HARLINGEN — A concert on Sunday will mark the Valley return of Dianne Brumley, founder and former director of the South Texas Chorale and director emerita of the University of Texas at Brownsville Master Chorale.
The Dianne Brumley Chorale, a hand-picked group of 50 alumni from the Master Chorale, will perform at Harlingen’s First United Methodist Church on Sunday, June 12.
The program, entitled The Road Home, will include works ranging from classical pieces by Haydn and Palestrina to hymns, spirituals and contemporary works.
Appointed in 2003, Brumley was the first person to hold the position of Director of Choral Studies at UTB.
During her 10-year tenure at UTB, the Master Chorale was selected to perform at the 2011 Texas Music Educators Association Convention and toured in Ireland and Italy.
Brumley formed the Dianne Brumley Chorale as a means of staying close to her former students, many of whom are now teachers and conductors themselves. It also feeds her passion for music performance.
“Musicians develop an unusual chemistry,” Brumley said. “The collaboration doesn’t end when a student receives his or her degree. When you’ve rehearsed and performed together for years, it’s hard to let that relationship go.”
Since it was formed in 2014, members of the chorale have performed concerts in San Antonio, near Brumley’s Hill Country home.
But Brumley felt it was only appropriate to organize the group for a concert on home soil.
“This performance is called The Road Home for obvious reasons,” Brumley said. “Our roots run deep here. Music is a gift we wanted to give to the people of our home community.”
In addition to her work with UTB, Brumley also served for 20 years as the founding Conductor and Artistic Director of the South Texas Chorale and Festival Orchestra.
