While thousands of music educators from around the state participated in the 2012 Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) conference this weekend in Columbus, the Wittenberg Choir wowed hundreds of them during its special concert Saturday morning, Feb. 18. One of only two male/female choirs selected to perform following a blind audition last fall, the choir inspired as it sang the works of Felix Mendelssohn, Guy Forbes, Ola Gjeilo and Franz Schubert along with traditional South African music and a Navajo chant. By the end of event, those gathered gave the choir a standing ovation.
Led by Wittenberg Choir Director Adam Jonathan Con, associate professor of music, director of choral activities and coordinator of music education, the choir is comprised of men and women hailing from a wide range of academic backgrounds. Con is just the fifth director in the long history of the Wittenberg Choir, and he also serves as conductor of the Wittenberg Singers, a 25-member, all-female group that includes students, alumni, faculty and even Springfield community members.
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| Adam Con, Director |
Under Con’s direction, the choir has performed at area churches, including Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist and United Church of Christ congregations. He asks that choir members familiarize themselves with the traditions of each individual congregation and plans programs suited to each, performing to that tradition wherever they go. In addition, Con organized a unique 2011 Spring Tour that included more than 20 performances across the state in less than a week.
In May 2012, Con plans to take the Wittenberg Choir to Wittenberg, Germany, to be part of the 500th anniversary celebrations of Martin Luther’s posting of his 95 theses. Some of the tour highlights include performing at the Berlin Cathedral, the Wittenberg Castle, Lutherstadt, Bach’s church, Thomaskirche, in Leipzig, and a joint symphony concert singing Mendelssohn’s symphony “Lobgesang.”
In addition to his work in the classroom and as choral director, Con serves as a writer for Revised Ohio State Standards for Music Education at the Ohio Department of Education, and he is the Repertoire and Standards Chair for Multicultural Music for the Ohio State American Choral Directors Association. A graduate of Florida State University and the University of British Columbia in his hometown of Vancouver, Canada, Con serves as chairman for the Ohio Music Education Association District 12 Choral Honour Choir Festival, which took place at Wittenberg in November.
