Festival features 1,650-voice chorus in MillerMarch 6, 2001 KALAMAZOO -- The 63rd annual Southwestern Michigan Vocal Festival will be held on the WMU campus on Thursday, March 15. The day-long festival will culminate in a 7 p.m. performance in Miller Auditorium. The concert is open to the public, free of charge. After the 1,650-voice Festival Chorus is seated in the first two levels of the auditorium, the audience will be seated in the balcony. Guest conductor Eph Ehly, one of this generation's most sought-after choral conductor/clinicians, will lead the evening performance, which includes the Festival Chorus and the select 75-member 2001 Honors Choir, as well as performances by WMU's University Symphony Orchestra and Grand Chorus. The concert will feature the Festival Chorus performing Ron Nelson's Fanfare for a Festival, accompanied by brass and percussion players from the University Symphonic Band; the Introit & Kyrie from Gabriel Fauré's Requiem; Felix Mendelssohn's "Thanks Be to God" from Elijah; Ray Henderson's The Birth of the Blues; and Keith Hampton's Praise His Holy Name. Keyboard accompaniment will be provided by WMU faculty members Dr. Stephen Zegree (piano) and Dr. Karl Schrock, University Organist. In addition to piano accompaniment, the Henderson and Hampton works will include WMU student instrumentalists Joe Ayoub, a double bassist from Grand Rapids, Mich., and Jeff Link, a drummer from Grand Rapids. The Honors Choir will present Ralph Manuel's Alleluia, an a capella work; Marcos Leit's Três Cantos Nativos (dos Indios Kraó), performed with choir members playing percussion instruments; and Paul Marsena's I'm Gonna Rise, with piano accompaniment by Zegree. The festival is one of the largest, oldest, and most successful high school choral festivals in the United States. This year's festival will draw participants from 41 Southwest Michigan high schools. High schools participating in this year's festival and their directors are: Albion, Tony J. Shapow Since its inception in 1935 the Southwestern Michigan Vocal Festival has been dedicated to one goal: To provide an experience in mass singing of good repertoire under the leadership of an inspiring conductor. Each year a noted guest conductor is invited to work with select students in a fall workshop and conduct the day-long festival in March. Media contact: Kevin West, 616 387-4678, kevin.west@wmich.edu |
Office of University Relations |