International Concert Series 2024-25

The Southern Chorale is the premiere choral ensemble at University of Southern Mississippi, and have become a national leader in choral music excellence in the US. As part of their UK Tour, we welcome them to Royal Holloway for a special side-by-side concert with our very own Choir of Royal Holloway. 

This event is presented as part of the International Concert Series 2024-25 at Royal Holloway.

Event programme

To include:

Ivo Antognini (b. 1963): Jubilate Deo
Ivo Antognini (b. 1963): Come To Me
Richard Burchard: Excerpts from Et Lux In Tenebris Lucet: A Requiem for the Forgotten
Ross Bernhardt: Prayer of St. Patrick
Trad. (arr. Carol Barnett): My Soul's been anchored in the Lord
Trad. (arr. Marques L. R. Garrett): Hold On!
Trad. (arr. James Mulholland): A Red, Red Rose

About the performers

The premier choral ensemble at Southern Miss, the Southern Chorale, has a long history of excellence. It is comprised primarily of upper-division voice majors and graduate students studying conducting, vocal performance, and music education, but does include outstanding singers from other campus disciplines. he group has appeared numerous times at ACDA conferences, including national conventions in Chicago and Los Angeles. The ensemble maintains an active tour schedule both nationally and internationally. Most recently, The Southern Chorale completed an extensive tour of the West Indies and Jamaica. Other significant endeavours have included a residency in the Loire Valley of France, a featured performance in Carnegie Hall for Katrina relief and one for the partial premiere of An American Requiem by Edwin Penhorwood, and recording projects on Handel’s Dixit Dominus, the Messe Pour Double Choeur, and the Sacred Music of resident composer Luigi Zaninelli. The group is currently working on a recording project that will feature the music of Laurel, Mississippi native, James Quitman Mulholland. The Chorale performs the complete spectrum of significant choral literature for a cappella and accompanied chorus. Read more.

Gregory Fuller is a Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at The University of Southern Mississippi. He conducts the Southern Chorale and Hattiesburg Choral Union, teaches graduate conducting courses, and oversees master's and doctoral conducting candidates. Previously, he held conducting positions at The University of Missouri and Briar Cliff University in Iowa. Dr. Fuller has led performances in 25 countries and 30 states, receiving 16 refereed invitations, including appearances at national conventions such as American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), Music Educators National Conference (MENC), and National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO). He has organized over 60 tours, including 30 international trips spanning three continents. His travel portfolio includes concert tours, study groups, pilgrimages, and four conducting symposiums in Estonia, Salt Lake City, Russia, and Sweden. He has also served in various leadership roles within the Mississippi Chapter of ACDA. An active orchestral and choral conductor, Dr. Fuller has collaborated with professional and university ensembles in over 100 performances. He has premiered 11 extended works, including pieces by Tõnu Kõrvits and Richard Burchard, and prepared orchestral choruses for major symphonies, including those in St. Louis, Atlanta, and Mobile. His work with community and church choirs includes directing the Siouxland Master Chorale and organizing performances in Japan. Currently, he serves as choirmaster at Parkway Heights United Methodist in Hattiesburg.

Richard Burchard is currently Artist in Residence with the University of Southern Mississippi Choral Program. As a college music educator for more than thirty years, Richard also has years of teaching experience abroad, including courses in Salzburg, Austria and South Africa. A native of Meadville, PA, he received a BAIS degree from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and BM and MM degrees from the University of Louisville. Richard’s choral works have been premiered throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, and South Africa. He is published with the Fred Bock Music Company, Gentry Publications, Pavane Publishing, H.T. Fitzsimons Co., Hinshaw Music, National Music Publishers, and Morning Star. Richard also has two choral series with Gentry Publications: The Choral Music of Richard Burchard and The Richard Burchard Choral Series. Richard has a long standing relationship with the USM Choral Department. Notable events include the Carnegie Hall premiere of The Seven Last Words of Christ in 2018; the American premiere of Stabat Mater and the ACDA National premiere of Cum Laude Ego Canto in 2022. His newest work written for the Southern Chorale, Requiem for the Forgotten, speaks to part of the human condition as both a somber reminder and a tribute to all those who were never given the opportunity to reach their full potential while living. For more information and to hear other of Burchard’s works, visit www.richardburchard. com.

The Choir of Royal Holloway is unique in the UK as the only collegiate choir with a weekly programme of services and concerts and is considered to be one of the finest mixed-voice collegiate choirs in Britain. The choir gives 50-plus concerts a year with a particular specialism in collaborating with living composers. Read more. 

Rupert Gough has been director of Choral Music and College Organist at Royal Holloway, University of London since 2005. He is also Organist and Director of Music at London’s oldest surviving church, Saint Bartholomew the Great, which maintains a professional choir. At Royal Holloway Rupert has developed the choral programme to include weekly choral recitals, choral conducting courses for undergraduates, many new choral commissions and transformed the Chapel Choir into an elite group of 24 choral scholars. Read more. 

The Southern Chorale