About the Assabet Valley Mastersingers
The Assabet Valley Mastersingers is located in Northborough, Massachusetts, about thirty miles west of Boston. The Mastersingers present three major concerts a year: in November, March, and May plus a "Messiah Sing" in December. The Assabet Valley Mastersingers is dedicated to perpetuating the love and appreciation of choral music. Through the use of personal, expressive vocal music, AVM enriches the quality of life for the people of the Assabet River Valley. With a commitment to performance excellence and innovative programming, local talented vocalists and instrumentalists perform celebrated masterworks, lesser known masterworks and commissioned works.
The Mastersingers is proud of its musical history and delights in presenting new and less familiar music in addition to the celebrated masters. Since May 1978, over forty different composers have been represented on the concert programs. Often the "masters" have been performed using new editions and translations.
The Mastersingers presented the American premiere of Finzi's Requiem da Camera and, in the spring of 1999, presented George Bristow's oratorio Daniel - which had been performed only once in the last 100 years and never in New England. In addition there have been two commission projects: a Twentieth Anniversary commission A Song for St. Cecilia by Clifton Noble and a major choral/orchestral work by Gwyneth Walker, River Songs.
There have been three concerts presented which included the choruses from Algonquin Regional High School and Westborough High School. In 1989, the Assabet Valley Chambersingers was established to provide an outreach to community groups. This small, sixteen member ensemble has presented varied programs of secular, sacred, and popular works to nursing homes, library arts series, art show openings, special community events, and programs in collaboration with area churches.
Membership in the Mastersingers is also diverse, representing over fifteen towns. Some singers are professionally trained, others have only school or church choir experience. The age of the members ranges from 20 to 70. Members purchase their own music, pay a small annual dues fee, and participate in a fall fund drive to obtain advertisers and sponsors to support the organization's operating budget.
Dr. Robert Eaton, founder and Director of the Mastersingers, is Minister of Music at First Baptist Church of Lexington, MA. (www.fbclexington.org)