User:Jbaker13/Choral Arts Ensemble of Portland

The 40-voice Choral Arts Ensemble of Portland is a volunteer choir founded in 1969 in Portland, Oregon. The choir is a registered 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization and a performing arts ensemble that performs both sacred and secular music.

History
The Choral Arts Ensemble of Portland was founded in 1969 in Portland Oregon, and was originally named the Civic Choraliers. The group hired Donald M. Tucker, a student in conducting from Portland State, as their director. That fall, the Choraliers performed a Bach cantata with full orchestral accompaniment.

Farrold Stephens took over as the Choraliers’ director in the fall of 1973. He continued to present the great works of classical music as well as lighter fare. Much of the programming was relatively adventurous for a newer ensemble, including twentieth-century works by Kodaly, Hindemith, Pinkham, Poulenc, and a tribute to Benjamin Britten shortly after the composer’s death.

Current Music Director and Conductor Roger O. Doyle, PhD became the Choraliers’ conductor and musical director in 1978. The following year, at Doyle’s suggestion, the group changed its name to the Choral Arts Ensemble of Portland in an effort to emphasize the group's exploration of “the choral arts.”

The CAE presents three to five concert programs each season, and is recognized in Portland for Doyle's varied and thematic repertoire selections. Additionally, the group has presented choral masterworks of Brahms, Handel, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and others.

Mission
The CAE endeavors to educate its audience on the history and significance of the music and composers it features. The choir's concert program notes are written by Susan Wladaver-Morgan, Assistant Editor of the Pacific Historical Review, also a member of the ensemble. In November 2005, the CAE performed by invitation at the gala opening of the Lewis and Clark National Bicentennial Exhibition

Collaboration
In addition to presenting a four-concert season each year, the Choral Arts Ensemble frequently collaborates with other Portland ensembles including the Oregon Renaissance Band, the University of Portland Singers, Pioneer Brass, and musicians such as Richard Zeller and Thomas M. Lauderdale of the Portland band Pink Martini. In April, 2008 the CAE will present Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and Choral Fantasia, featuring Lauderdale as the piano soloist.