Loudoun
Chorale
INFO
Mission
To share the joy and enhance the appreciation of choral music through high-quality performances that develop our skills, engage our audiences, and grow both our membership and our following.
Vision
We are the Loudoun Chorale, a colorful tapestry of voices from across our community, woven into a harmonious whole – one living, breathing expression of song.
We welcome all who revel in the joy of making music together and in the rich texture of diverse genres – sacred and secular, classical and contemporary, simple and grand.
We are committed to excellence, a balance of precision and artistry which we cultivate through the discipline of practice. Our craft is a vibrant gift that we share with our audiences to entertain and transport.
. . . And our song goes on, beautiful.
The Loudoun Chorale is a community-based arts organization which was created to respond to the need of local performers to offer quality music presentations on a continuing basis. The Chorale seeks to serve the community by continuing the long tradition of local vocal-arts groups to keep alive the musical treasures of the past, as well as providing a venue for today's musical experience. The Chorale does not require auditions and welcomes all who share the love of vocal music, either as performers or audience.
Karen Keating is Organist and Choir Director at Grace Episcopal Church in Berryville, VA and will be serving as the interim Director for the Loudoun Chorale for the Fall Semester. She was the mezzo soloist for the Washington Chorus tours of Germany, Austria and France.With fellow Shenandoah faculty member Byron Jones, she recorded an album of cabaret songs, What Have You Done to My Heart, released by Redfont Records. Under her leadership, the Shenandoah Chorus traveled to Roswell, New Mexico, in 2004 to premiere Stephen Melillo’s Beyond Courage, a tribute to veterans of the Bataan Death March. In May 2005, she and the Chorus went to Tokyo, Japan to record the work.
Karen is the conductor of Cantus Singers and Shenandoah Chorus. She is also the coordinator of the Musical Theatre Accompanying degree. Since coming to Shenandoah, she has been conductor of several chamber operas including Vinkensport by David Little and Gianni Schicci by Puccini. She has also been choirmaster for several operas, including the premiere of Russell Woollen’s The Birthday of the Infanta, which was performed at the Kennedy Center. She has served as music director and conductor for Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre productions including West Side Story, Legally Blonde, South Pacific, Oliver!, Fiddler on the Roof, The Producers, West Side Story, Hello, Dolly!, Grease, Gigi, The King and I, The Music Man, My Fair Lady, Sugar, Brigadoon, Pirates of Penzance, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Guys and Dolls; she has also been music director for academic year productions of H.M.S. Pinafore, Me and My Girl, Kiss Me, Kate, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Cabaret, Carnival, The Pajama Game, and Pippin.
Karen Keating spent many years studying and working in Austria. While there, she studied with several renowned conductors, including Kurt Prestel, Walter Hagen-Groll, Nicholas Harnoncourt, Gerhard Wimberger, and Bernhard Conz; she also attended a masterclass with Herbert von Karajan. She was the Director of the Robert Schollum Chor Hallein; the accompanist and assistant director of the Salzburger Liedertafel; regional Choir Director for the Arbeiters?ngerbund; performed in a twentieth-century vocal ensemble; and sang in opera productions, including Mozart’s Idomeno with Werner Hollweg and Carol Vaness.
Ms. Beverly Clark is a native of Parkersburg, West Virginia, where she studied both piano and organ. Dr. Marie Beotte, who taught at West Virginia Wesleyan College, was her organ instructor. Graduating from Parkersburg High School, she was granted a music scholarship to West Virginia University, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Organ Performance. In May, 1998, she graduated from Shenandoah University with a Masters degree in Organ Performance. While at school and at present, she accompanies numerous college musical groups and has performed solo works during the school’s Bach/Handel weekend. In the year 2000, she passed the American Guild of Organists Colleague Examination. She recently performed in two concerts in Washington, D.C., at the Mexican Cultural Institute.
In Parkersburg, she held several Music Director positions in the local churches, and for eight years, served as accompanist for the Parkersburg Choral Society. In 1975, the family came to Front Royal, Virginia. During the time she has resided in Virginia, she was Director of Music at the Grace United Methodist Church in Middletown, Virginia, and since 1982, has served in that capacity at the Front Royal Presbyterian Church. For a number of years, she served as accompanist for the Front Royal Oratorio Society, also has accompanied the Piedmont Chorus in Middleburg, and is currently engaged as the accompanist for the Loudoun Chorale in Leesburg, Virginia. She and her husband are the proud parents of three children and six grandchildren. They reside in White Post, VA.
