Conchords

The Conchords Rehearsing
I love this photo!

The Conchords Chorale was founded in 1982 as a community choir, drawing members from the greater Portland Metropolitan area.  They meet weekly to rehearse a wide variety of music.  They do public performances all over the Portland area.

The Conchords grew out of a choral class at Portland Community College.  Some of the class members wanted to continued singing together and decided to meet privately.  Over the years the group has expanded to more than 50 voices, and feature the technical and artistic support of a director, an accompanist, a percussionist and a sound technician.

They often perform at senior care facilities and have been featured many times as part of the Portland Rose Festival.  Many of their members also volunteer for the Rose Festival.  Members also often serve as volunteers at high school a capella competitions as guides, photographers and other capacities.

I first heard about the Conchords through my friend Mary Wardell.  She got involved with the group about five years ago after her son started taking voice lessons from Don Anderson.  Don is also the director of Conchords, and he eventually invited both Mary and her son to join.

Mary performing a solo

Mary tells me she loves this group. She writes that they have "an amazingly deep pool of wonderful singers". Mary has even begun singing solos the last few seasons.  (Good for you, Mary!)

Members of the group come from varied backgrounds and ages.  The age range is from early 20s to 80s!

Mary tells me she gets a lot of joy from her participation in this group.  She plans on singing with the chorale for a long time to come!  (If I lived in your area, I'd be right there with you, Mary!)

The Conchords have a spring program of Disney music that they are currently rehearsing.  If you love music and live in the greater Portland Metropolitan area, check out their website for concert dates!

Visit:  http://conchordschorale.org

Photos: Mary F. Wardell