Department of Music
SOU Choir Performs European Concert Preview
12/07/2008
SOU Choir Performs European Concert Preview
(Ashland, Ore.) The Southern Oregon University Chamber Choir will perform highlights from their upcoming tour of Berlin, Leipzig and Prague as part of the SOU Choirs Concert “Hodie!” on Sunday, December 7 at 3:00pm in the SOU Recital Hall. Highlights of the Chamber Choir tour include a performance at the home church of J.S. Bach, Thomaskirche in Leipzig, Germany, and an invitation to perform at the International Festival of Choristers in Usti nad Labem outside Prague. The performance at Thomaskirche will take place March, 22, 2009, the Sunday night of Bach's birthday weekend and thus a very highly desired concert time. According to Erin Harlan, Chamber Choir's US-based tour agent, the Thomaskirche concert selection committee was “very impressed with Chamber Choir's audition tape and materials... to be awarded the Sunday evening performance of Bach's birthday weekend is a real prize”. Chamber Choir’s Director, Dr. Paul French, is thrilled to be able to report “fundraising for the trip has gone extremely well with $114,000 raised towards the total cost of $118,000.” He notes that there will be several chances to attend concerts in support of the trip “where you’ll be treated to the finest in choral literature, and also help change the lives of forty SOU singers forever.”
Chamber Choir will perform Renaissance motets by Victoria and Praetorius, a tour-de-force magnificat by English composer Giles Swayne, as well as traditional folksongs, carols and spirituals. The SOU Concert Choir, under the direction of Dr. Fredna Grimland, will perform multiple selections on the traditional Christmas antiphon text “Hodie Christus Natus Est" (Today Christ is Born). Selections presented by the choir include the traditional chant melody, a setting by Gabrieli for double choir, a five-voice composition by Sweelinck, and a festive setting by the brilliant French composer Francis Poulenc. The concert concludes with a contemporary three movement Hodie! by Z. Randall Stroope for choir, brass, percussion, and organ. Students of SOU will be featured on instrumental accompaniments.
Tickets for this performance are $10 for general admission and FREE for students. Tickets and season passes may be purchased by calling 541-552-6101 or at the Music Box Office prior to the performance. For more information, please visit Southern Oregon University’s Music Department website at http://www.sou.edu/music
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