Canton Choral Society celebrates 10th anniversary

For Canton Choral Society (CCS) founder and managing director Crosby Goshgarian, the decision to start the singing group a decade ago was a simple one: he saw a need and filled it.

Anne Tripp Miller and Crosby Goshgarian

In 2003 Goshgarian and Anne Tripp Miller, now the musical director of CCS, were performing in the musical The Wizard of Oz with the Canton Community Theatre. While rehearsing, Goshgarian realized that there was no choral program in Canton. He and Miller decided to put an advertisement in the Canton Citizen for interested singers to join them in creating a choral group.

“I said, ‘Let’s give it a shot,’” recalled Miller. “We didn’t know what to expect.”

The ad attracted approximately 30 people, and soon after the choral society was born. Ten years later, the CCS is still going strong and is looking forward to the start of a new season next month.

Now based out of the Galvin Middle School chorus room, the CCS initially held rehearsals in the chapel of the United Church of Christ. “They were very generous to us,” Goshgarian said of the church.

The group later moved to the church’s sanctuary and performed its twice-a-year concerts in the church’s Fellowship Hall. They host a winter concert in December, which features holiday music, and a second concert in the spring.

The spring concerts initially focused on Broadway show tunes and music from Boston Pops concerts, but the presentations have changed over time to include more diverse works, such as Gabriel Faure’s Requiem.

“The group was solidifying and gaining more confidence as singers,” Goshgarian said. “The singers really loved it. It’s off the beaten path. We’ve raised the bar.”

The CCS has performed a variety of works, including Handel’s Messiah, Brahm’s Liebeslieder Waltzes, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Whiteacre’s Five Hebrew Love Songs, Faure’s Cantique de Jean Racine, Pinkham’s Christmas Cantata, selections from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, and Brahm’s Nanie.

The Canton Choral Society has also done outreach work for the community. The members have performed duets at sunset for Reebok’s Relay for Life and sung at the Canton Public Library, nursing homes, and for the Canton Garden Club. They also sing every December at the Dedham Institution of Savings as part of the bank’s weeklong holiday program.

The CCS has worked with high school and middle school students in Canton, encouraging them to sing with the adults. “The music program in Canton has expanded over the last 10 to 15 years and we want to include them,” Miller said.

Galvin Middle School Chorus Director John Russell and Luce School chorus teacher Christine Cannon have also sung with the CCS, and last spring, the choral society performed with the GMS chorus in a joint concert. The middle school students and the adults arrived early to practice songs that they had already learned on their own before both groups sang together. They also performed on their own, with Russell conducting the CCS and Miller leading the students.

“I don’t know who had more fun,” said Miller. “[The students] sang their heads off.”

Goshgarian and Miller are thrilled with a group that has provided music for Canton residents for the last ten years. “My initial reason was to bring people together through music,” Goshgarian said. “It’s just the most moving experience. Canton should be proud of the choral society.”

Miller enjoys seeing the effect that singing has on the members of the choral society. “For me personally, it’s watching the process of the singer going from day one to the end result of the concert,” she said. “There’s nothing like the feeling of standing in front of a group of people and seeing the joy and passion on their faces.”

The Canton Choral Society holds its rehearsals on Tuesday evenings at 7:30 in the Galvin Middle School Chorus Room. The first meeting will be held September 10 with a season overview and distribution of music. New members are welcome. There are openings in all voice parts. For more information, call 781-821-8860.

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Posted by Mary Ann Price on Aug 29 2013. Filed under Features. Both comments and pings are currently closed.