Past Voices, Unfolding Legacies

The Dudley Birder Chorale will perform “Past Voices, Unfolding Legacies” at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church on March 1 and 2.

The concert will be free admission to all who wish to embrace the musical talents of the Chorale and celebrate the Chorale’s 50th anniversary.

Directed and conducted by Kent Paulsen, the performances will feature sacred music and a primary piece from the very first Choral concert in 1974.

“The piece was founded when one of its (the chorales) members was a Norbertine priest and passed away, and they did this piece as a requiem — as a celebration of his life,” Paulsen said. “It’s kind of a way of doing a piece that acknowledges our roots.”

The Chorale will also perform a brand new piece which was commissioned by a choir in Appleton, written by Elane Hagenberg.

“It will be the first performance of it from our group and it is something that I imagine we will be doing 50 years from now…” Paulsen said. “It uses ancient texts of the catholic tradition from the fourth to the eleventh century”.

The Chorale has been rehearsing every Wednesday for the past 4-5 weeks to make this performance come together.

However, Paulsen’s preparations started far in advance of the concert.

“My preparations usually begin a year in advance of their (members of the Choral) preparation, and that is simply because of selecting the repertoire and what goes into the concert and the naming and the graphics and contracts and picking the location, and then I begin to analyze how long it will take to rehearse,” Paulsen said.

The Dudley Birder Chorale consists of around 150-175 individuals, many of whom are St. Norbert College alumni or family members of those connected to St. Norbert, as well as many individuals from the community.

The Chorale thrives on its intergenerational characteristic, as it is composed of multiple generations of families and a range of age in members from 20 years old to 90 years old.

The concert will take place at 1:00 pm both March 1 and 2 and no reservations or ticket purchases will be necessary for attendance.

Free-will donations will be accepted at both “Past Voices, Unfolding Legacies” concerts.