A Performance to Remember for Opus Chorale of West Virginia

As he was conducting the ending of the American premiere of Kim André Arnesen’s Requiem, conductor David Donathan said his cheeks hurt because he was smiling so much. Donathan had just pulled off a once-in-a-lifetime performance by putting together an ensemble composed of the Opus Chorale of West Virginia and community orchestra performers at Christ Church United Methodist in Charleston.

Now that premiere is opening doors for the Opus Chorale as they have received an invite to perform Arnesen’s Requiem with choirs around the world as part of the Distinguished Concerts International series in New York City.

The group is also part of a new promotional video by publisher J.W. Pepper featuring Kim Andre Arnesen’s work. The publisher just released the video:

Opus is commissioning a new work from Arnesen for choir and organ in memoriam for Carol Eich – a former member and accompanist – who passed only a few days after the premiere performance.

David Donathan recently joined us on-air at WVPB to discuss Opus’s premiere performance. WVPB was also fortunate to host the American broadcast premiere of Arnesen’s Requiem as Donathan shared clips from the performance from April of 2015.

For those that want to see Opus Chorale live in concert, they will be performing November 7th at 7 PM at the Christ Church United Methodist in Charleston. More at https://www.facebook.com/The-Opus-Chorale-of-West-Virginia-37068339526/