On Sunday, March 8^th at Saint Mark’s School in Southborough, Assabet Valley Mastersingers will provide an extraordinary opportunity to experience a dramatic choral/orchestral interpretation of “The Diary of Anne Frank”—Annelies.  70 years ago this month the young teenager Annelies (Anne) lost her life in a prison camp, but a personal diary containing her memorably mature and eloquent thoughts was later discovered in the family’s hiding place in Amsterdam.  In a remarkable and sensitive collaboration composer James Whitbourn and librettist Melanie Challenger premiered Annelies in London in 2005.  Excerpts of Anne’s diary are woven together: peaceful peeks of nature from her window contrasting with her sorrowful awareness of Jews being arrested and her fear of the family’s capture. The accompanying score is amazingly varied and stirring in its sympathetic reflection of Anne’s world.

AVM Artistic Director/Founder Robert P. Eaton will lead the ensemble of Mastersingers, soprano Susan Consoli, Shir Joy Chorus of Westborough (Dir. Wendy Damoulakis) and full orchestra in concert at 3:45 pm on March 8^th.  This may well mark the first rendition in New England of this version with extensive percussion, woodwinds, brass, piano, and strings enhancing color and emotion. 

A leading authority on Jewish choral music, Dr. Joshua Jacobson will give a pre-concert talk at 3:00 pm with a virtual tour of the Amsterdam hiding place, comments on the memorializing of Holocaust victims through music, and a preview of musical themes of this oratorio and their context.  Dr. Jacobson is Professor at Northeastern University and Hebrew College, founder & artistic director of the renowned Zamir Chorale of Boston, author, and composer.

            The auditorium at St. Mark’s School, 25 Marlboro Road (Route 85) in Southborough is accessible to the physically challenged.  There will be alternative parking at Woodward School, 28 Cordaville Road (Rte. 85) with a free shuttle service.   Large print programs will be offered to those desiring enhanced readability.  This concert has been graciously supported by grants from Avidia Charitable Foundation and Southborough Community Fund, a fund of the Foundation for MetroWest.

            Concert tickets may be purchased at Robinson Music Company, Westborough; Shattuck Pharmacy, Northborough; Shrewsbury Federal Credit Union, Shrewsbury; English Garden Florist, Southborough;  Serendipity Jewelry, Art, & Whimsy in Hudson; and both Joy-Den Jewelers and Main Street Café in Marlborough.  Advance sale discounts from these sites will be available through March 5^th.   General admission is $25 (twenty-five) and $20 (twenty) for students and senior citizens and may also be ordered at www.AVMsingers.org.

            For further information please call (978) 562-9838 or reference the website.  Partial funding for the Assabet Valley Mastersingers, a non-profit organization, has also been provided by the Massachusetts Cultural Council through the local Arts Councils of Hudson, Marlborough, Northborough, Shrewsbury, Southborough, and Westborough.