In 1977, a group of singers in Fort Collins started a community choir. Fifty seasons later, the Larimer Chorale is opening its anniversary year with Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, with a professional orchestra, soloists and the Centennial Children's Chorus. The second and final performance is Sunday, November 15, at 2 p.m. at the University Center for the Arts on the Colorado State University campus.

About the piece

Carmina Burana sets poems from a medieval collection of secular verse, in Latin, Middle High German and old Provençal French, about drinking, gambling, love and the turns of fortune. The Chorale performed it Thursday night as well; Sunday's matinee closes the run. Livestream tickets are sold alongside seats in the hall.

Who the Chorale is

The Larimer Chorale is an auditioned community choir of about 125 adult singers from across Northern Colorado: teachers, scientists, health care workers, business owners, students and retirees. It often performs large choral works with professional orchestras and soloists, and has partnered over the years with the Fort Collins Symphony, Canyon Concert Ballet, the Centennial Children's Chorus and Colorado State University ensembles, among others. For its 40th anniversary in 2017 it commissioned and premiered Climb by composer Jake Runestad.

The organization behind it, the Larimer Choral Society, has grown other groups along the way. A Touring Chamber Choir debuted in 1988 and has toured abroad. The Dickens Carolers sing in Victorian costume at holiday events. The Silvertones Senior Choir began as an outreach program in 2012 and became a member ensemble in 2023.

The rest of the anniversary season

  • A Candlelight Christmas: Lux Aurumque: Friday, December 18, at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, December 19, at 2 and 7:30 p.m., at First Presbyterian Church, with the Dickens Carolers and guest artists.
  • Gilded Classics and Chorale Favorites: Saturday, April 17, 2027, at 7:30 p.m. at the University Center for the Arts. Chorale members voted on their favorite pieces from 50 years of repertoire, from Handel, Bach and Brahms to Whitacre and Karl Jenkins. One audience member will win, at auction, the chance to conduct the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah.
  • 50th Anniversary Concert: Saturday, June 5, 2027, at 3 p.m. at the Lincoln Center. For the first time, every ensemble the society has sponsored or helped start will share the stage: the Larimer Chorale, Centennial Children's Chorus, Silvertones Senior Choir and Dickens Carolers, nearly 300 singers in all. The finale is a new commissioned work by Colorado composer Misty Dupuis.

Tickets

Season tickets for the 50th season are on sale, and single tickets and livestream access for each concert are sold through the Chorale's concerts page at larimerchorale.org. For most concerts, the conductor gives a talk 45 minutes before the start, and latecomers wait in the lobby until a break in the program.

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