Singing in the season
Three PSU choirs set to perform Nov. 6
Amelia Ley
Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: Campus Life
Susan Marchant will direct the University Choir, PSU Chorale and women's ensemble at the annual Pittsburg State University choir concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, in the McCray Recital Hall.
Typically, the jazz choir also performs. However, PSU currently does not have the program.
"It is one of the activities that is on hiatus because of staffing reductions," said Music Department professor Marchant.
Of the three choirs that will perform, the University Choir is the largest. It has more than a hundred members and is open to any university student.
The PSU Chorale is a smaller group. Membership is determined by an audition, so members tend to have more experience or have been in the program longer, says Marchant.
The choirs will perform different styles and genres at the concert.
"We have things based on folk material, and one of our pieces actually has a little bit of a gospel feel to it, then we have standard literature by Mozart and other composers as well," she said.
Of the songs the University Choir will sing, "Mama Afrika" is one of them.
"It is a setting of a Creole text by a Haitian composer," Marchant said. "This is a bittersweet text where the author is considering the current state of life in Haiti and all the troubles that they have experienced there, but at the same time looking back to the motherland and remembering not only the glories of Africa, but also the fact that things aren't always going so well for folks there either."
An ensemble of drummers will accompany the choir, which will help to make "Mama Afrika" an interesting multilayered kind of piece, says Marchant.
Some of the other instruments that will be used as accompaniments during the concert are the Fisk organ and flute.
Hannah Brewer and Daniel Benitz, both graduate students, will be accompanists, and Julia Penner will be featured as a flute soloist in John Rutter's "Musica Dei Domini."
Charlotte Evans, Kimberly Arzoian and Andrew Hayse will be featured as vocal soloists.
Marchant says there is more than one possible way to end the concert; there are three.
"The plan at this point is for the spiritual to close the concert, but I haven't quite decided how I want people to leave the hall," she said.
A silent auction of gourmet desserts and a sale of other baked goods will be on display before, during and after the concert. The proceeds will benefit the choirs' 2010 spring tour to Ireland.
The choral program has a November concert every year, followed by two events after Thanksgiving, says Marchant.
"We have three very different programs all within a month's time," says Marchant. "It makes for an interesting fall."
The two performances after Thanksgiving include the holiday luncheon and the musical dinner. The luncheon is 90 minutes of holiday music in the Crimson and Gold Ballroom. The annual musical dinner is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 4, and features music from Broadway and American popular song.
Typically, the jazz choir also performs. However, PSU currently does not have the program.
"It is one of the activities that is on hiatus because of staffing reductions," said Music Department professor Marchant.
Of the three choirs that will perform, the University Choir is the largest. It has more than a hundred members and is open to any university student.
The PSU Chorale is a smaller group. Membership is determined by an audition, so members tend to have more experience or have been in the program longer, says Marchant.
The choirs will perform different styles and genres at the concert.
"We have things based on folk material, and one of our pieces actually has a little bit of a gospel feel to it, then we have standard literature by Mozart and other composers as well," she said.
Of the songs the University Choir will sing, "Mama Afrika" is one of them.
"It is a setting of a Creole text by a Haitian composer," Marchant said. "This is a bittersweet text where the author is considering the current state of life in Haiti and all the troubles that they have experienced there, but at the same time looking back to the motherland and remembering not only the glories of Africa, but also the fact that things aren't always going so well for folks there either."
An ensemble of drummers will accompany the choir, which will help to make "Mama Afrika" an interesting multilayered kind of piece, says Marchant.
Some of the other instruments that will be used as accompaniments during the concert are the Fisk organ and flute.
Hannah Brewer and Daniel Benitz, both graduate students, will be accompanists, and Julia Penner will be featured as a flute soloist in John Rutter's "Musica Dei Domini."
Charlotte Evans, Kimberly Arzoian and Andrew Hayse will be featured as vocal soloists.
Marchant says there is more than one possible way to end the concert; there are three.
"The plan at this point is for the spiritual to close the concert, but I haven't quite decided how I want people to leave the hall," she said.
A silent auction of gourmet desserts and a sale of other baked goods will be on display before, during and after the concert. The proceeds will benefit the choirs' 2010 spring tour to Ireland.
The choral program has a November concert every year, followed by two events after Thanksgiving, says Marchant.
"We have three very different programs all within a month's time," says Marchant. "It makes for an interesting fall."
The two performances after Thanksgiving include the holiday luncheon and the musical dinner. The luncheon is 90 minutes of holiday music in the Crimson and Gold Ballroom. The annual musical dinner is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 4, and features music from Broadway and American popular song.
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