WSU performers kick off shows on Dad’s Weekend

Washington State University’s School of Music and Theatre Arts plans “A Vocal Extravaganza” to kick off Dad’s Weekend on campus Friday, Oct. 24. The 8 p.m. program will be in Bryan Hall auditorium and showcase six WSU choral ensembles.

The Madrigal Singers, conducted by Lori Wiest, will open the show with English and Italian madrigals and a set of Elizabethan Songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The Madrigal group is a select mixed ensemble of 20 singers who perform in costumes reminiscent of the Renaissance.

Later in the semester the Madrigal Singers will be presenting the Twelfth Annual Madrigal Dinner in the WSU Compton Union Building. Tickets for the Dec. 5 and 6 dinner are $36 per person and go on sale Monday, Oct. 20, at the CUB ticket/information desk or by calling (509) 335-9444.

University Singers, a 70-voice mixed chorus, will perform three recently written pieces that represent three different traditional American styles. “Motherless Child” by Adolphus Hailstork is an African-American spiritual while his “I’ll Trust in the Lord and Do the Best I Can” is written in a call-and-response style. “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need” is an arrangement for chorus, keyboard, and flute and written by Don Michael Dicie from an original hymn composed in 1863 by William Bradbury. Performing with University Singers will be pianist Kelly Cornwall and flutist James Payne. University Singers is directed by John Weiss.

Selections by Concert Choir, conducted by Wiest, will include a jubilant motet by Palestrina, “Exultate Deo”; a setting by Z. Randall Stroope of “Amor de mi alma,” written by 16th century Spanish author Garcilaso de la Vega; and an arrangement of “Tango to Evora,” composed by Loreena McKennitt and set by Canadian composer Jon Washburn. It is accompanied by two dancers: Catherine Schuck and Kris Stenson. Concluding the Concert Choir’s portion of the program will be a setting of “Londonderry Air (Danny Boy)” by Bob Chilcott, formerly of the King’s Singers, and “Camptown Races,” arranged by Jack Halloran. Accompanist for choir is Mary Doornink.

The 31 students enrolled in Opera Workshop this semester will perform five short excerpts from their program of “Scenes from American Opera.” They will open with the operatically vocal overture to the musical, “Nine,” that is presently running on Broadway. American composer Leonard Bernstein will be represented with scenes from two of his operas: “Trouble in Tahiti” and “Candide.” The first story revolves around a marriage in trouble and utilizes a vocal jazz trio in the manner of a Greek chorus, commenting on the situation. Voltaire’s “Candide,” adapted by Bernstein, takes place in the fictional land of Westphalia, which is certainly “The Best of All Possible Worlds,” or so the young people are taught. Another marriage in jeopardy is gossiped about in the scene from Kurt Weill’s “Street Scene,” taking place on the streets of New York. To conclude its section of the program, the singers will perform an audition between four sopranos in “Too Many Sopranos.” There is only one open spot in the heavenly chorus and St. Peter has his hands full with several divas. WSU Opera Workshop is directed by Julie Anne Wieck and accompanied by Margaret Brink. The group’s full program will be presented on Thursday, Nov. 20, in Bryan Hall Auditorium.

VoJazz, directed by Jennifer Scovell, will be performing classic jazz standards such as “Georgia” and “Honeysuckle Rose” as well as helping Simon and Garfunkel kick off their reunion tour with an arrangement of “Me and Julio Down By The School Yard.”

Crimson Revue, also directed by Scovell, will be singing and dancing a variety of popular favorites including Leiber and Stoller’s “On Broadway,” Earth, Wind and Fire’s “Shining Star” and James Taylor’s “That Lonesome Road.” The ensemble provides its own choreography with arrangements written by WSU student Ryan Jesperson.

Admission for the event is $5 per person. Money raised by this event is divided among the six vocal ensembles to help pay for their performance tours, music and costumes. Tickets may be purchased on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, the week of the performance from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. in Kimbrough Hall Lobby or at the door of the event beginning at 6 p.m. in Bryan Hall.

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