The Rockbridge Chorus will launch its 50th anniversary season with a festive fall concert, “Golden Pops,” on Saturday, Sept. 20, at 7 p.m. at Lexington Presbyterian Church.
The chorus’s associate director, Scott Williamson, will take the baton to conduct the singers in an eclectic collection from the American Song Book, Broadway, folk, and rock. From Stephen Sondheim to Queen, the chorus is preparing a fun debut concert for the 2025/2026 season.
Artistic director William McCorkle will accompany the program at the piano. Soloists will include soprano Christine Fairfield and tenor Adam Williams.
Included in the program will be favorites by George Gershwin: “’S wonderful” and “I Got Rhythm;” Cole Porter’s timeless “Night and Day;” and two works from the rich catalog of Stephen Sondheim: “Comedy Tonight” and “Our Time.” The distinctive ensemble sound of the ever-popular singing group The King’s Singers, will be represented in their arrangements of John David’s “You Are the New Day” and Billy Joel’s “And So It Goes.” The Rockbridge Chamber Singers’ contributions to the vocal array will be Andrew Carter’s exquisite rendering of Joseph Kosma’s classic, “Autumn Leaves,” and madrigal-style versions of Greg Camp’s “All Star” and the Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love.” Soloists Fairfield, Williams, and Williamson will offer short songs by Sondheim and Paul Simon. The program will conclude with the iconic “Bohemian Rhapsody” by the group Queen.
Said conductor Williamson, “I love the versions of the Gershwin and Porter standards we’re doing. The arrangers have turned the choir into a vocal band. The sopranos imitate trumpets while the baritones mirror the plucked strings of a double bass. The altos and tenors enrich the harmonies with voices echoing clarinets and saxophones. I have loved the music of Stephen Sondheim ever since I sang the choral arrangement of ‘Comedy Tonight,’ with which we open our program. The concert is bookended by another tuneful and upbeat Sondheim arrangement. ‘Our Time’ uses the full range of the chorus with six-part harmonies to reflect the sense of community which this song embodies.”
Advance tickets for the performance are available online at the Rockbridge Choral Society website, rcs.org ($12.50 per person and $35 per family), or at the door ($15 per person and $40 for families). Anyone wishing further information is asked to call (540) 460-9650.
The Rockbridge Chorus, in its 50th anniversary season, has enriched the community over the decades with a comprehensive range of choral offerings ranging from major oratorios to music theater, pops and opera, and with perennial holiday concerts. Along with the Rockbridge Chamber Singers and the Rockbridge Youth Chorale, it comprises the Rockbridge Choral Society, which realizes its mission thanks to contributions from individuals, businesses and organizations.
