The 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Chamber Chorale presents its annual "Home Concert" at 7:30 p.m. April 15 in the Rando Recital Hall on campus. This traditional annual performance celebrates the conclusion of the choir's concert season and marks the end of the university's academic year.
The critically acclaimed Chamber Chorale is a select vocal ensemble of 23 singers under the direction of David B. Weiller. The choir sings a varied and entertaining repertoire of sacred and secular music by renaissance masters Josquin des Prez and Orlando Gibbons, German romanticist Johannes Brahms, and American composers Victor Herbert, Randall Thompson, Greg Lapp and Paul Christiansen.
Featured Selections
A highlight of the performance will be selections from "The Unicorn, the Gorgon and the Manticore," a whimsical fairy-tale set in madrigal style by Italian-American composer Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007).
The story presents an eccentric poet and his three unusual beasts. Colorful musical caricatures represent the gossiping townsfolk, the status-climbing Countess and her hen-pecked husband. When a vigilante mob storms the poet's castle, accusing him of murdering the animals, they instead find him on his deathbed, surrounded by his beloved pets. The poet's tender farewell suggests that the world can find redemption through art, for it is the artist who transcends social prejudices and lives for truth.
Season Finale
All 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ choir alumni are invited to join the choir at the conclusion of the concert in the traditional singing of the "51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Alma Mater," written by Eric Whitacre, a 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ alumnus from the class of 1995 and internationally recognized composer. A reception honoring the Chamber Chorale will be held following the concert.
The 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Chamber Chorale has toured throughout the southwestern United States, Mexico and Canada and has performed by invitation at music conferences in Nevada, Utah, California and Hawaii. Past concerts include holiday performances with the world-renowned Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra conducted and participation in a massed choir performance in New York City's Carnegie Hall. During a recent tour, an enthusiastic music critic praised the choir for a performance in which "...the singers, conductor, accompanist, and audience members all but danced in the pews..."
David Weiller is in his twenty-seventh year on the university faculty where he serves as Director of Choral Studies and Associate Professor of Music. He is a past recipient of the 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ William Morris Award for Excellence in Teaching and the 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Alumni Association's Distinguished Faculty Award. Professor Weiller is a principal conductor for the College Light Opera Company at Highfield Theatre on Cape Cod, one of the most respected educational theatre companies in the country.
Ticket Info
Tickets are available at the 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Performing Arts Center box office or by calling 895-ARTS. General admission is $10; senior citizens, military and 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ faculty/staff tickets are $8. Students from the university and the Clark County School District receive one free ticket by presenting valid student identification at the box office.
