The Cantata Chorus is based in the Norfolk/Portsmouth area of southeastern Virginia.
We enter our 50th season this year. The Chorus has provided the Hampton Roads’ community with
thrilling performances of the great choral masterworks since its founding in 1959 by Grover J.
Oberle, organist and Choirmaster of Christ and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Norfolk, Virginia.
The Chorus was based at Christ and St. Luke’s until 2002.
The first performance by The Cantata Chorus was given on March 25, 1959. The program that
evening was the Brockes Passion as set to music by George Frideric Handel. In 1989, Dr. Allen Shaffer
became conductor and Artistic Director of the Chorus upon Mr. Oberle’s retirement. Dr. Shaffer guided
the Chorus toward outstanding artistic refinement and musical accomplishment, and assured the future
of the Chorus by creating a not-for-profit board-driven organization, and a fully auditioned community chorus.
Dr. Shaffer retired as Artistic Director in March of 2001.
Two guest conductors assisted us during the transitional season of 2001-2002: Mr. Bryan Mitnaul of Eastern Shore
Chapel in Virginia Beach, and Dr. James Armstrong of The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. In 2002,
the Chorus hired Mr. Mitnaul as Artistic Director, and he served two seasons. Due to ever-increasing
obligations at Eastern Shore Chapel, Mr. Mitnaul was unable to continue with the Chorus, and in January of
2005 a new search began for an artistic director. In April, Dr. Jeffrey Ward was hired. Under his two-year
tenure, our Student Apprentice Program was begun and the size of the chorus increased. When Dr. Ward accepted
a position at East Carolina University, he continued as Artistic Director for that season, but the commute
proved difficult with his demanding schedule.
The board reluctantly accepted his resignation in May of 2007.
Ms. Billye Brown Youmans
joined us as our Guest Conductor for the 2007-2008 season. Ms. Youmans is a versatile artist,
widely respected for both her singing and choral conducting. She serves as Director of Music at Great
Bridge Presbyterian Church. Under her baton, the Chorus presented an exhilarating performance of Handel’s
Messiah (Part I) in December 2007 for the Olde Towne Holiday Music Festival, and a beautiful and much-acclaimed
“Viennese” concert with works by Mozart, Haydn, and
Beethoven at Christ and St. Luke’s in April, 2008.
For the upcoming season, Dr. Allen Shaffer returns to help us celebrate our 50th Anniversary.
Dr. Shaffer is organist and choirmaster at Christ and St. Luke’s, performs throughout the Hampton
Roads area and beyond both as an organist and as one-half of the harpsichord duo Les Deux Clavecins,
and is one of the two founders of the Norfolk Chamber Consort.
We are delighted to have Dr. Shaffer with us this season!
Among the memorable performances of The Cantata Chorus – many assisted by Hampton Roads’ leading vocal artists,
members of the Virginia Symphony, and the Virginia Children’s Chorus – are the St. John and St. Matthew Passions
and the Mass in B minor of Bach; the great Masses of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brückner, Stravinsky, Vaughan
Williams, Liszt, and others; oratorios, cantatas, requiems, and motets by Bach, Handel, Mendelssohn, Brahms,
Respighi, and Britten; and recent music by Pärt, Gorecki, Tavener, Near, and Susa.
The Virginia Children’s Chorus joins us in concert in March of 2009.
The Chorus has also produced church/theatrical works such as the medieval liturgical drama The Play of Daniel.
In 1996, Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s Fludde (Noah’s Flood) was performed in collaboration with Tidewater Humane,
Inc.
as part of their Animals and the Arts series.
We are excited to be reconnecting with Dr. Shaffer to share our 50th anniversary with Hampton Roads!
If you’d like to be part of the Cantata Chorus, we’re
holding auditions on June 14th. Visit our Auditions page for the specifics.
Of course, if you’d like to help the Chorus as a partner or volunteer, please follow the links at the top of
the page.
We welcome your involvement!
If you need any additional information on The Cantata Chorus, here's how
to Contact Us.
