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Howard County Arts
Organizations
Columbia Pro Cantare 5404 Iron
Pen Place, Columbia Maryland 410-730-8549 |
About The Columbia Pro Cantare
The Columbia
Pro Cantare is a mixed chorus of over 100 volunteer singers which seeks to
present the finest choral music to a growing regional audience
Since the Spring of 1977 the
Columbia Pro Cantare has delighted Howard County area audiences with its
concerts of music ranging from opera and oratorio to show tunes and
spirituals.
Founded in February, 1977 by
artistic director Frances Motyca Dawson,
as a professionally trained volunteer chorus to sing with the Baltimore
Symphony Orchestra at its Howard County concerts and to bring high quality
musical experiences to local audiences with its own independent performances,
CPC has more than fulfilled its purpose over the last quarter century.
 |
CPC's 1987
Performance of Copland's "Lincoln Portrait," featuring Jim Rouse as the
narrator |
Inspired by the late James Rouse's
vision of Columbia as a place where people can grow and find expression for
their artistic talents, Frances Dawson has built a choral group described by
the Baltimore Sun as "one of the elite choirs in Maryland" and by the American
Record Guide as one of the choral societies that are "musical hubs of their
communities."
Not only has the Pro Cantare
performed vocal and choral compositions from the 10th to the 21st centuries,
but it has presented concerts devoted to such diverse cultures as Polish (2),
Swedish (1), Czech (22), Hungarian (1), Irish (1) Jewish (1) and, especially in three
European concert tours and the final concert of 2001-2002 season,
African-American. In addition, CPC has performed 14 world premieres (12
of which were commissioned works of Maryland composers) and 16 U.S. premieres
of primarily East European works of outstanding quality from lesser-known
composers. Most of these were retrieved from Czech archives through Mrs.
Dawson's efforts both before and after the fall of communism.
|
CPC
performs its 1982 all Polish concert at the Holy Rosary Parish in Baltimore,
Maryland |
CPC has given at least
12 free or benefit concerts in its lifetime. These
range from one of its first concerts that benefited St.
John's Catholic Congregation (11/77), the opening of
Baltimore's Harborplace (7/80), to 2 Polish concerts which
brought attention to the imposition of martial law in
Poland (1982, 1983). Pro Cantare also produced the
celebration of Columbia's 20th birthday at the Merriweather
Post Pavilion in 1987 for which local non-profits received
all the income from the tickets they sold. The Chorus
also sang at Howard County's 1990 Martin Luther King, Jr.
Birthday Celebration and the 1997 Naturalization Ceremony,
and has brought Christmas carols to Howard County General
Hospital since 1982.
In addition to giving
concerts at home, the Columbia Pro Cantare has performed in or near Washington
D.C. (Kennedy Center, National City Christian Church, National Cathedral,
National Presbyterian Church), in Baltimore (Harborplace, Kraushaar Auditorium,
Christ Lutheran Church, Holy Rosary Church, 2nd Presbyterian
Church). In all, the Columbia Pro Cantare has thrilled over
100,000 audience members and introduced them to some of the finest music
composed in the western world.
Columbia Pro Cantare is a
member of CHORUS AMERICA, the national
association representing North American choruses; Maryland Citizens for the Arts; and the
Howard County Chamber of
Commerce. |