Tehachapi Symphony to perform Te Deum, May 6

The Tehachapi Symphony will perform on Sunday, May 6, 2018 beginning at 4 p.m., at Country Oaks Baptist Church, located at 20915 Schout Road, Tehachapi. The Tehachapi Symphonic Chorus and director Kathy Kelly, as well as the Antelope Valley Master Chorale, will join the symphony for Haydn's Te Deum.  

Kathy Kelly, Conductor of the Tehachapi Symphonic Chorus, has always had a passion for music, beginning both piano lessons and choral singing at age five. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Music from The Master's University where she studied voice, sang with The Master's Chorale and in a ten-member ensemble touring England, Russia, and the U.S. After moving to Lancaster, Calif., she taught private piano and voice lessons, sang with the church worship team, and directed church choirs before moving to Tehachapi in 2003. Presently, she teaches private piano and voice lessons, and works for Country Oaks Baptist Church as worship coordinator, planning music for special events, as well as overseeing the worship teams and directing the choir.

David Newby is the Artistic Director of the Antelope Valley Master Chorale, a student and community chorus. Approximately 45 members of the Antelope Valley Master Chorale will be joining the Tehachapi Symphonic Chorus and the Tehachapi Symphony for the May 6 concert.

The Te Deum was composed around 1799, but its first recorded performance was not until 1800. The energetic opening theme in the Allegro is sung by the chorus in unison. The Adagio opens with a thunderous unison C and proceeds, mysteriously and contemplative, in C minor. The final Allegro returns to the same exuberant mood as the first passage, concluding with a stirring double fugue on the texts In te, Domine, speravi and non confundar in aeternum.

Also, on the program is Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor featuring this year's Young Artist Competition winner, Alexander Michael Bailey. Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major will also be performed.

There will be a drawing for the yearly fundraiser with a $1,000 grand prize after the intermission and a reception following the concert. Admission is always FREE to the community. For more concert information call (661) 821-7511 or go to the website: tehachapiorchestra.com.