UT’s Newest Choral Ensemble to Debut at Concerts May 2 and 10

The Camerata Singers, The University of Tampa’s newest auditioned choral ensemble, will give its debut performance in a joint concert with UT’s Chamber Singers on Thursday, May 2, at 7:30 p.m. in the Sykes Chapel and Center for Faith and Values. The choirs will perform a second concert at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in St. Petersburg on Friday, May 10, at 7 p.m. Both concerts are free and open to the public.

For their portion of the concert, the 15-voice Camerata Singers will perform “classics” for women's voices such as "Lift Thine Eyes" from Elijah by Felix Mendlessohn and “Suscepit Israel” from Magnificat by Johann Sebastian Bach. They will also sing a popular jazz arrangement of “Over the Rainbow, At Last” and a piece from the Czech Republic called Hoj, Hura Hoj, sung in Czech.

The Chambers Singers, UT’s premiere, touring vocal ensemble, is made up 36 of the University’s finest singers. They will open their portion of the program with two Baroque masterpieces by Henry Purcell and Johann Pachelbel. They will also sing a very modern piece called The Path of the Just by Norwegian composer, Knut Nystedt.

"This work is extremely difficult in that it often moves to as many as 16 different vocal parts, and there are portions of the piece where different sections of the ensemble have to sing at different tempos,” said Ryan Hebert, assistant professor of music and director of choral studies.

The ensemble will also sing the famous African-American spiritual "Precious Lord" by Arnold Sevier and a jazzy arrangement of “You Are So Beautiful,” which became a major hit in 1975 when it was recorded by Joe Crocker.

Each of the choirs will sing selections accompanied by the Chapel’s Dobson pipe organ played by Dale Williams, adjunct professor of music. According to Hebert, Williams has made a name for herself as one of the Tampa Bay area’s top accompanists.

“There is no common theme in this concert, but there is sure to be something everyone in the audience will recognize and many things that they won’t,” said Hebert. “The audience will be challenged by some works, uplifted by others and hopefully experience a transcendent moment or two.”

For more information, contact Hebert at (813) 257-3344 or rhebert@ut.edu.