PULLMAN, Wash. – The words of American poet and social activist Langston Hughes, set to music, will highlight a free, public, choral concert at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 10, in Bryan Hall at Washington State University.
William Averitt’s “The Deepness of the Blue” includes the Hughes works New Moon, My Loves, Poem, Drum and Danse Africaine and will be performed by the WSU Concert Choir. That group also will present “Hard Trials,” an emotional spiritual about the heartache and desperation experienced by enslaved Africans in America, as well as gospel songs and spirituals.
The WSU Madrigal Singers will perform madrigals of the Renaissance that tell stories of love, desire, love lost and joy. The 16-member ensemble will be dressed in costumes reminiscent of the 16th century.
Both choirs, directed by WSU faculty member Lori Wiest, have been invited to perform in South Korea in May.