About Us
The Minnesota Center Chorale is committed to providing both its membership and audience
with a significant personal experience through the performance of great choral music.
The Minnesota Center Chorale (MCC) is a regional community chorus which begins its 47th season in the fall of 2019. MCC draws members throughout central Minnesota into this 80 member auditioned choir to perform a mixture of classical and contemporary music. The Minnesota Center Chorale is a member of United Arts of Central Minnesota. All the members are volunteers.
Sacred masterworks performed in recent seasons include The Creation (Die Schöpfung) by Franz Joseph Haydn; Requiem Mass settings by Johann Brahms, W.A. Mozart and Guiseppi Verdi; Mass settings by Charles Gounod, Ethel Smyth, and Amy Beach; and Te Deum settings by Zoltan Kodaly and Anton Bruckner.
MCC has performed unique and eclectic works such as Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio and Benjamin Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb; and presented programs entitled A Civil War Portrait with musicians Cristina Seaborn and Paul Imholte; The Emerald Isle-with collaborative guests Ring of Kerry; The Reluctant Dragon – a free family concert held at The East-Side Boys and Girls Club; When Music Sounds -composed by Roger Towler and performed with the Bethlehem Strings; and We Remember – a memorial concert for 9/11 with the Land of Lakes Choirboys.
Lighter concerts include Postcards From Minnesota, with special guests St. John's Boys' Choir; Let's Go to the Movies!; A Broadway Valentine; and concerts with the St. Cloud Municipal Band - From Sea to Shining Sea, a concert to honor war veterans, and I Hear America Singing, a patriotic concert.
Past residencies include St. Cloud native Flannery Cunningham with the premiere of Nightlines, composer Caleb Wenzel with the premiere of the MCC commission of Psalm 150, a premiere of the commissioned work Songs of War and Peace by Judith Shatin, Korean American composer Yung-wha Son with Song of Diaspora, English composer David Fanshawe and a performance of his African Sanctus, and Mary McAuliffe from Ireland for a performance of her Return to Old Ireland.
Minnesota Center Chorale continues to seek ways to bring the art of choral singing to central Minnesota in unique and inspiring ways. We hope to see you at a future concert and to leave you with a moving and fulfilling musical experience.
Sacred masterworks performed in recent seasons include The Creation (Die Schöpfung) by Franz Joseph Haydn; Requiem Mass settings by Johann Brahms, W.A. Mozart and Guiseppi Verdi; Mass settings by Charles Gounod, Ethel Smyth, and Amy Beach; and Te Deum settings by Zoltan Kodaly and Anton Bruckner.
MCC has performed unique and eclectic works such as Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio and Benjamin Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb; and presented programs entitled A Civil War Portrait with musicians Cristina Seaborn and Paul Imholte; The Emerald Isle-with collaborative guests Ring of Kerry; The Reluctant Dragon – a free family concert held at The East-Side Boys and Girls Club; When Music Sounds -composed by Roger Towler and performed with the Bethlehem Strings; and We Remember – a memorial concert for 9/11 with the Land of Lakes Choirboys.
Lighter concerts include Postcards From Minnesota, with special guests St. John's Boys' Choir; Let's Go to the Movies!; A Broadway Valentine; and concerts with the St. Cloud Municipal Band - From Sea to Shining Sea, a concert to honor war veterans, and I Hear America Singing, a patriotic concert.
Past residencies include St. Cloud native Flannery Cunningham with the premiere of Nightlines, composer Caleb Wenzel with the premiere of the MCC commission of Psalm 150, a premiere of the commissioned work Songs of War and Peace by Judith Shatin, Korean American composer Yung-wha Son with Song of Diaspora, English composer David Fanshawe and a performance of his African Sanctus, and Mary McAuliffe from Ireland for a performance of her Return to Old Ireland.
Minnesota Center Chorale continues to seek ways to bring the art of choral singing to central Minnesota in unique and inspiring ways. We hope to see you at a future concert and to leave you with a moving and fulfilling musical experience.
Artistic Director & Conductor
|
Nicole Mattfeld is a Hospice Therapeutic Musician at Knute Nelson in Alexandria, MN. Prior to this, she taught middle & high school choir for eight years and directed/choreographed several community musicals. Nicole holds a Master of Music with a Conducting Specialization under Maestro Wes Kenney, Dr. Rebecca Philips, and Dr. James Kim from Colorado State University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in K-12 Choral Music Education from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Nicole has served on the Minnesota Music Educators Association board and has presented choirs at MMEA Midwinter Clinic and in several festivals in MN and ND. She has been a clinician at the American Choral Director’s Association state conference and published articles for MMEA’s magazine “Interval.” She has directed numerous ecumenical church cantatas, serves as a worship leader and choir director at Calvary Lutheran Church, and performs with the Central Lakes Symphony Chorale. She is excited to continue her involvement in an excellent community choir like the Minnesota Center Chorale. Nicole lives in Alexandria, MN with her fiancé Brad, her two stepdaughters – Kennison and Anniley, - their five rescue cats – Rick, Felix, Milton, Mabel, & Opal - and their rescue Newfoundland dog, Gus.
|
|
Our Accompanist
Sean Jacobson
|
Sean Jacobson graduated from Saint John's University in 2013 with a degree in Instrumental Music Education, studying piano with Dr. Ed Turley and trumpet with Dr. Dale White. He remains an active pianist and trumpeter, regularly playing with numerous groups in the region, including the St. John's Boys' Choir, Amadeus Chamber Symphony, St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra, GREAT Theatre, Curtain Call Community Theater, and Great Northern Theatre. He also has experience as a liturgical musician, having served as organist for a number of churches and regularly playing trumpet at St. Mary's Cathedral. Sean is in his fourth year teaching elementary band for the St. Cloud Catholic Community Schools.
|
Board of Directors |
President: Mark Braun
Vice President: Susan Atamian Secretary: Hanna Mahan Treasurer: Ryan Miller Chipy Blonigen Amanda Goedeke Lee Hart David McCandless Anne McCarney Artistic Director & Conductor: Nicole Mattfeld Operations Coordinator: Michelle Dettmann Accompanist: Sean Jacobson Stage Management: Mark Braun Grant Coordinator: David McCandless Past President: Amanda Goedeke *MCC is currently seeking 1 or 2 new Board members with energy and vision! If you would like to be considered for the Board of Directors, please send an inquiry email to: mcc.coordinator@gmail.com. |