Reviews

The following are excerpts of reviews featured in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

'Judas Maccabaeus' big, powerful, long

Published on December 3, 2007

WORCESTER -- ...the Master Singers carried off the choral work with nuance, absolute command and perfect conviction. Listening to them is always a lush, ingratiating experience.... The Master Singers reach marvelous authority and panache in their Act 2 finale, "We never, never, will bow down," and the three magnificent choruses that close the oratorio -- a really thunderous, all-stops-out effort that easily brought the audience to a standing ovation.

Master, Salisbury Singers lend vigor to modern choral works

Published on June 11, 2007

WORCESTER -- The second half of the concert was given over to Gwyneth Walker’s memorable amalgam of New England music and literature, “New England Journey,” a work commissioned for the 30th anniversary of the Master Singers of Worcester. That group’s artistic director, Malcolm Halliday, conducted.... Halliday pushed forward the group’s energy, dynamics and local patriotism. Walker’s piece is a marvel of intelligence and indepth feel for New England’s cultural range, from the haunting lilt of an Elizabeth Bishop sonnet, to the barbed satire of an Emily Dickinson poem, to the ferocious judgment of a William Billings song, to the sweet implied salvation of a Shaker hymn, and the calm resolution of a Whittier poem. Walker has found uncanny ways of blending her music with the sentiments expressed. The six different expressions dovetailed magically in renderings that were sweet, powerful and enthralling in Walker’s beguiling meditation on, in Billings’ phrase, “New England’s soul forever reigns.”....

Master Singers Can Handel Show

Published on April 10, 2006

WORCESTER -- The 30th anniversary of the Master Singers of Worcester provided an occasion to hear G.F. Handel's oratorio "Israel in Egypt," at Temple Emanuel yesterday afternoon.... Conductor Malcolm Halliday brought together the 56-person chorus, seven soloists, and 25-piece orchestra in an ambitious exposition of the Handel work. The result was an always competent, occasionally stunning, reverent rendering of this glorious music....

Canadian Compositions Given Voice in Worcester

Published on March 7, 2005

WORCESTER -- In a unique, ambitious and deftly executed concert titled "Two Women of Canada", the Master Singers of Worcester, joined by the Worcester Children's Chorus, the Worcester Youth Chorale, and Youth pro Musica, the Greater Boston Youth Chorus, performed works by Eleanor Daley and Ruth Watson Henderson....

Masterful Concert a Bach Showcase

Published on March 24, 2003

WORCESTER -- It takes a gifted conductor and a resolute chorus to succeed with a concert devoted entirely to J.S. Bach. For the Master Singers of Worcester and their conductor Malcolm Halliday the proposition was enticing, and succeed they did Saturday night in Tuckerman Hall, using every inch of the small stage.... Halliday's approach to this ambitious program was notable for its sensitivity and intelligence, and the warm sound he elicited from the 60 or so singers was well blended. His tempos ensured that the music always retained its sense of dignity and breadth....

Master Singers Bring Life to Some Musical Americana

Published on May 13, 2002

WORCESTER -- One of the most enjoyable aspects of attending a concert by the Master Singers is the programming: One can always count on hearing a good variety of out-of-the-way, not terribly well-known music by composers and arrangers of the not-too-distant past, based on substantive and usually quite subtle poetry. All the better, the ensemble consistently provides committed, focused performances that go a long way toward making one want to hear more from the various crafters of this music and these texts.

Orchestra, Trio of Choruses Make Waves

Published on March 4, 2002

WORCESTER -- More than 250 singers and musicians filled the Mechanics Hall stage yesterday afternoon for a magnificent and stunningly well-executed performance of music inspired by the sea. Titled “Sea Pictures,” the program was performed under the direction of Mark Churchill. The concert combined Churchill's Symphony Pro Musica with the Stow Festival Chorus (Barbara H. Jones, director); the Assabet Valley Mastersingers (Robert P. Eaton, director); and the Master Singers of Worcester (Malcolm Halliday, director).... The three choruses combined to forge a beautifully unified, blended and balanced sound that aptly and convincingly captured the many varying moods and images of Whitman's glorious text.... In essence, this was a remarkable and quite unforgettable performance.

Best of Ellington's `Sacred Concerts' Gets Even Better

Published on February 11, 2002

WORCESTER -- It's hard to believe, but the combined musical forces that presented Duke Ellington's ``The Best of The Sacred Concerts'' yesterday at Mechanics Hall reached heights even more dazzling than when the work was aired in Worcester for the first time last year to thunderous approval.

'REQUIEM' REJUVENATES CONCERT

Published on May 7, 2001

WORCESTER -- Halfway through yesterday's performance of Maurice Duruflé's Requiem, the music was so beautiful that one didn't necessarily care who was singing or where one was listening to it. A truly hypnotic performance can have that sort of effect. But in fact the "who" was highly significant, since the Requiem was part of a concert titled "Mass Extravaganza" that saw a rare collaboration between the Master Singers of Worcester and the Salisbury Singers.

ELLINGTON'S SACRED MUSIC SOARS

Published on February 4, 2001

WORCESTER -- A triumph -- that one word best describes last night's performance of the 'Best of the Sacred Concerts by Duke Ellington' at WPI's Alden Hall. A collaboration between the WPI Stage Band and The Master Singers of Worcester, the ambitious undertaking served to underscore both the ongoing importance of Ellington and the burgeoning ability of local ensembles to handle challenging music in a meaningful way.

SINGERS CELEBRATE DECEMBER SUPERBLY

Published on December 11, 2000

WORCESTER -- Christmas is two weeks away, but aficionados of chorale music received an early gift yesterday afternoon at Tuckerman Hall in the form of 'December Celebrations', the first concert in the Master Singers of Worcester's new season.

'VOICES AND PIPES' END MASTER SINGERS' SEASON

Published on June 4, 2000

WORCESTER -- Before about 100 people gathered in Assumption College's Chapel of the Holy Spirit, the Master Singers of Worcester Saturday night presented an intriguing and well-performed concert of sacred music, bringing this fine choral ensemble's 24th season to a successful conclusion.

'WOMEN'S VOICES' ARE RAISED IN SONG

Published on March 5, 2000

WORCESTER -- The Master Singers of Worcester, in collaboration with Preservation Worcester and the Worcester Women's History Project, presented a varied, challenging and wonderfully energetic concert celebrating the accomplishments of American women last night before an appreciative audience of about 300 in Tuckerman Hall.

MALCOLM HALLIDAY: NEW MASTER OF THE MASTER SINGERS

Published on February 7, 1999

In the fall of 1979, Malcolm Halliday auditioned for a singing job at Boston's Old South Church with the eminent Boston choral conductor, Alfred Nash Patterson, who also happened to be the founding director of the Master Singers of Worcester. Two weeks later, Patterson died of a heart attack. (No reflection on Halliday's abilities as a tenor.) Now almost two decades later, Halliday himself has taken over the Master Singers - in fact revived the community chorus, which has often struggled for survival.