Oakland Symphony Chorus Opens 55th Season With Brahms, 11/16

Celebrating the opening of its 55th season, Oakland Symphony Chorus and Music Director Dr. Lynne Morrow will give one performance only of Brahms' Liebeslieder Waltzes Saturday, November 16, at7:30 pm at First Covenant Church in Oakland. The performance will culminate an 11-week intensive workshop on the work that is open to the public. Admission to the November 16 performance is free of charge. For more information, visit www.oaklandsymphonychorus.org.

About Oakland Symphony Chorus

For 55 years the Oakland Symphony Chorus has been recognized as one of the East Bay's finest choirs and a premier resource for continuing education in the choral arts. It has received consistently impressive concert reviews and has developed a wide range of educational programs for the community.

Dr. Lynne Morrow became Music Director of the Oakland Symphony Chorus in 2005. During her tenure, the scope of the chorus has expanded to include contemporary, international and neglected works along with traditional classical repertoire. She conducts the Chorus' workshop performances of major works and a spring Messiah, hosts summer choral outreach "Sing-ins" and prepares the chorus for work with Oakland East Bay Symphony as well as other local community and youth orchestras, such as the Oakland Youth Orchestra and Young People's Symphony Orchestra, with which the Chorus collaborates. Together with the Oakland East Bay Symphony and Oakland Youth Orchestra, it operates as a unified organizational entity providing performances and music education to youth and adults.

About Music Director Lynne Morrow

Dr. Lynne Morrow currently serves as the Music Director of two renowned choruses in the San Francisco/East Bay area. Under Dr. Morrow's guidance, the Oakland Symphony Chorus has expanded its scope to include contemporary, international, premieres and rarely performed works along with traditional classical repertoire. For her direction of the Pacific Mozart Ensemble, she received a Grammy nomination in 2005 for their recording of Leonard Bernstein's Mass with Kent Nagano in Berlin. In 2010, their long-time collaboration with Dave Brubeck (including many world premieres) led to the release of Dave Brubeck: Songs of Praise on Dorian Recordings.

Dr. Morrow heads the Opera and Music Theatre programs at Sonoma State University, whose new Green Music Center concert hall has been heralded as "Tanglewood West." She's a prominent leader in the Bay Area where she hosts the Stern Grove Music Festival each summer.

Her board memberships include Stern Grove, NARAS (the Grammy nominating committee) and a recent term as Chair of the Arts Commission in Rohnert Park, CA (home of Sonoma State). For Dr. Morrow, it's all about creating a visceral connection to music-presenting works from every corner of the musical arts in fresh ways to reach the widest possible audiences.

WHAT: Oakland Symphony Chorus Performs Brahms' Liebeslieder Waltzes
WHEN: Saturday, November 16, at 7:30 pm
WHERE: First Covenant Church, 4000 Redwood Road, Oakland
ADMISSION AND INFO: Free admission, for more info: www.oaklandsymhonychorus.org

Photo Credit: Keith Nomura