Chorale to Open 54th Season
Thursday, November 8, 2018
The Sewanee Chorale opens their 54th season at 7:30 p.m., today (Friday), Nov. 9, in All Saints’ Chapel. Their fall concert will be a blend of Broadway melodies, popular tunes, American folk music and classical repertoire. The selections range from Copland’s “Ching-a-Ring-Chaw” to a setting of “For the Beauty of the Earth” by the British composer Philip Stopford. Stopford began his life-long work in music as a chorister at Westminster Abbey, London, and went on to earn degrees at Cambridge prior to his appointment as organ scholar at Canterbury Cathedral.
The vocal and instrumental musicians of the Sewanee Student Chamber Music Society will also perform on the program. The singers will present Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo’s setting of “Ubi Caritas et Amor, (Where charity and love prevail).” A student string quartet will accompany the choir in an anonymous setting of a motet based on the chorale tune “Nun danket alle Gott (Now Thank we all our God).” Zachary Zwahlein, assistant university organist will perform a setting of the chorale by J.S. Bach from the Leipzig Chorales, completing the trio of pieces based on the seasonal tune.
To commemorate the centenary of Armistice Day, “In Flander’s Fields” will be read by Marcia Mary Cook prior to the Chorale singing an arrangement of the poem. “The Road Home” by Stephen Paulus is sung in memory of Chorale member Christian Doak, who died unexpectedly in September. Doak was a long-time member of the chorale and is remembered for his tireless contributions, quick wit, and endless cheer.
A set of American folk tunes will include “O Shenando’” sung by the gentlemen of the Chorale, directed by Trent Whisenant, C’21. Sheri Kling, executive director of the Beecken Center, who in her spare time sings and writes folk songs, will lead the women of the Chorale in Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land.” Caroline Todd, Anna Burklin, and Lisa Perry, and students Christian Braden, C’21 and Andrew Yow, C’22 also have featured solos.
The Sewanee Chorale brings together approximately 35 people who love to sing, including students, staff and faculty of the University. If you are interested in singing in the Chorale, contact Ruth S. Cobb, <rscobb@sewanee.edu>.
The program is free and parking will be available on University Avenue.