The Oratorio Society of Virginia

Honors its Music Director

The Oratorio Society of Virginia will celebrate a decade of outstanding choral music under the leadership of its Music Director, L. Thomas (Lance) Vining. Lance was honored for his service to the Society at a "Meet the Maestro" reception at the home of Sharon and Fred O'Connor in Glenmore on Sunday, May 16, 2010

Mr. Vining, a graduate of Westminster Choir College of Princeton, NJ, Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, MD and the Royal School of Church Music in Croyden, England, began his career as a lyric spinto tenor, performing with many orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic and the National Symphony Orchestra. He then went on to study conducting with Leonard Bernstein, Leopold Stokowski, Robert Shaw, Aaron Copland, Sir Malcolm Sargent, and others and has conducted orchestras across the country.

Thoroughly dedicated to the Oratorio Society and his role as its Music Director, Lance commutes from his home in northern Virginia for the weekly rehearsals and concert weekends to share with the chorus his knowledge of choral music and vocal technique. Under his leadership The Oratorio Society of Virginia (formerly, the Oratorio Society of Charlottesville-Albemarle) lives up to its mission: Dedicated to musical excellence, The Oratorio Society of Virginia enriches, inspires, and educates the community through regular performance of choral masterworks that express the best of the human spirit. He has led the chorus in performances of Brahms'and Mozart's Requiems, Bach's Mass in B Minor, Orff's Carmina Burana, Mendelssohn's Elijah, and Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony. Under his leadership, the Oratorio Society presented Beethoven's Ninth Symphony as a part of the grand reopening of the beautifully restored Paramount Theater, and introduced concert performances of opera to Charlottesville with performances of Verdi's La Traviata and Rigoletto.

Anyone wishing to recognize Lance's service should contact Jim Speers at development@oratoriosociety.org.