Sunday, April 26, 2009

Americana! The University Chorus Spring Concert

This past April, the University Chorus had their spring concert. I decided to have a program that focused on the great music that has its roots in American Music. The concert is broken into short video's by set. We hope you enjoy!!

We begin with a piece by Robert Muczynski, a composer based close to home in Chicago.



This was followed by two fragments from Latin American Masses. The first is a Kyrie by Licinio Refice. He is an italian composer but finished his life in Brazil. There is a chance that he composed this work in Brazil, but it was more likely composed in Italy. The Gloria comes from Ariel Ramirez' "Missa Criolla" and includes two fantastic soloists: Rebecca Henriques and Hillary Anderson!



We then take a trip over the ocean to England to hear to works by Edward Elgar with settings of texts by Tennyson. This includes the great work of Jan Matthews on the violin.



This is followed by a work by Randall Thompson from his set called "Frostiana." This is the well known poem "The Road Not Taken."



The next set of works are three songs arranged by Daniel McDavitt a good friend and fellow conductor, as well as incredibly composer! He arranged these specifically for the University Chorus. This is a great time to note the great work of accompanist Colin Leslie. He does a wonderful job in these songs!



The final work pays homage to one of the great musical composers in America, Stephen Sondheim. This is one of the most meaningful songs from his musical "Into the Woods." I arranged this for the chorus as my own special gift to them.



This was a wonderful conclusion to an incredible year! I am sure the choir members enjoyed the concert as much as I did!

3 comments:

  1. I take it you got rid of your facebook... This is Ryan Hightower's wife. I am registered for Spring Choral but plan to be in Mexico from June 5-13. How many classes can I miss before I stop passing and would I be missing performances during that week? If you get this e-mail me... sing4stace@gmail.com

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  2. Nice, I enjoyed the different selections you chose. It was fun to hear the arrangements, especially with Danny's work. Congratulations!!!

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  3. This is a wonderful arrangement of one of my favorite Sondheim songs! I direct a high school choir in Western NY- is there any way I would be able to use this arrangement with my group? You can email me at kaminskimusic@gmail.com. Thanks so much!

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