Choir and Scranton Brass Orchestra to Perform

On Sunday, Mar. 5, at 7:30 p.m., The University of Scranton’s Concert Choir will present a concert in collaboration with Scranton Brass Orchestra. Presented by Performance Music at The University of Scranton, the concert will take place at the University’s Houlihan-McLean Center, Mulberry Street and Jefferson Avenue. Admission is free, with seating on a first-come, first-seated basis.

According to Performance Music Conductors and Co-Directors Cheryl Y. Boga and Philip Kuehn, the concert will feature a short program by each group, followed by the performance of three pieces by the combined groups, with piano accompaniment.

Formed four decades ago, the mixed-voice University of Scranton Concert Choir is a 50-member ensemble made up of students from majors spanning the University’s curriculum, brought together by their love of music. They are known for their eclectic and diverse styles of programming, and their selections for this concert include a lush choral arrangement of the Great American Songbook standard “When I Fall in Love,” an a cappella version of Don McLean’s “Vincent,” a setting by James Mulholland of the Robert Burns poem “A Red, Red Rose,” Rene Clausen’s “If Music Be The Food of Love,” and the tonally shimmering “Water Night” by Eric Whitacre.

Now in its 11^th season, Scranton Brass Orchestra is a fully-professional, 28-member ensemble comprised of brass and percussion players/teachers from across the region. Since its founding in June 2011, the group’s performances have been free and open to the public, and have featured nationally and internationally acclaimed guests, among them some of the most acclaimed brass players of our time. For the Mar. 5 concert, the ensemble will perform brass band arrangements of music by Gershwin, Andrew Lloyd Weber and American folk songs.

The primary focus of Performance Music at the University is its student choral and instrumental performing ensembles. There is no music major at the University, and all enrolled Scranton students (undergraduate and graduate) from every major are eligible for membership in the University bands, choirs and string ensembles, with neither an audition nor enrollment fee required for membership. Hundreds of students participate in the ensembles each year. Other programs within the department, including guest artist concerts, World Premiere Composition Series, Nelhybel Collection, and Scranton Brass Orchestra, closely coordinate programming with the student ensembles and offer unique opportunities for student musicians in the ensembles to hear, observe, interact and perform with numerous world-class musicians and artist-teachers.

For further information on the concert, call 570-941-7624 or visit scranton.edu/music.

The full spring season of Performance Music Concerts can be seen here.