Camarata to perform Beethoven

Members of the Camarata Music Company (CMC) Chorale and Orchestra perform at Chungdong First Methodist Church in December. / Courtesy of CMC

By John Redmond

The Camarata Music Company (CMC) Chorale and Orchestra will perform Beethoven’s “Mass in C Major” and “Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major” at Chungdong First Methodist Church in Seoul, Saturday.

The performance will feature the Camarata Chorale, a singing group made up of members from more than 60 countries.

“Other special guests include German pianist Andreas Ehret, performing “Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major;” and soloists including soprano Han Myung-sung, alto Cho Yeon-sun, tenor Kim Bok-nam and bass Seong Seung-wook,” the company said in a press release.

The event will also feature the inaugural performance of the Camarata Children’s Choir.

The CMC Chorale is an amateur choir that performs four major concerts every year, including a spring major work, a summer musical, an autumn pops concert and the annual performance of Handel’s “Messiah” in December.

“Members come from all walks of life, from the beginner to the music professional. All are welcome, from the shower-singer to the seasoned veteran,” the group said on its website.

The Children’s Choir provides a music performance outlet for English-speaking children in Seoul and the surrounding area.

“The children’s choir meets weekly for rehearsals and is taught the value and importance of music and the arts while learning to read music, singing repertoire and incorporating movement and dance into the music,” director Ryan Goessl said in an email interview.

Goessl is the founder and conductor of the CMC choirs and orchestra.

The CMC is a nonprofit organization that provides collaborative performance opportunities to musicians of multiple nationalities living in Korea, providing opportunities for the public to hear collaborative classical music performed by people from different cultures and nationalities.

The CMC Outreach Program is a series of events where choir members “reach out to the community through volunteering and performance for the less fortunate and underprivileged, including at hospitals and nursing centers, orphanages and low-income centers,” the website says.

The concert begins at 7 p.m.

Tickets may be purchased at the door, or prior to the event via bank transfer, or from any Camarata Chorale member. Tickets are 20,000 won per person in advance, or 30,000 won the day of the event.

To transfer money, send it to Camarata Music Company at Shinhan Bank, account number 140-008-898378.

After transferring funds, please email tickets@camaratamusic.com to confirm your ticket purchase with your name, amount transferred and number of tickets purchased.

For more information visit www.camaratamusic.com, telephone 010-9806-8655 (English), 010-2033-7663(Korean) or email info@camaratamusic.com.