It will be my joy this April and May to sing a piece of music with the NOVA Community Chorus that has been my very favorite since I was in sixth grade. I have been looking forward to singing Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” since I found out last semester that we would be singing it this spring. It has been a dream of mine to perform it in front of an audience since I first began singing along to it in my youth.

Now, for three days in April and May, the chorus’ hard work will come to fruition, and a childhood dream of mine will come true. The NOVA Community Chorus will sing “Ode to Joy” with the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic, conducted by Ulysses James, on April 10 at the Church of the Epiphany in Washington, D.C., at 3 p.m., and again on April 17 at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria at 3 p.m.

On May 3, the chorus will perform “Ode to Joy,” as well as Brahams’ “Love Song Waltzes,” with the piano accompaniment of Christine Hagan and Ja-Hye Koo at the Schlesinger Center on NOVA’s Alexandria campus.

Performing the solos for Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony” on May 3 will be the following NOVA students and music majors: soprano Stania Shaw, alto Dorothea Kamara, tenor Francisco Robles and bass Brandon Homayouni.

So if you are prepared to see a magnificent show, come out to enjoy the classics with the NOVA’s own chorus. As Dr. Whitmire, instructor for the chorus, stated in the last rehearsal, “We have never been close to this prepared [for singing Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony”],” so it promises to be a wonderful show.

By: Ashley Strobridge

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