Fall Choral Concert Covers The Globe: Three Ensembles Perform English, Asian and American Compositions
NEW PALTZ — The combined choral ensembles of SUNY New Paltz, under the direction of Dr. Edward Lundergan, present a Fall Choral Concert on Tuesday, November 27, 2001 at 8:00 PM in the Julien J. Studley Theatre. Tickets are available at the door at the following prices: $5 adults, $4 seniors and faculty/staff, and $3 students.
SUNY New Paltz is home to three distinct choral groups – the Chamber Singers, Concert Choir and College-Community Chorale. Each semester, the ensembles gather to give a concert that traverses a range of choral music – from modern to Renaissance, from English part-songs to Asian folk-song. This combination of chamber works and large-scale choral pieces from around the globe and throughout history provides an exciting evening of music for voice.
The evening’s program includes Benjamin Britten’s song cycle, Five Flower Songs, sung by the Chamber Singers. The work represents some of Britten’s finest writing for unaccompanied chorus. The Chamber Singers will also sing Stephen Chatman’s five-song work Due North. Chatman, a native of Minnesota, composed the five parts of Due North as a sonic portrait of the Canadian landscape.
The Concert Choir will perform Les Chansons des Rose by American composer Morton Lauridsen. Lauridsen’s five-part song cycle is inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke’s poems on roses. The poems, says Lauridsen, “struck me as especially charming, filled with gorgeous lyricism, deftly crafted and elegant in their imagery. These exquisite poems are primarily light, joyous and playful, and the musical settings are designed to enhance these characteristics and capture their delicate beauty and sensuousness”(Peermusic Classical).
The College-Community Chorale, a large ensemble comprising members of the University and surrounding communities, will perform three Asian folk songs. These works add a distinct flavor to the concert.
In addition, The College-Community Chorale and Concert Choir will combine to perform the “Agnus Dei” movement of Beethoven’s Mass in C, in a preview of the performance of the complete work by the Chorale, Concert Choir, and College-Youth Symphony of the Hudson Valley at Julien J. Studley Theatre on Sunday, December 9.
Information on other upcoming arts events, including the College-Youth Symphony Concert, is available on the Web at www.newpaltz.edu/artsnews or by calling 845-257-3872.
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