The Longfellow Chorus in Press and Review

• Photo at left: Charles Kaufmann conducts The Longfellow Chorus & Orchestra, with mezzo-soprano soloist Tania Mandzy, in the February 26, 2011 premiere performance of Song of the Silent Land (The Dead/L'Envoi) by Piers Maxim, co-winner of the 2011 Longfellow Chorus International Composers Competition cantata division.

• Congratulations again for bringing music not often heard to Maine audiences.

  —John Schnell, Principal Trumpet, Portland Symphony Orchestra, about the March 2-3-4, 2012, Longfellow Choral Festival: "Ole Bull, Longfellow & Elgar: Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf."

• The first program of the Longfellow 204th Birthday Choral Festival got off to a rousing start Saturday at the First Parish Church with a trio of cantatas based on Longfellow poems -- one by Franz Liszt and two by the cantata finalists in the Longfellow Chorus International Composers competition. The chorus was supported by a fine orchestra, conducted by artistic director Charles Kaufmann, and soloists Bradford Gleim, baritone, Tania Mandzy, mezzo-soprano, and Tyler Putnam, bass-baritone.

  —Christopher Hyde, Concert Review: Prize-winning cantatas give Longfellow festival a rousing start, February 28, 2011, The Portland Press Herald.

• The Longfellow Chorus was fortunate indeed to have a handful of young attractive soloists who, frankly, could not have been better suited to [Arthur Sullivan's The Golden Legend] and were, in fact superior to those on the impressive Hyperion/Musical Heritage Society recording. So clear was the diction of all five (as well as that of the chorus) it eliminated any necessity of reading the nicely sized (for once) libretto provided in the program. . . . Conductor, Charles Kaufmann, led all with a sure hand and obvious affection for this remarkable work and, aside from some glitches (most noticeably in the strings), his orchestra (particularly the winds who were marvelous throughout) responded in a performance that made as strong case as I can think of for this work re-entering the repertoire of choral and symphonic organizations. . . . The small but hearty audience, clearly moved by what we experienced, cheered and applauded lustily, calling back the soloists and Maestro Kaufmann for an extended and well deserved bow. It's a shame the house wasn't packed. Hopefully a repeat performance today at 3:00 will be better attended.

  —Paul Padillo, February 27, 2011, SharkOnArts blogspot.

• [Image, right: After hearing the word "run" uttered by Portland Stage Company affiliated artist Daniel Noel in the role of "Official Race Starter" Longfellow, 60 runners head off west on Congress St., Portland, Maine, during the start of the 2011 Longfellow "February Frostbite" 2.5 K Road Race — the kick-off event of the 2011 Longfellow Choral Festival — on a sparkling morning, February 26, 2011. Photo by Cynthia Farr-Weinfeld. More amazing race photos are here.]
  
  Downeast Magazine and Salt Institute "Salt Radio" audio feature about the Longfellow 'February Frostbite' 2.5K Road Race (Congress Streeet, Portland, Maine, 8 AM, February 26, 2011)
  
  "How beautiful it was, that one bright day in the long week of rain," Daniel Noel read from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem 'Hawthorne,' "though all its splendor could not chase away the omnipresent -- run." And with a short play on words in the last line Noel read, about 100 runners crossed the starting line for the February Frostbite 2.5K. The early morning run was the kickoff to the Longfellow 204th Birthday Choral Festival taking place this weekend. . . .Said Noel: "I think Longfellow would get a kick out of people running for him in the cold."

  —Emma Bouthillette, 204 and Longfellow's still got rhythm, February 27, 2011, The Maine Sunday Telegram.

• I just wanted to thank you for putting on such a great race. Even now, it puts a big smile on my face. It really flashed a beam of sunshine through the gray winter doldrums. I have told a lot of people about it, and I think you may get a larger field next year. One of the things that made the race really fun was the chance to see after-race pictures. . . . My dog Nellie [was] the first winner of the 'faithful hound' award. Nellie is definitely training to come back next year, this time joining me in costume, to defend her title!

  —Mike Carey (and Nellie), Longfellow 'Frostbite' participants.

• It may seem to go without saying, but the most vital element of any artistic organization is the art itself. This is the foundation upon which all else is built. Too many communities are flooded with endeavors that replicate products already present in the market, are of inferior quality, or serve individual vanity rather than the community. Kaufmann has created a musical offering that is artistically unique; performed at a high level by professional orchestral musicians, soloists of a national caliber, and choristers from a variety of community ensembles; and has a meaningful relationship to the history of its community.

  —Shannon Cline, Kennedy Center Arts in Crisis Mentor of The Longfellow Chorus

• It seems to me that [The Longfellow Chorus has] done miracles—what a collection of music you have recorded!

  —Charles Dodsley Walker, past president of the American Guild of Organists, co-founder of the Berkshire Choral Festival and founder of Canterbury Choral Society.

• Mary was thrilled with all you are doing with the Longfellow Chorus... . It [is] a great honor for me to become an honorary member of the Board of The Longfellow Chorus, and to keep the family connection to your very impressive endeavors.

