News Release

Concert Choir Performs with Youth Orchestra of Bucks County

Gloria Patri concert at Tamanend Middle School in Warrington April 26 is part of the college’s ‘Arts at Bucks’ celebrations

For the first time ever, the Bucks County Community College Concert Choir joins forces with the Youth Orchestra of Bucks County to present Gloria Patri, an original composition by Dr. Steven Bresnen, head of the college’s Music Area.

The concert, part of “Arts at Bucks” celebrations, gets underway at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 26, at Tamanend Middle School in Warrington.

The choir and orchestra will be joined by area high school students, professional singers and community members. Tickets, available at the door, are $10 and $5 for students and seniors.

Gloria Patri, Latin for the prayer “Glory Be to the Father,” is the first work Bresnen has written for the BCCC Concert Choir.  “I chose the Gloria Patri for two reasons: because there are very few examples of independent compositions that set that text, and because it is one of my favorite prayers,” he notes.

He composed the three-movement piece at the suggestion of Rochelle Reed Milhous, director of the BCCC Concert Choir.

“Shelley said the piece should be engaging for both the performers and the audience, that it should balance a seriousness of purpose with the joy of its musical execution, …[and] that the effect on the listener should be one of taking a musical journey,” says Bresnen. The result is a work that combines “the elegance of Classical style with the severity of Baroque counterpoint.”

Bresnen, who has taught at Bucks for nearly 20 years, is an accomplished composer, lecturer, and textbook author. Milhous, who joined the Bucks faculty in 2004, is a soprano who has appeared as a soloist with operas in New York, Philadelphia, Princeton, Vermont, and elsewhere. Bucks County Community College is the main sponsor of the Youth Orchestra of Bucks County, which is led by music director Robert Loughran and assistant music director Steven Sweetsir.

Tamanend Middle School is located at 1492 Stuckert Rd., Warrington, Pa.

The April 26 concert is part of two weeks of “Arts at Bucks” celebrations, showcasing the talent and academic excellence available at the public, two-year school. Bucks is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music, which means its courses and facilities meet the high standards of the finest music schools in the nation. To learn more, call 215-968-8425.