Smith College Alumnae Chorus in Koper

SMITH COLLEGE ALUMNAE CHORUS
with
MOŠKI ZBOR SLOVENSKE TURNEJE SCAC
SIMFONIČNI ORKESTER DOMŽALE – KAMNIK

ŽENSKI ZBOR SMITH COLLEGE ALUMNAE CHORUS (ZDA)
MOŠKI ZBOR SLOVENSKE TURNEJE SCAC
SIMFONIČNI ORKESTER DOMŽALE – KAMNIK

Dirigent / Conductor: JONATHAN HIRSH
DEBORAH GARRETT, sopran / soprano
ALISON LA POINTE, mezzosopran / mezzosoprano
ALJAŽ ŽGAVC, tenor / tenor
ROK BAVČAR, bariton / baritone
GREGOR KLANČIČ, orgle / organ

Haydn: Nelson Mass
Duruflé: Requiem

Smith College Alumni Chorus

The mission of the Smith College Alumnae Chorus (SCAC) is to foster connections between alumnae and friends of the college’s many choral programs. SCAC provides opportunities to advance music education, music appreciation, cultural exchange, and charity by performing concerts domestically and abroad.

The ensemble debuted in 2010 at campus celebrations for the 125th anniversary of the Glee Club, and in 2011, they toured Sicily, performing the Mozart Requiem with local musicians. In 2013, the group performed Beethoven’s Mass in C and Choral Fantasy in Tallinn, Estonia, and St. Petersburg, Russia. While in Tallinn, they were awarded the Ambassador's Award for Cultural Diplomacy by the U.S. Embassy in Estonia. In 2014, SCAC gave a concert in celebration of the noted choral composer Alice Parker (Smith College class of 1947), in which Parker conducted the group's performance of her work.

Most recently in 2016, the SCAC traveled to Cuba for its third international tour with performances of Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater” and Vivaldi’s “Gloria” in Havana and Matanzas. Like the previous tours, this performance was also a collaboration with local musicians.

Founded in 1871, Smith College is a prestigious women's college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. Smith has a long history of musical excellence; in the 1950s, the Smith College Chamber Singers were the first women's ensemble to travel abroad from the United States. The Chamber Singers also have the distinction of having been the first women's choral ensemble to perform at Canterbury Cathedral, St. Paul's Cathedral, and Chartres Cathedral.

Many members of the SCAC studied music while at Smith or took part in ensembles like the Chamber Singers and the Glee Club. They come from throughout the United States and from more than a dozen foreign countries. The ensemble includes everyone from recent graduates in their early 20s to older alumae.

Jonathan Hirsh, conductor 

A native of Brooklyn, New York, conductor Jonathan Hirsh has garnered the respect and praise of audiences, colleagues, and critics throughout the United States and abroad. As senior lecturer and director of choral and orchestral activities at Smith College, Hirsh conducts the Orchestra, Glee Club and Chamber Singers. Celebrating the orchestra’s 100th anniversary, the Smith College Choirs joined and the University of Michigan Glee Club presented a sold-out performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Carnegie Hall. He has traveled with the orchestra to Cuba, Sicily and to Trinidad and Tobago for a collaboration with the National Youth Orchestra.

Hirsh graduated from Amherst College in 1986 and received his MM and DMA in conducting from the University of Michigan. He has taught at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., Amherst College, the University of Michigan, the University of California at Santa Cruz and Tufts University. A frequent guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator, Hirsh's repertoire and activities include choral works, oratorio, opera and symphonic works. Under Hirsh's baton, the Smith Orchestra made its Carnegie Hall debut in 2005 performing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Smith choral ensembles and the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club.