  —Frances Smith Wetherell, great-granddaughter of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and granddaughter of "laughing Allega," commenting for herself and for her late sister, Mary Hunting Smith, co-founder of the Berkshire Choral Festival and the Tanglewood Chorus, September 2010.

• DIVA—Metropolitan Opera star Angela M. Brown touches down at [The] First Parish [in Portland] to sing arias from "Hiawatha," the sensational 1898 masterwork by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor... that swept the world. How perfect that this long-awaited concert brings Coleridge-Taylor's genius just steps away from the home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, whose epic poem "Hiawatha" was his inspiration. This two-night offering takes music lovers straight to the shores of cool.

  —Portland Monthly Magazine, February/March 2010

• "Each word and each line should be savored, just as we might appreciate a forbidden confection.... Let the words taste delicious in your mouth, like a piece of Godiva chocolate just melting there," opera singer Angela M. Brown told Jesslyn Thomas, a vocal student from the University of Southern Maine.

  —Bob Keyes, USM vocal students get pointers from professional opera singers, February 27, 2010, The Portland Press Herald.

• The Longfellow Chorus, directed by Charles Kaufmann, an excellent orchestra (mostly members of the Portland Symphony), and outstanding soloists soprano Angela M. Brown, baritone Robert Honeysucker, tenor Mark Sprinkle and pianist and organist Geoffrey Wieting turned what could have been a local celebration into a major musical event.... Coleridge-Taylor's "The Death of Minnehaha" (Opus 30, No. 2), written in 1899, was the centerpiece of Sunday's program.... Orchestra, soloists and chorus united to provide what can only be termed a definitive performance of a little-known masterpiece.

  —Christopher Hyde, Concert Review: Longfellow's birthday gives rise to a major musical event, March 2, 2010, The Portland Press Herald.

• Read the Program Notes for the Longfellow Chorus Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 203rd Birthday Choral Concert. This is a large file. All content, text and photos in these program notes are protected through copyright 2010, The Longfellow Chorus, Inc. For permission to quote from these notes please contact Charles Kaufmann


• I believe Longfellow would have been moved to tears of wonder and amazement at the harvest of beauty.... That was a HUGE concert. My being is the more fully alive for its resonance as I launch my 72nd year.

  —An audience member comments about The Longfellow Chorus 203rd Birthday Choral Concert, February 27, 2010

• I and many of my colleagues were impressed with both of the young [Longfellow Chorus International Cantata Competition] composers [Keane Southard and Marcus Maroney].... We applauded the decision to have two winners because the two pieces ["A Day of Sunshine" and "Suspiria"] were so very different and so very effective.

  —An orchestra member comments about The Longfellow Chorus 203rd Birthday Choral Concert, February 28, 2010

• Make no mistake about it: Charles Kaufmann is the Longfellow Chorus. He is its director, fundraiser, promoter, bookkeeper and secretary. Though funding issues may mean 2010 will be its last year, Kaufmann nevertheless has single-handedly revived a lost sub-genre: the music inspired by the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

  —Emily Burnham, Discovering Longfellow, February 23, 2010, The Bangor Daily News.

• I think the performance does great credit to all involved. As a past holder of the office of International Co-ordinator to The Elgar Society, I am delighted that this wonderful — and rarely heard — cantata has received such an excellent and committed performance in America.

  —Paul Adrian Rooke, commenting on the performance of Elgar's The Black Knight by the Longfellow Chorus.

• The concerts were superb — especially the Sunday concert, every second of which was pure joy. The Longfellow settings were expertly and sensitively honed, with heart-warming dedication and masterful musical insight — even now fragments of melody continue to play in my head. As for the Elgar, the music was a revelation, and the performance a sensation. I could tell that the audience realised what a privileged bunch they were. Hearty congratulations to your outstanding chorus, company of musicians — and their inspirational conductor.

  —Kevin Jones, one of the 2008-09 Longfellow Chorus International Composers Competition winning composers

• Charles Kaufmann has single-handedly resurrected an interest in Longfellow and how Longfellow's poetry has been set to music in the past, and, in addition, he has inspired composers world-wide to create new music set to Longfellow's poetry.

  —Lily Gordon, trustee, Longfellow's Wayside Inn National Historic Site




Mission Statement of The Longfellow Chorus, Inc.:

The Corporation shall organize and maintain a chorus to perform and record vocal and choral settings of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poetry, written from 1840 to the present, shall inspire and commission new vocal and choral settings of Longfellow's poetry, and shall perform choral music of the Romantic and immediate post-Romantic eras, ca. 1825-1920.

Materials on this website are protected, copyright 2007-2010, The Longfellow Chorus, Inc., Portland, Maine, USA

Contact The Longfellow Chorus:

e-mail: The Longfellow Chorus

The Longfellow Chorus
c/o Charles Kaufmann
P. O. Box 5133
Portland, Maine 04101

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