PULLMAN – WSU School of Music will present the annual Vocal Extravaganza at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, in Bryan Hall Theatre. The concert is a showcase of the five choral ensembles on campus including University Singers, Concert Choir, Opera Workshop, Madrigal/Chamber Singers and VoJazz.
The University Singers will be singing Five Scottish Folk Songs arranged by Franz Joseph Haydn and the Sanctus from William Byrd’s Mass for Three Voices. These songs will be performed commemorating 2009 as the bicentennial of Haydn’s death. Originally these songs were set for solo voice, violin and continuo. Mark Reagan has completed these settings for three-part choir.
Concert Choir, under the direction of Lori Wiest, will perform music of celebration and hope, featuring Jubilate Deo of Giovanni Gabrieli, The Sounding Sea by Eric Barnum and Requiem written by Eliza Gilkyson in memory of the 2004 tsunami and arranged by Craig Hella Johnson. They will conclude with the Swedish spiritual So I’ll Sing With My Voice by Minnesota composer Dominick Argento, with solos by Sara Kochanski and Aaron Reed.
The students in opera workshop, under the direction of Julie Anne Wieck, will present excerpts from their full program, Love for Young and Old, which will be performed on Nov. 19 in Bryan Hall Theatre. The first excerpt is part of Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic operetta “Princess Ida,” and will be followed by a sampling from Gian Carlo Menotti’s Twentieth century opera, “The Old Maid and the Thief.” The students will be accompanied by Karen Savage, a member of the piano faculty.
A set of Latin American music will be the focus of the performance by the Madrigal/Chamber Singers, directed by Wiest. Traditional folk music from Puerto Rico, Columbia, and Bolivia arranged for voices will include Juego a que me quemo, Bella es mi Tiera si, El Gavilan, and Naranjitay-Tauhari.
Concluding the concert, VoJazz, directed by Kathleen Hollingsworth, will feature a wonderful and challenging arrangement of All Blues by New York Voices’ Darmon Meader and a surprise selection from the movie, Sister Act.
Tickets are $10 for general admission, $5 for senior citizens and students, and free for children under 12 and will be available for advance purchase form 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Nov. 10, 12, and 13 in Kimbrough Hall lobby and at the door the night of the event beginning at 5:30 p.m.
