Arts This Week: Deke Polifka
“Arts this Week” airs every Wednesday at 12 & 7 p.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM, hosted and produced by Aaryan Balu
Aaryan Balu: For Arts This Week, we chatted with Deke Polifka, Music Director for the Virginia Consort and their upcoming Mid-Season Masterworks concert, which will include a large children’s choir singing as part of the Festival Chorus.
Deke Polifka: The Festival Chorus is our adult choir, sort of expanded from our usual concert of about 40 to about 100 singers that get together January through this March concert. And so that’s wonderful. And this year, there’s the added element of a Children’s Chorus which is made up of our own Youth Chorale and Prelude Choir from the concert along with junior choristers from my church, St. Paul’s Memorial on the Corner, and also the Mosaic Children’s Choir, which is also in Charlottesville. So it’s a real group effort.
AB: I asked Deke how big this weekend’s concert is going to be.
DP: So if you’ve been to Old Cabell, it’s a it’s a nice sized stage, but we’re gonna push the limits a little bit, and may even have some of the sopranos and altos using a few of the seats and aisles in the audience. And so we’ll have about 160 singers, plus about 35 in the orchestra on stage, so it’ll be definitely very full up there.
It’s been fun for the children to meet each other and sometimes there’s some interconnections between the groups, but also making new friends as we sing this great music.
The Virginia Consort’s Mid-Season Masterworks Concert is this Sunday, March 3rd, at 3:30 PM at Old Cabell Hall.
Arts This Week is supported by Piedmont Virginia Community College.
