Longtime Roanoke College Choir Director Dr. Jeffrey Sandborg has had plenty of time—he has been the Director since 1985– to refine and grow the college’s singing groups…and it has paid off. The College has two choirs, both of which are accomplished ensembles. The women’s “Oriana Singers,” comprised of 28 women, recently sang with the UVA Men’s Glee Club; a highlight of their performance “involved signing to ‘Can You Hear Me?’ and it was a very emotional piece for the audience,” said Sandborg.
The principal group, “The Roanoke College Choir,” has up to 60 auditioned singers, and is widely recognized for its versatility, innovative programming and beautiful sound. They perform all along the East Coast and have frequently been heard here with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. In spite of the difference in numbers, Sandborg finds that he divides his time about equally between the two choirs.
Sandborg is a bit of an icon himself – in addition to being the driving force behind the choirs at Roanoke, he remains active as a clinician, adjudicator, choral scholar and more recently as a composer. His conducting credits are many, including major choral / orchestral works with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. Sandborg is also the Choir Director at Second Presbyterian Church.
He is thrilled the choirs are able to use their talents to help with the earthquake relief effort. The first concert will be on April 18 at 4 p.m. at St. Andrew’s. It will feature the Oriana Singers, the men of the Roanoke College Choir and special guests, “Looking For An Echo.”
The second concert will feature the Roanoke College Choir, which will be presenting its final concert of the season as it bids farewell to its seniors, in an “eclectic blend of music, from the German Baroque to American Gospel.” It will be held on April 30 at 7:30 p.m. Both concerts will have a “free will” offering for Catholic Charities and the American Red Cross.
Prior to the benefit concerts, The Roanoke College Choir and the Second Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir will perform a “themed” concert, called “The Bach Project.” Sandborg says this will be “great music—it is hard to describe—when people hear it, they’ll be devastated.” (That is a good thing.) This will be the fourth of the popular series focusing on the music of a single composer. Sandborg explains that “we discovered that Roanokers like the single composer theme.” Perhaps it seems more accessible to the public, but it also “appeals to music lovers as well.”
The concert at Second Presbyterian Church will be held on April 11 at 4:00 p.m.
The choir “gig” has been all-encompassing for Sandborg; regardless where the conversation begins, it usually ends in discussion of choir. Finding it hard to describe the passion he feels for his chosen profession, he shares a quote from Archibald Davison, one of the earliest directors of the Harvard Glee Club:
“There are few imaginable enterprises so enthralling as the directing of a chorus. To have companionship with eager men and women, whose joy it is to create beauty by breathing life and significance into music, to have a part with them in mutual accomplishment of high artistic ends… I cannot believe that many occupations offer greater rewards.”
For more information on Dr. Jeffrey Sandborg and both Roanoke College Choirs, visit www.roanoke.edu/choir
By Cheryl Hodges [email protected]
