With a goal to bring the Albemarle area the opportunity to hear great chorale music, the Albemarle Chorale's performance this weekend will surely be one you won't want to miss.

The group is constantly growing in popularity with the public, as the group's publicity director, Frank Jaklic, confirms that both viewer and member numbers increase each season.

Submitted photo (ENLARGE)

The Albemarle Chorale will perform Brahms' 'A German Requiem' in English this weekend and next.

"The group has grown significantly from its original 30 members or so. There are currently 58 members of all ages from all over the Albemarle," says Jaklic.

Perhaps the reason the group is so popular is because it appeals to the public in its entirety. Young people and adults of all walks of life and religious affiliations have discovered and enjoyed the Albemarle Chorale performances. The group is made up of both students and community members at varying levels in their chorale experience.

Yet another reason for the group's popularity may be that they bring a diverse range of performances to the Albemarle at no cost to the public; the modest members that make up the Chorale merely ask for kind donations for their travel and equipment costs.

"The performance that the Chorale brings is absolutely worth a donation; but if you can't make one, just show up anyway and enjoy," says Jaklic.

This particular performance will be quite unlike their previous ones, though Jaklic believes that it will be just as, if not more, popular. The director of the Albemarle Chorale, Lynwood Winslow, chose Johannes Brahms' 1868 "A German Requiem," which will be performed in English. The requiem was originally performed as a service for the dead; and Jaklic says that though the performance will pay tribute to the deceased, consoling those in the audience who have lost loved ones, the music will be very uplifting and spiritual.

Original Albemarle Chorale member, Leah Jonson, agrees.

"The requiem will be very dramatic and emotional, and it will pertain to everyone; it is both happy and sad because it makes you feel good to know that those you have lost have gone on to a better place," says Jonson.

Accompanied by one of Albemarle's most highly acclaimed organists, Jackie Copeland, the chorale group will tell a dramatic story with seven movements.

The group's director, Lynwood Winslow, who is also the director of choral music and theatre arts at Perquimans County High School, has been directing the Albemarle Chorale since the spring of 2004, and he can be credited for the highly applauded material for each performance as he has chosen it each year since, with the consent of a music board.

"Lyn is a wonderful director and talented musician," says Jonson. "He has instilled in us the desire and motivation to do well."

Inspired by an arm of the Perquimans Arts League, called the Bootstrap Players, the Albemarle Chorale was created in the fall of 2000, with the notion that it would be nice to have a community chorus. Since their break out performance in the spring of 2001, the group has performed twice each year; this year, however, they will have three performances.

After "A German Requiem," which will be performed at 4 p.m. on both March 30 at the Elizabeth City First United Methodist Church, and April 6, at the Edenton First United Methodist Church, the group will quickly prepare for a May 4 performance.

Their May performance at the Perquimans County High School will celebrate Hertford County's 250th anniversary with "The Albemarle Chorale Goes Pops!" And Jaklic says that this performance will differ greatly from the requiem, as it will be musically more current.

For more information about the Albemarle Chorale's performances, contact Frank Jaklic at (252) 426-5246.