Voices West Presents "Annelies" for 70th Anniversary of Anne Frank's Death

LITTLETON, Colo. - March 31, 2015 - PRLog -- Millions have read The Diary of Anne Frank and been struck by the beauty and resilience of the human spirit during horrible and inhumane times. In honor of the 70th anniversary of Anne Frank’s death, and coinciding with the International Days of Remembrance, Voices West will perform Annelies, the full-length choral work by composer James Whitbourn based on her writings. This powerful and gripping concert that will be moving for audiences and performers, alike, will be presented Saturday, April 18th, at 7:30 pm at Bethany Lutheran Church in Cherry Hills Village, as well as Sunday, April 19th, at 7:00 pm at Denver’s Temple Emanuel. Also performing with Voices West will be the Colorado Chamber Orchestra and soprano soloist, Amy Maples. Notably, Voices West’s presentation of Annelies, a 2014 Grammy nominee, will be the very first in the Denver Metro area. Advance tickets are available through the Voices West website, http://voiceswest.org, and limited tickets will also be available at the door the evenings of the concerts.

British composer James Whitbourn found inspiration from Anne Frank, the young girl who hid from the Nazis with her family for two years in an Amsterdam attic, whose diary told the tale of survival and her sense of optimism in the face of horrific hardship. Working with a libretto compiled by Melanie Challenger, Whitbourn captures the various moods and attitudes that the young girl conveyed in her writing and masterfully places brief scenes filled with tension and haunting tones. The music has been described as ‘woundingly beautiful’ (Daily Telegraph). Annelies was first performed at the National UK Holocaust Memorial Day in Westminster Hall on January 27th, 2005, and premiered in the US in April, 2007, at Westminster Choir College, Princeton, NJ.

ABOUT VOICES WEST

Voices West, Chorus of the Colorado Front Range, was founded as the Littleton Choral Society in 1978 by Bud Nicholson. Through the vision of six different directors and several changes of name, Voices West is now one of the largest and most respected auditioned choral organizations in the Denver metro area.

The chorus draws singers and supporters from the Colorado Front Range including Littleton, Highlands Ranch, Centennial, Castle Rock and Denver. Performances take place throughout the southwest Denver metro area, and are generously supported by SCFD grants from Arapahoe County, Douglas County and Jefferson County. Voices West frequently collaborates with other music ensembles including the Colorado Chamber Orchestra, the Colorado Wind Ensemble and Young Voices of Colorado. Recent performances have included John Rutter’s Mass of the Children, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, the Duruflé Requiem and Bernstein’s Mass.

Current music director and conductor, Michael Todd Krueger, continues the exciting tradition of performing exceptional choral music for Colorado audiences.