Crescendo, Da Capo

This weekend Crescendo will present its final concert series of the season with "In Search of The Bridges." In this piece, Crescendo chorus member Matthew Kreta looks back at the origins of the music organization.

The Berkshires-based chorus Crescendo will be celebrating its 20-year anniversary this October. Founded in 2003, director Christine Gevert began by collaborating with church choirs in the region to present weekly concerts. As this project grew, Gevert soon outpaced what she could do in her capacity as a church organist and was given the suggestion to create a nonprofit organization. Gevert agreed and created Crescendo with the help of Trinity Church in Lakeville, Conn.

The first public event Crescendo held was not a musical performance, but a series of lectures, ranging from talks on music theory, history, and choral music, made possible by funds raised through a private concert held at Weatherstone, the estate of designer and author Carolyne Roehm in Sharon, Conn. Their first public concert was held in Feb. 2004, singing a repertoire in celebration of Valentine’s Day with a smaller group of singers and madrigals. Their first large-scale public concert premiered that fall.

Since then, Crescendo has brought a wide variety of repertoire to the Berkshires region. Gevert, a trained musician in early period music, has brought rarely-heard and forgotten Baroque and Classical era pieces to the stage. Crescendo has performed contemporary selections, Latin American music, original commissioned works by several composers, multimedia concerts with light shows, dance and art pieces, and even the late Norwalk, Conn., based composer Dave Brubeck’s jazz mass. In addition to performing at Trinity Church, the group has been performing in Great Barrington, Mass., since 2006. Crescendo collaborated with the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass., won national awards, and received international attention in Florence, Italy.

In addition to these accolades, Crescendo has also provided outreach to the community since its inception, with workshops and private lessons.

“I took education very seriously,” Gevert said. While not the chorus’ main mission, education continually remains a part of its identity by offering keyboard, solo singing, and choral workshops, as well as giving a platform to young artists over the years.

Though COVID restrictions temporarily restricted live performances, Crescendo continued with a virtual season, adapting to the changing times by recording concerts. Talks and lectures were also held and can still be found as recordings online. Despite the restrictions, the group is moving forward and it is finally, yet carefully, beginning to hold in-person events and performing without masks again.

Crescendo will present “In Search of The Bridges,” on Friday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m. at Trinity Church in Lakeville and Sunday, April 30 at 4:30 p.m. at Saint James Place in Great Barrington, Mass. This will be the  premiere of a composition commissioned by Crescendo: “In Search of The Bridges,” a four-movement work by composer John Myers. For tickets go to www.crescendomusic.org.