Flint Hills Masterworks Chorale is a
community choir sponsored by the Worship Ministry program at Manhattan Christian
College. The choir consists of 40-50 singers of all abilities, from the
beginner to the professional and from teenager to senior citizen. They
are all united in their love of singing the classics. A concert is presented
at the end of each academic semester. These programs are presented in
local churches and are accompanied by organ and other instruments.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Contact Mary Ann Buhler at mabuhler@mccks.edu
She can also be reached at (785) 539-3571.
History
Flint Hills Masterworks Chorale was founded in the
fall of 1994 by Ruth Robertson, a voice teacher in the Music Department
at Manhattan Christian College. By the end of her first year conducting
the chorus, Ruth had finished her doctorate, and she moved away from
Manhattan to take a university teaching position. The choir was then
taken over for a year by Cherié Caulley, a local church choir
director, who was succeeded in turn by MCC faculty member RubyAnn Poulson,
also for a year. In 1997 RubyAnn handed the baton to a young British
musician who was a graduate of the University Kansas, and remained
in the United States to teach at MCC. Dr. Ian Coleman conducted the
choir for five years. Dr. Reginald Pittman from Kansas State University
has been our director since 2002.
Mary Ann Buhler has accompanied the choir throughout its history. She earned her Master of Library Science (MLS) degree from Emporia State University and a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Kansas State University. In addition to being accompanist for the Flint Hills Masterworks Chorale, she is organist at College Avenue United Methodist Church and Director of Library Services at Manhattan Christian College.
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Works Performed
Fall 1994
Magnificat by J. Rutter
Cantata #50 by J. S. Bach |
Spring 1995
The Creation by F. J. Haydn
|
Fall 1995
Magnificat by F. Schubert
The Christmas Story by H. Schütz
Gloria by Dave Brubeck |
Spring 1996
Credo Mass by W. A. Mozart
Messiah by G. F. Handel |
Fall 1996
Missa Brevis by Z. Kodály
Te Deum by J. Rutter |
Spring 1997
Cantata #140 (Wachet auf) by J. S. Bach
Four Sacred Songs by G. Verdi |
Fall 1997
Choral music through the ages,
from Purcell to contemporary composers |
Spring 1998
Grand Mass in C Minor by W. A. Mozart
and other works |
Fall 1998
A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28 by B. Britten
and other works |
Spring 1999
Mass in G by F. Schubert
Gloria by A. Vivaldi |
Fall 1999
Requiem by G. Fauré
and seasonal music, including
Fantasia on Christmas Carols by R. Vaughan Williams |
Spring 2000
Gloria by J. Rutter
Lord Nelson Mass by J. F. Haydn |
Fall 2000
Gloria by F. Poulenc
and seasonal music |
Spring 2001
Mass for Four Voices by W. Byrd
and other works |
Fall 2001
Hear My Prayer by F. Mendelssohn
Three Graduals for the Church Year by A. Bruckner
Magnificat by J. S. Bach, and seasonal music |
Spring 2002
Five Negro Spirituals by M. Tippett
Easter Cantata by Daniel Pinkham
Requiem by W. A. Mozart |
Fall 2002
Magnificat by G. Pergolesi
Jubilate Deo by Benjamin Britten
Quatre Motets pour le temps de Noël
by Francis Poulencand other works |
Spring 2003
Dona Nobis Pacem by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Canticle of Psalms by James Mulholland
Three settings of Ave Maria |
Fall 2003
Te Deum by Zoltán Kodály
Six Chansons by Paul Hindemith
and works by Alice Parker and John Rutter |
Spring 2004
Elijah by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy |
Fall 2004
Laud to the Nativity by Respighi
Vier Quartette, Op. 92 by Brahms
The Winds of May by Kirke Mechem |
Spring 2005
Coronation Mass by Mozart
Leaves of Grass by William Hall
Selections from The Tender Land by Copland
|
Fall 2005
Christmas Oratorio by Saint-Saëns
and seasonal music
|
Spring 2006
A German Requiem, Op. 45 by Brahms |
Fall 2006
Mass in C, Op. 86 by Beethoven
and other works |
Spring 2007
Selections from Solomon by Handel
Polovetzian Dance and Chorus by Borodin
Requiem by Duruflé |
Fall 2007
Lux Aeterna by Lauridsen,
Fantasia on Christmas Carols by Vaughan Williams,
and seasonal music |
|
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Dr. Reginald Pittman has been
directing Masterworks since 2002. Dr. Pittman joined the music faculty
of Kansas
State University in the fall of 1997. He teaches voice and directs
the
opera theatre program. He received the Doctor of Music Degree from
the Indiana University School of Music and the Bachelor and Master
Degrees
of Music from the University of North Texas. His extensive performing
experience includes work with the Des Moines, San Diego, Arizona, New
Orleans, Shreveport, Dallas, and Birmingham Operas, as well as several
orchestras. His stage directing and musical conducting credits include
the musicals Show Boat, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,
Annie, Meet Me in St. Louis, Guys and Dolls, A Funny Thing Happened
on the Way to the Forum, and the operas The Elixir of Love, Vanessa,
The Barber of Seville, The Tender Land, The Mikado, Gianni Schicchi,
Trouble in Tahiti, and numerous opera workshop scenes. Dr. Pittman
was
a regional winner of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions, Southern Regional
Vocal Competition, and semi-finalist in the Friedrich Schorr Memorial
Vocal Competition. Also, he was awarded the Rancho Bernardo Opera Guild
Award presented by the San Diego Opera Center, and most recently, the
Boris Goldovsky Foundation Fellowship. During the past year he was
a
semi-finalist in the Vera Scammon International Vocal Competition in
Littleton, Colorado, soloist in Handel's Messiah with the North Dakota
State University Department of Music, and soloist/masterclass teacher
at Moorhead State University in Minnesota. Beginning in January ‘02,
Dr. Pittman began serving as the Governor of the Kansas District and
President of the Kansas Chapter of the National Association of Teachers
of Singing. Locally, Reg is the chancel choir director at First Presbyterian
Church, has directed music for four shows at the Columbian Theatre in Wamego,
and stage directed/musical directed four shows for Marysville Theatre.
Reg
Pittman
Contact Dr. Pittman at pittman@k-state.edu
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Next Concert
This Spring the Flint Hills Masterworks Chorale will present two concerts. The first will be Sunday, April 27, at 2:00 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church, 612 Poyntz Avenue. This will be a joint concert with the William Baker Festival Singers, which is a semi-professional choral ensemble that specializes in short, sacred, a cappella classics and spirituals.
Based in Kansas City, the ensemble is on a tour of four Kansas cities.
The second concert is Tuesday, May 13, at 7:30 p.m., also at First United Methodist Church. The Flint Hills Masterworks Chorale will perform The Creation by Joseph Haydn. Both concerts are free to the public.
Flint Hills Masterworks Chorale is a community choir
and is open to all area singers interested in joining. The choir rehearses
7:00-9:00 p.m. every Tuesday during the school year at First Lutheran
Church at 10th and Poyntz Avenue. Performances are usually held at local
churches. The registration fee for each semester is $10.00, and there
is a small charge to purchase and/or rent music.
To find out more about the choir, come to a rehearsal in the choir room
at First Lutheran Church (enter by the north door), or contact Mary
Ann Buhler at 539-3571 or mabuhler@mccks.edu.
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