THE CHAPEL to CELEBRATE its 100TH CONCERT Artistic Chapel to Feature Chordsmen

July 20, 2012 - PRLog -- July 12, 2012 Holyoke MA   Celebrating its 100th chapel concert within the Byzantine  architectural  Chapel, Providence Place at Ingleside has selected the Pioneer Valley Chordsmen, an "acapella" chorus of thirty men with an orchestra accompaniment to perform this special anniversary concert.  The performance will take place on Sunday, September 9, 2012 at 2:30 p.m. The Chapel concert series has had a long tradition of presenting a wide range of international and national talent with an array of musical genres.  Performances have a wide following from audiences who enjoy the music but also the surroundings of the chapel.

The Chapel built in 1933 has an alluring fascination in western Massachusetts, and is often referred to as an ‘artistic gem’.  It is vast measuring one hundred thirty-five feet long and sixty feet high and houses a Skinner Organ, one of only two in the United States.  Its numerous columns and arches are made of tooled cast stone and its side walls feature panels of rouge antique marble and ten foot high wainscoting.  Of course, its centerpiece is the Italian marble altar centered beneath a baldachino of Venetian mosaic.  Four life-size marble angels stand at the pinnacles of the baldachino’s four supporting columns.  Collectively the altar, angel statutes, baldachino and columns weigh fifty-six tons.  The chapel’s four belfry bells weigh approximately 5,600 pounds.

“During our Chapel Concerts the sound reverberates in this sacred space and transports the listener, a great respite for an hour on a Sunday afternoon,” stated Runa Skar, Director of Marketing at Providence Place.  In designing the chapel, the builders were attentive to the chapel as a whole, the religious and musical components.  
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Knowing that this setting was going to be highly utilized with musical accompaniment, every design aspect considered the acoustical characteristics for managing the sound within explained Skar.  “Hence, our chapel series has outstanding musical quality which has been appreciated by our chapel concert audiences and also our performers,” she added, “and we are pleased to present Chapel Concert #100.”
Since the beginning of the Chapel Concert series, the chapel has hosted various performers ranging from classical performances to concerts more lively in nature including chamber orchestras, organ concerts, numerous choral ensembles such as the Bowling Green A Capella Choir and the Mount Holyoke Chorale, fiddlers and organ concerts on the chapel’s Skinner Organ where guest organists love the challenge of playing on one of two Skinners in this country.  During the holiday season, candlelight concerts are presented by choirs and hand bell artists.
Admission to the two hour performance is free and open to the public but seating is limited to the first three hundred and seventy-five guests.  For further information on the concert, please contact Runa Skar at (413) 534-9700.



About Providence Place:  Providence Place at Ingleside in Holyoke, MA is a rental, non-profit 120 unit retirement community for active seniors owned by the Sisters of Providence. Nestled on a beautiful hillside overlooking the Connecticut River, yet close to major highways, retail and cultural opportunities. Included are organized social programs with exercise components, restaurant style dining, free shuttle service and complete kitchens.   For more information: please visit providenceplace.org. or call (413)534-9700.