serves as Artistic Director of the St. Louis County Community Chorus, a position he has held since 2016. The chorus has a membership of nearly 200 singers. In addition, he serves as Director of Worship Arts at Webster Hills UMC in St. Louis, Missouri. He served Missouri ACDA as representative for both community choirs and worship. In July, Andy will begin serving the Southwest ACDA as Community Choir Representative. Andy has conducted at Carnegie Hall, most recently with DCINY, and has prepared choruses and conducted residencies in New York City, Washington DC, and festivals throughout the Midwest. He and members of the chorus just participated in a world premiere residency at Lincoln Center in New York City with composer Mark Hayes. He resides in St. Louis with his husband, Steven.

A native of Houston Texas, Kevin McBeth is Director of Music at Manchester United Methodist Church in suburban St. Louis. He serves as administrator for their music ministry, as well as conducting the 130-member Chancel Choir. He also serves as director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra IN UNISON Chorus. He is a graduate of Houston Baptist University, and has done graduate studies in choral conducting at the University of Houston. He has conducted honor and festival choirs in 15 states, and choral tours of Great Britain and Italy. Previous appointments include Assistant Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus and Adjunct Professor in Choral Music at Webster University. He has served as guest lecturer at several American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) conventions and on the campuses of the Westminster Choir College, Temple University and the Juilliard School of Music. Most recently, he was appointed president of the Missouri Choral Directors Association. McBeth has made appearances at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center. His orchestral conducting credits include performances with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Civic Symphony, Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra and the New Jersey Symphony.

Repertoire:

Organ Solo (transition choirs)

Sorenson Requiem (choir and organ)

Formed in February 2018, Rejoice is a small gospel choir with a big sound under the direction of Carmel Whelan. Based in Dublin, Ireland the choir performs traditional spirituals and contemporary gospel numbers in an authentic gospel style, drawing on the rich roots of gospel music and its relationship with other genres such as soul, funk, blues and jazz.
Rejoice has performed alongside artists including The High Hopes Choir, Imelda May, Dermot Kennedy and Paul Noonan as part of ‘Rock Against Homelessness’ in Dublin’s Olympia Theatre, and delighted audiences with performances at Christmas In The Castle, Dublin Castle and Farmleigh House’s Christmas Series. In March 2023 the choir joined legendary producer and musician David Foster in a special performance of one of his most iconic hits, ‘You Raise Me Up’ in Dublin’s Mansion House as part of Shamrock Foods 100th anniversary celebrations.

Rejoice has featured on RTÉ’s ‘Service on Sunday’ on behalf of the Methodist Church of Ireland and performed ‘Shine a Light’ alongside Michael English on RTÉ’s Late Late Show as part of the Climb With Charlie fundraising campaign. The choir featured as part of The Late Late Show’s 2023 Valentine’s Day special, performing Higher & Higher to celebrate the vow renewal of John & Vera Hogan, and again in November 2022 as part of a Take That special pop up choir. Rejoice also features on acclaimed Irish artist Wallis Bird’s 2022 EP ‘Handing It Over’, released in December 2022.
At the heart of the choir lies a shared love of music which is reflected in its motto: ‘Ready for joy, ready for love, ready to sing!’

Carmel Whelan is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and conductor from North Dublin. She began learning traditional Irish music at a young age and fostered a love of singing as a member of RTÉ’s Cór na nÓg. She went on to study music at DIT Conservatory of Music & Drama, graduating in 2011 with a Bachelor of Music in Composition.

Carmel has since gone on to study choral music education with the Choral Music Institute under renowned choral conductors, Dr. Doreen Rao and Mandy Miller. In 2016, Carmel undertook a choral internship with Greg Beardsell, artistic director of the Irish Youth Choir, in association with Sing Ireland and Music Generation Offaly Westmeath.

Repertoire will include:

– Oh Happy Day

– Joyful Joyful

– Still (Hide Me Now)

– Faithful One

– Hosanna