Music

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

The Allegheny College Chamber Singers will present a free concert of sacred and secular duets on Sunday, Dec. 11 at 3:15 p.m. in Ford Memorial Chapel.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

The Allegheny Choirs, under the direction of James D. Niblock, will perform a free concert at 3:15 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, in Shafer Auditorium. The Allegheny College Chorus, Chamber Choir, Women’s Ensemble, Men’s Ensemble, and College Choir will each perform several works, and the groups will collaborate to close the performance as a choir of 120 voices. The concert is free and open to the public.

The concert’s repertoire covers traditions and ideas from 13 countries – including five pieces with seasonal themes associated with winter, Christmas, and Hanukkah. Niblock says he aims to present music as a “cultural meeting place,” bringing together histories and stories from across the globe. Listeners will hear nine languages incorporated, including Ladino, Slovenian, Hebrew, and Mandarin. 

The Allegheny Choirs have been a central presence on campus for 86 years, with many of the pieces from past programs resurfacing over the years. Several pieces, such as “O Magnum Mysterium” by Tomas Luis de Victoria, and “Sledge Bells” by Hugh Roberton have been sung throughout the choir’s history.

The Dec. 3 concert will open with one of Bach’s most famous chorales, “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” from Cantata 147: “Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben” (Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life). The Chamber Choir will present selections from the repertoire they are preparing for a spring tour to New Zealand.

“Dixit Dominus,” by Baldassare Galuppi was composed for the famous choir of orphaned and abandoned young women living in the Venetian Ospedale during the Baroque period. The second movement of Galuppi’s work will be performed here.  The College Men’s Ensemble will sing “Blow Ye the Trumpet” from Kirke Mechem’s opera John Brown about the American abolitionist.  “Zigeunerleben” by Robert Schumann, will be sung by the College Choir, the text of which was written by Emanuel Geibel.

Collaborating with the choirs are pianists Kevin Dill, music director at First Presbyterian Church, and Allegheny Professor Emeritus of Music Ward Jamison. Audience members are encouraged to use the balcony as well as the main floor of the auditorium.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

The Allegheny Choirs, under the direction of James D. Niblock, will perform a free concert at 3:15 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, in Shafer Auditorium at Allegheny College. The Allegheny College Chorus, Chamber Choir, Women’s Ensemble, Men’s Ensemble, and College Choir will each perform several works, and the groups will collaborate to close the performance as a choir of 120 voices. The concert is free and open to the public.

he concert’s repertoire covers traditions and ideas from 13 countries – including five pieces with seasonal themes associated with winter, Christmas, and Hanukkah. Niblock says he aims to present music as a “cultural meeting place,” bringing together histories and stories from across the globe. Listeners will hear nine languages incorporated, including Ladino, Slovenian, Hebrew, and Mandarin.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

The Select Strings Ensemble and the Chamber Strings Ensemble, under the instruction of Professor Christina Dolanc, will be performing Sunday, Dec. 4 at 3:15 p.m. in the Ford Memorial Chapel. The performance is free and open to the public.

Each ensemble is made up of Allegheny students. Select Strings features students playing violin, cello, and piano, and Chamber Strings features three violins, a viola, and a cello. The ensembles will perform separate pieces before coming together for a finale which will also include Dolanc playing violin, her husband on cello, and a student playing bass.

The theme of the recital is Centuries: Strings Across the Music Eras, and will feature a work from each of the major musical eras beginning with the early Renaissance through the 20^th Century, and finishing with a contemporary jazz/pop composition. Notable pieces include “Christe, Que Lux es et Dies” by Robert Whyte, a movement of Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 67, and End Theme by Zero 7.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

The college’s chamber ensembles will provide pre-concert music at the Wind Symphony performance.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

The Allegheny College Jazz Band will perform at several local schools on Monday, Dec. 5, including stops at Conneaut Lake Middle School, West End Elementary School and Second District Elementary School.

