Westminster Choir performs in Short Hills and Princeton November 15 & 16

The Westminster Choir, conducted by Joe Miller, will present a program titled “The Invention of Love” on Saturday, November 15 at 8 p.m. in Christ Church in Short Hills, N.J. and Sunday, November 16 at 3 p.m. in Bristol Chapel on the campus of Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, N.J.

The music in the program will explore the question of what inspires people to create, to invent machines and to cultivate ideas that can change the world. It will include Urmas Sisask’s mystical Oremus, Eric Whitacre’s compelling Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine, the revolutionary passion of Monteverdi’s Si chi’io vorrei morire, and the perfect creation that is J. S. Bach’s opening chorus from Gott der Herr ist Sonn’ und Schild, BWV 79.

Setting the standard for choral excellence for 94 years, the Westminster Choir is composed of students at Westminster Choir College, a division of Rider University’s Westminster College of the Arts.  It has been the chorus-in-residence for the prestigious Spoleto Festival USA since 1977, performing both in concert and as the opera chorus.

The ensemble’s 2014-2015 season includes a concert tour of California, performances and broadcasts at its home in Princeton and its annual residency at the Spoleto Festival USA.  Its performance of John Adams’ El Niño, conducted by Joe Miller, at the 2014 Festival was praised by The New York Times as “… superb. Meticulously prepared, the chorus was remarkable for its precision, unanimity and power.”

Praised by The New York Times for its “full-bodied, incisive singing,” the Westminster Choir also forms the core of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, which has performed and recorded with the leading conductors and orchestras of our time.  The Symphonic Choir’s 2014-2015 season includes three series of performances with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin: Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection,” J. S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Leonard Bernstein’s Mass, as well as Carmina Burana with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Jacques Lacombe, and Johannes Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Daniele Gatti.

Joe Miller is conductor of two of America’s most renowned choral ensembles: the Westminster Choir and the Westminster Symphonic Choir.  He is also director of choral activities at Westminster Choir College of Rider University.  In addition to his responsibilities at Westminster Choir College, Dr. Miller is artistic director for choral activities for the renowned Spoleto Festival USA. His 2014 debut performance, a staged production of John Adams’ El Niño with the Spoleto Festival Orchestra, the Westminster Choir and an international cast, earned critical acclaim.  The Financial Times praised, “the driving minimalistic iterations of Adams’ score securely projected under Joe Miller’s direction.” As conductor of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, Dr. Miller has collaborated with some of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors. The New York Times wrote about Westminster Symphonic Choir’s performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Cleveland Orchestra, “Joe Miller's Westminster Symphonic Choir was subtle when asked and powerful when turned loose.”