The Chapel Choir

Spring Break 2011 Tour

2011 Itinerary of Concerts

HOPE COLLEGE CHAPEL CHOIR

The Hope Chapel Choir, founded in 1938, is Hope College’s premier choral ensemble.  Made up of forty auditioned singers, Chapel Choir has toured extensively throughout the United States and Canada, and has traveled abroad on eight occasions.  The choir is featured along with other music ensembles in Christmas Vespers, a tradition that stretches back to 1941.  Award winning broadcasts of Christmas Vespers by WGVU, Grand Rapids, MI, are shown on PBS stations around the country at Christmastime.

In May of 2009, the choir toured South Africa, singing in a variety of contexts including large urban churches, universities, small parishes in black townships, inner city missions, and AIDS clinics.  The students who participated in this trip were moved deeply by their experiences and voted overwhelmingly in favor of making central to the choir’s mission an ongoing relationship with South Africa.

The members of this year’s choir come from a cross-section of academic disciplines.  While many are music majors, others specialize in biology, business administration, computer science, religion, theatre, chemistry, English literature, and mathematics.  Regardless of discipline, each member is highly dedicated to carrying on the fine tradition of choral artistry that has been the Chapel Choir’s for many years.

The choir wears distinctive robes designed by the world-famous architect Charles Eames and his wife, Ray Eames, a designer of the fabrics related to her husband's works. The robes were first worn by choir in 1960. The basic white of the robe, cut in circular pattern, denotes purity of tone and faith. The horizontal black bars represent the musical staff, and the occasional bars, grace notes. The light blue lining symbolizes unity. Tonal gradations of color deepen as the voices deepen: yellow for sopranos; orange for altos; red for tenors;and purple for basses.

Director Brad Richmond

Brad Richmond is in his eleventh year as Director of Choral Activities at Hope College, where he teaches conducting and voice, and directs the Chapel Choir, College Chorus and Collegium Musicum.  Prior to this, he served as Director of Choirs at Southeastern Louisiana University.  His presentation of Bach's B Minor Mass with Southeastern's Concert Choir and Orchestra won the Gambit Classical Arts Award for the best choral performance of 1998 in the New Orleans area and the surrounding region.

A former Canada Council for the Arts Conducting Award winner, Dr. Richmond has toured with choirs throughout the United States, Canada, England, Austria, France, Italy, Hungry and the Czech Republic.  During summers from 1995 to 2000 he conducted the high school choral ensembles at Interlochen Center for the Arts in Traverse City, Michigan.