The finest singers at Central Methodist University will gather in one place to perform their annual fall concert. The Chorale and The Conservatory Singers bring will perform on Sunday, Oct. 29, at 4 p.m. in Linn Memorial United Methodist Church on the Fayette campus.
The concert is free and open to the public.
Included in this concert will be the world premiere of a Dan Forrest piece, “Not Ashamed,” dedicated to Dr. Claude Westfall and The CMU Chorale. It will be widely shared with audiences during the group’s fall tour, Nov. 16-21.
Westfall, director of choral activities and associate professor of music, has been The Chorale’s conductor since joining CMU in 2008. In the last two years, he has led The Chorale on special tours to the Portland, Ore., area for the United Methodist World Conference, and to the Washington, D.C. area to perform at area churches, including the National Cathedral; historic sites, including Gettysburg; and socially significant museums, such as the Holocaust Museum.
The Chorale’s program on Oct. 29 will be chosen from music that they will perform on their upcoming tour. Pieces include a dramatic and colorful setting of Psalm 81:3-4 by John Rutter called “A Chorale Fanfare,” a sacred polyphonic motet with half the choir in the balcony and half in the front of the church; “Salve Regina” by Orland di Lasso;
a Swedish folk song by Hugo Alfven named “A Maiden in a Ring”; “The Nightingale,” also by Dan Forrest, an American variant of the English folk song “The Bold Grenadier,” which will include a four-hand piano accompaniment, including Dr. Melissa Simons, assistant professor of music, and guest performer Zack Kierstead;
“Take My Hand” by John David Earnest; “Hard Times” by Stephen Foster and arranged by Craig Hella Johnson that asks the listener to consider the plight of those less fortunate; “The Singer’s Dance” by Kim Arnesen that reminds the audience of the beauty of our universal global home and a request to take better care of it; “Not Ashamed” by Dan Forrest, the world premiere; and “By and By” by Carol Barnett.
Dr. Laura Weibe, assistant professor of music, who has been with CMU since 2014, will be conducting the Conservatory Singers. The theme of their music set is “Growth Mindset,” which is in line with the theme of the CMU freshman class required read, Thunderdog by Michael Hingson. In conjunction with the theme, the choir will be collecting a freewill offering for a local organization that embodies the same theme.
The Conservatory Singers will be performing “If You can Walk, You can Dance,” by Elizabeth Alexander, based on a Zimbabwean proverb, with assistance by Crystal Kimmi, sophomore music education major from Stockton on claves, and Cayla Carr, junior music education major from Mount Sterling, Jaiden Preston, freshman pre-declared major from Kennett, Keaton Denney, sophomore music education major from Cole Camp, and Curtis Lierheimer, senior music education major from Mexico, as soloists;
“Weep, O Mine Eyes,” an English madrigal; the African-American spiritual “I Want to be Ready,” arranged by Howard Helvey and dedicated to the late Marty Hook; and in celebration of the 500thworldwide anniversary of the Reformation, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” also arranged by Dan Forrest, which will include congregational singing.
