Fall Concert to Welcome Alumni and Local Guests
Christina Himes ·
October 09, 2009
On Friday, October 16 at 7:30 p.m., Southern Virginia
University will present its annual fall concert in Chandler Hall.
One of the highlights of homecoming week, the concert
features the Chamber Choir, Bella Voce and the Southern Virginia University Orchestra
bringing Chandler Hall to life through their love of music.
“I can’t wait to get to choir every week,” Chamber Choir
director LaRae Carter says as she describes her work with the students. That
same energy and enthusiasm is reflected in all the musicians’ eyes as they
perform. No wonder audiences can’t wait to get to the next concert.
Carter hopes the student performances will warm the hearts
of all the guests and welcome home returning alumni. Among the numbers it will
present, the choir has fun with the upbeat “Plenty Good Room,” an
African-American spiritual complete with scat. “Ubi Caritas,” a contemporary
piece based on ancient chant melodies, blends old with new.
Guests will notice a larger sound this year from Bella Voce,
Southern Virginia’s women’s choir; it is double the size of last year’s group.
In its rendition of the spiritual “Hold On,” director Margaret Gingerich
enlarges Bella Voce’s sound even more by adding student percussionists and English
professor Scott Dransfield on his electric bass.
Southern Virginia University Orchestra will take the
audience on a musical journey. Director Mark Taylor’s program highlights folk
songs from Korea, Puerto Rico, Austria and Romania. The Korean selection,
“Arirang,” boasts a personal connection to the orchestra. Taylor’s father wrote
this setting for strings in response to his service in Korea directly after the
Korean War. He was chaplain’s assistant to Rabbi Chaim Potok, who would become
the well-known novelist.
The fall concert
is free and open to the public.