Above: guest conductor Dr. Bryson Mortensen leading the 2016 Young Singers Project in performance at Norfolk's Ohef Sholom Temple.

2017 YOUNG SINGERS PROJECT
IN CONCERT

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017  |  4PM
ROBIN HIXON THEATER, NORFOLK
AT THE VIRGINIA ARTS FESTIVAL'S CLAY & JAY BARR EDUCATION CENTER

Dr. Bryson Mortensen, Director of Choirs at Virginia Wesleyan College, joins the Virginia Chorale as guest director of the Young Singers Project in its 18th year. The Young Singers Project is the Chorale's flagship educational outreach program: high school singers from across Hampton Roads audition in November 2016 and an elite ensemble is selected to work alongside professional singers from the Chorale throughout January 2017, culminating in a special concert event.

GUEST CONDUCTOR

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The Virginia Chorale is pleased to welcome Dr. Bryson Mortensen as guest conductor for the 2017 Young Singers Project. Dr. Mortensen holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting & Voice from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as a Master of Music in Choral Conducting and Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Brigham Young University (Provo, UT). He has conducted the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra Chorus and the Festival Choir of Madison, WI, and has sung with the Bach Chamber Choir, the Baroque Artists of Urbana-Champaign, and the Deseret Chamber Singers. Dr. Mortensen currently serves as Director of Choirs at Virginia Wesleyan College, where he conducts the Virginia Wesleyan Chorale and Virginia Wesleyan Singers and teaches courses in choral music education and music history.

2017 YSP ROSTER

SOPRANO

Elizabeth Brann - Princess Anne High School, Virginia Beach
Danielle Di Nardo - First Colonial High School, Virginia Beach
Jordan Fitzgerald - Grassfield High School, Chesapeake
Serena Smith - Homeschool, Virginia Beach
Lauren Sylvia - Homeschool, Poquoson
Corbin Thomas Pinto *

ALTO

Elise Coberly - Nansemond Suffolk Academy, Suffolk
Ginger Johns - Princess Anne High School, Virginia Beach
Natalie Merrell - Grassfield High School, Chesapeake
Rachel Olson - Grafton High School, Yorktown
Jill Shoemaker - Hampton Roads Academy, Newport News
​Bonnie Lambert-Baxter *

TENOR

Spencer Cottle - Jamestown High School, Williamsburg
Brendan O'Keefe - Grassfield High School, Chesapeake
Zach West - Grassfield High School, Chesapeake
​Scott M. Crissman *
Max Holman *

BASS

Dante Copeland - Lakeland High School, Suffolk
Hunter Dixon - Woodrow Wilson High School, Portsmouth
Daniel Olenick - Grassfield High School, Chesapeake
Christian Gador - Tallwood High School, Virginia Beach
Tristan Walker - Ocean Lakes High School, Virginia Beach
Rob Keene *
​Marshall Severin *
* ​Virginia Chorale Mentor
Auditions for the 2017 Young Singers Project are now closed.