Social Scene

Choral Arts Thanks Its Maestro, Norman Scribner

By Mary Bird • June 29, 2012 0 2001

Ambassador of the Russian Federation Sergey Kislyak, Lena Norman and Gregory Gingery | Mary Bird

Washington has many special events but none more heartfelt that the June 13 tribute at the Washington National Cathedral to Norman Scribner, as he ended his 47th season as artistic director of The Choral Arts Society of Washington. Concertgoers were enchanted by organ master J. Reilly Lewis, Robert Shafer conducting works by Richard Wayne Dirksen, Janice Chandler Eteme’s O Patria Mia and the chorus’s “Ave Maria” from Rachmaninoff’s “Vespers.” At a post-performance reception in Hearst Hall, the maestro called his successor Scott Tucker a “kindred spirit.” Scribner said, “Names don’t matter that much. It’s the spirit moving around the room. I hope to see you often on the audience floor.”