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Retiring Founder and Director Robert J. Upton

Will Take Final Bow with the Wheatland Chorale in April

The Wheatland Chorale has embarked on preparations for the second half of its 25th Anniversary Season. These times are bittersweet as we approach the announced and well-earned retirement of our beloved founder and director Robert J. Upton, who has announced his retirement effective May 1st.

Director Upton’s final turn as Conductor will be marked with a performance of several movements from one of his personal favorites, A German Requiem by Johannes Brahms. The theme of Brahm’s masterpiece, namely the hope and renewal of life and the promise of the afterlife, is especially appropriate for a spring performance and the promise of the future for those who move on

as well as those who remain.

The second half of the program will feature “Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine” by Eric Whitacre, an unusual and demanding piece that Director Upton has chosen to challenge his singers for one last time. A small instrumental ensemble will accompany that work. Several other contemporary works from composers, Moses Hogan, Z. Randolph Stroupe as well as some favorites from the past have been added to round out what promises to be a memorable program. Instead of the usual orchestra or ensemble the instrumental accompaniment will be purposely limited to the piano in order to emphasize the chamber-like qualities of the work and the simplicity of the lush vocal harmonies.

The farewell concert weekend will occur on April 20-22. The weekend begins with the Friday evening concert at 8:00 p.m. in the acoustically renowned Leffler Chapel and Performance Center at Elizabethtown College. The Saturday evening at Atonement Lutheran in Wyomissing, also at 8:00 p.m. and the finale on Sunday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. in the historic First Presbyterian Church in downtown Lancaster.

Tickets for these April concerts may now be purchased on-line or via telephone using a toll-free number from www.brownpapertickets.com. Payment can be made via credit card and tickets may be delivered via email or U.S. Mail. Those wishing to pay by check should send their check with the number of tickets and venue specified to the Wheatland Chorale, P.O. Box 5945, Wyomissing, PA 19610. All tickets ordered by mail and paid with checks will be available for pick-up on the date of the concert. Naturally tickets will be sold at the door.

Director Upton’s final turn at the baton will be presented on Sunday, April 29, 2012 at 3:00 p.m. at ST. DAVID’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, which is located at 763 South Valley Forge Road, Wayne, PA 19087.

An announcement of the successor to Director Upton is expected by mid-April. Please check back with us for updated information.

Tickets may now be purchased on-line or via telephone using a toll-free number from www.brownpapertickets.com. Payment can be made via credit card or check and tickets may be delivered via email, U.S. Mail or will-call. Naturally tickets will be sold at the door.

The Wheatland Chorale receives funding support through a

grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency

funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National

Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.