Choral and percussion ensembles from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Music Department will present three spring concerts in the coming week. All concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. and are free.
For more information, contact the UTC Music Department, 425-4601, or check its Web site at http://utc.edu/music.
TONIGHT
The Chamber Singers and Chattanooga Singers kick off the week of music tonight at Second Presbyterian Church, 700 Pine Street.
Dr. Kevin Ford will direct the singers in a program of pieces by composers Orlando Gibbons, William Byrd, John Blow, George Frederick Handel and Henry Purcell.
Also directing the singers will be graduate assistant conductors Justin Hipp and Gerald Peel. Two student pianists, Eshton Anderson and Priska Sentena, will accompany the singers.
“The first set is all Renaissance pieces,” said Ford, naming Gibbons’ “Hosanna to the Son of David” and “Look Down O Lord” as examples.
“We’ll do Purcell’s verse anthem, ‘O God, Thou Art My God,'” he said. Audience members may recognize the Hallelujah section at the end of that anthem as a hymn.
“Chattanooga Singers is also doing an early music set,” said Ford, which includes John Blow’s “Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem.” That work’s lengthy solo will be sung by Alex Bryant.
Featured in the program is “From an Unknown Past,” a set of seven short works, sung in eight minutes, by American composer Ned Rorem.
“All the poets are anonymous, which is where he got the title,” said Ford, “but they are beautiful settings, and there is a lot of depth to it.” The UTC director said the program will conclude with folk songs.
Other featured soloists in the program will be Varanda Bell, Taylor Brittingham and Maria Shull.
MONDAY
The UTC Percussion Ensemble presents its popular “Catch the Groove!” concert in the UTC Fine Arts Center, corner of Vine and Palmetto streets.
Count on Dr. Monte Coulter and his 13 percussionists to present some of the newest and most interesting pieces for percussion in this 10th annual show.
Highlights include Christopher Rouse’s “Ku Ka Illimoku,” which was commissioned by the Syracuse Symphony Percussion. This score was given to Coulter by Thomas Wilkins, past director of university orchestras at UTC and now the music director of the Hollywood Bowl.
“Yobel,” by Jesse Ayers, is the composer’s impression of trumpets, written for mallet percussion. “Blue Pineapple Key Sprints” was written by UTC percussionist Alex Ford.
Senior Drew McCallie will be featured soloist on “Concerto for Drum Set and Percussion Ensemble.”
“Normandy Beach,” by David Gillingham, is a stirring work for mallets, drums, and pieces of iron that evokes the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. It is a favorite of the ensemble and performed frequently in its concerts.
TUESDAY
The Men’s Chorus and Women’s Chorale will be joined by two special guests for this program in the UTC Fine Arts Center.
Joining the UTC ensembles, directed by Roland Carter and Dr. Lee Harris, will be the Ooltewah High School Concert Choir and InSpirit Male Chorus of Collegedale.
The OHS singers are directed by UTC alumna Kristen Wiram, and InSpirit Male Chorus is directed by UTC graduate student Gerald Peel.
The program will open with the combined ensembles performing “Modern Music” by William Billings, before each group performs individually. The male groups will combine to present “O Lord, Done Done What You Told Me To Do,” arranged by Carter.
The four groups will again join voices for the finale, a Carter arrangement of “This Little Light of Mine.”