New A Cappella Singing Group Forming: The Zephyr Vocal Ensemble

VERNON — Singers are sought to join the Zephyr Vocal Ensemble, a new 16-voice, semi-professional vocal group performing a repertoire spanning from early chant and classical music including Dufay, Palestrina, Mozart, all the way up to jazz, rock, pop, doo-wop, world music, and show tunes. Most of this will be sung a cappella. The first round of auditions will be Saturday, Feb. 20. Audition judges are professional choral directors from the region and also from Albany, N.Y. The ensemble will perform in concert “without a conductor to foster intimacy between the artists and audience,” according to organizers. All music will be memorized. Some light dance/gesturing, as suitable to the music, will be part of the performance. Organizers said the ensemble’s concerts “will be profound and evocative, entertaining and fun, delivering a superb level of artistry.” The ensemble’s first concerts to be performed later this year at St. Francis de Sales R.C. Church in Vernon, More venues to be added in other locations. Singers interested in singing in a group “with a collaborative atmosphere who are willing to take personal responsibility to learn and memorize their part at home and rehearse with other singers” should email Artistic Director Cherwyn Ambuter at zephyrve@warwick.net or call her at 973-862-0668.