This Sunday's Winter Choral Concert, at 3 p.m. in Pruis Hall, will not be the stuffy, musically homogeneous event the uninitiated might imagine a vocal music concert to be.
"Anytime we have a choral concert we hope people go away with an appreciation of several different musical styles," said Jeffrey Carter, associate director of choral activities.
Some of the genres the groups will include in their repertoire are folk, pop, classical and spiritual.
Opening the concert will be the 80-member University Choral Union, a non-audition, mixed ensemble featuring students of various majors and ages.
Despite the fact that choir members will be singing in a foreign language, Carter said the group has shown a remarkable amount of progress on the Brazilian tune "Tudo Valera."
"It's really, really sounding good," he said.
Next on the program are the Statesmen, an all-male ensemble conducted by Director of Choral Activities Douglas Amman and doctoral student Tsui-Ping Peng.
The Statesmen will sing selections such as the Irving Berlin tune "The Girl That I Marry" and Randall Thompson's "The Last Words of David."
Following the Statesmen will be the Women's Chorus, under the baton of graduate assistant Karen Meiring. The group will perform songs such as the Allen Koepke composition, "Dance on My Heart."
Meiring and fellow graduate assistant Erin Baldwin will each be conducting music with the Madrigal-Jazz Ensemble, who will perform tunes ranging from Billy Joel's ballad "Lullaby" to the 14th-century work "Il Bianco e Dolce Cigno," by Jacques Arcadelt.
Next, the Ball State University Singers will sing a rare acoustic set, minus choreography. Their only accompaniment will be from a piano, and some numbers will be sung a capella.
Closing the concert will be the Concert Choir, with an arrangement of the Irish folk song "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" and the spiritual "Dan-u-el," with soloist Kyle Cothern.
The University Choral Union and Concert Choir each will perform a shorter set than usual because have also been preparing material for a joint concert with Ball State Symphony Orchestra that will also take place on Sunday, at 7:30 p.m. in Emens Auditorium.
Amman said the audience should enjoy the wide range of styles that will be presented in the choral concert.
"It's got a lot of variety," he said. "That's what's neat about it."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
