UT Choirs Come Together for Choral “Collage” Concert Oct. 6 and 7

On Friday, Oct. 6, four of the University’s choral ensembles will come together to perform a choral “collage.” The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Sykes Chapel and Center for Faith and Values and is free and open to the public.

There will be a second performance on Saturday, Oct. 7, at 2 p.m.

“I always love this concert, because it gives the students a chance to work hard early in the semester to prepare for a concert,” said Ryan Hebert, director of choral studies. “It brings a lot of momentum to our semester and keeps everyone energized. It should be a spectacular concert, and I hope everyone can attend.”

The program features a variety of music that will appeal to various style preferences.

The Men’s Glee will sing a well-known setting of “Ave Maria” by Charles Gounod who borrowed the accompaniment from J.S. Bach’s famous “C Major Prelude” from The Well-Tempered Clavier; a spiritual setting of “I’ve Got Peace Like a River;” and a fun Beatles arrangement of “This Boy.”

Camerata will perform a setting of a poem by Emily Brontë, a selection from Wicked and a setting of the gospel tune, “This is the Day.”

Chamber Singers will sing a stunningly beautiful a capella setting of “Flower of Beauty” by John Clements, and Ralph Vaughn William’s setting of “The Old Hundredth Psalm Tune,” accompanied on the Dobson organ by junior organ major Sam Alderman.

Chamber Singers will also premier an original work by Hebert, entitled “Prayer of St. Francis.” This famous text is set in a modern style for piano, choir and oboe (faculty member and oboist Meg Cassell will accompany).

“I wanted to write a piece in response to all of the hatred and vitriol we constantly see in the media,” said Hebert. “As artists, we tend to feel like what we do isn’t always relative to current events. Creating beautiful music, however, is one of those things that helps bring people together in a seemingly divided culture.”

To close the concert, Women’s Glee will perform a modern setting of the ancient text “Cantate Domino” by Ken Berg as well as “A Girl’s Garden,” a famous and touching text by Robert Frost, set to music by the renowned composer Randal Thompson. Women’s Glee and Camerata will be conducted by music faculty member Rodney Shores.

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