This outreach program from the Music Department at Allegheny College will feature performances of “Fantasy,” “Afro-Blue,” “What a Wonderful World,” “Rhapsody in Blue,” “Traces,” “Tuxedo Junction,” “Summertime,” “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing),” “Almost Like Being in Love,” “A String of Pearls,” “Beyond the Sea,” “Peter Gunn,” “25 or 6 to 4,” and “Silver Bells.”

The Jazz Band includes 28 students and is under the direction of Stephen F. Corsi.

“The intention behind the program is to reach out to school districts, in order to support and promote music education in their respective schools, encourage the students in those schools to participate in their school’s music programs, recognize and emphasize the significance of the fine arts in our schools, and to advocate for students and adults to be life long musicians, by showcasing and modeling the talents and performing abilities of our Jazz Band members,” Corsi said. “Further, it is a wonderful experience for our Jazz Band students to perform for students and staff in these schools, as they act as ambassadors of music.”

In recent years the Jazz Band also has visited Neason Hill Elementary School, Meadville Area Senior High School, Conneaut Area Senior High School and Seton Catholic School.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Allegheny College will present two free, public concerts next weekend: the Civic Symphony will perform on Saturday, Nov. 19, and the Wind Symphony on Sunday, Nov. 20. Both concerts will be held at 3:15 p.m. in the college’s Shafer Auditorium.

The Allegheny College Civic Symphony includes students, faculty, staff, and Meadville community members as performers. The concert will be conducted by Jennifer Dearden, associate professor of music and string coordinator, and will feature guest piano soloist Douglas Jurs, assistant professor of music, performing the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No. 1” and Jackson Froman, instructor of accordion, on the accordion performing a movement of Virgil Thomson’s “Acadian Songs and Dances.”The Civic Symphony will perform “Overture in D” by Henry Purcell, “Piano Concerto No. 1” by Ludwig van Beethoven, “Brook Green Suite” by Gustav Holst featuring the string players, “Pavane” by Gabriel Faure, and “Acadian Songs and Dances” by Virgil Thomson.

The Allegheny College Wind Symphony will be conducted by Lowell E. Hepler, professor of music and director of bands. The Wind Symphony is a 93-member symphonic band open to all students through auditions. The symphony is recognized on a state level through the Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Band and on a national level through the National Small College Intercollegiate Band and the National Wind Ensemble at Carnegie Hall.

The Wind Symphony will perform “Salvation is Created” by Tschesnokoff/Houseknecht, “Overture to ‘Italian in Algiers’” by Rossini/Cailliet, “Two Movements from the Rivers Suite: Deep River,”and “Cross the Wide Missouri/The Water is Wide,” which will be the premiere performance of an original piece by Ronald Stitt, assistant director of bands. In addition, the performance will include “Italian Rhapsody” by Julie Giroux, “Internet Symphony ‘Eroica’” by Tan Dun, “Alligator Alley” by Michael Daugherty, “Praise to the Lord” by Vaclav Nelhybel, “Rock Springs Saga” by William Owens, and “Sound off March” by John Philip Sousa.

The college’s chamber ensembles will provide pre-concert music at the Wind Symphony performance. 

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Eleven student musicians from the Allegheny Wind Symphony were chosen to participate in the 2016 Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Band, March 4-6 at Elizabethtown College. They traveled with Professor of Music Lowell Hepler and Assistant Professor of Music Julie Hepler to be part of the all-state honor band. Chosen to represent Allegheny were Celena Turiano ’18, flute; Kelly Pohland ’16, clarinet; Melissa Ruszczyk ’17, clarinet; Dana O’Connor ’18, clarinet; Breanna Whiting ’16, alto clarinet; Perry Rusen-Morohovich ’19, bassoon; Jonathan Schaeffer ’19, baritone saxophone; Kevin Simpson ’16, trumpet; Will Hawkins ’16, trumpet; Abigail Johnson ’18, French horn; and Kyle Murphy ’16, percussion. The Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Band, founded in 1948, is the oldest continuing event of its kind in the United States. The event involves more than 30 colleges and universities and is held at a different school each year. Allegheny College has hosted the event twice, in 1996 and 2009.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research