MUSIC PROGRAM PRESENTS FOUR ENSEMBLES OVER TWO DAYS

(Albany, NY): The Music Program of the University at Albany’s Department of Music and Theatre is pleased to present four of its large ensembles in two concerts on the last weekend of October.  Featuring the UAlbany Chamber Singers and UAlbany Community Chorale, The Choral Hour will be presented on Saturday, October 29, 2022 at 2pm.  The UAlbany Symphony Orchestra and UAlbany Concert Band will share the bill on Sunday, October 30, 2022 at 3pm.  Both concerts will take at the UAlbany Performing Arts Center on the uptown University at Albany campus at 1400 Washington Avenue.

The UAlbany Chamber Singers is a select group of 28 students who offer music of the highest quality.  They perform regularly at the UAlbany Performing Arts Center as well as for university and community events throughout the academic year. They will contribute five works on the October 29 program including At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners, which invokes the well-known poem by John Donne, and the traditional Filipino song, Paruparong Bukid.

The UAlbany Community Chorale consists of 45 outstanding singers from across the campus community and represents majors from all schools and programs.  This group will offer six works on The Choral Hour program including Wide Open Spaces by Canadian composer Sarah Quartel and Jabula Jesu, a Zulu work song.

The two choral ensembles will combine for two selections during the Saturday afternoon concert: Hope, by Ysae M. Barnwell of the renowned female gospel acapella group Sweet Honey of the Rock, and Let the River Run, arranged for choir by Craig Hella Johnson of the premiere choral ensemble Conspirare. 

Both UAlbany groups are directed by Dr. Michael Lister who is in his second year on faculty at UAlbany.  “I am thrilled to see the students’ desire to make music again after the long and difficult period of COVID,” he proclaims. “Their energy and enthusiasm are inspiring and will result in a very moving and heartfelt presentation of music.”

Opening the concert on October 30, the UAlbany Concert Band will present four selections with a Halloween theme.  Conducted by UAlbany faculty member Kevin Champagne, the first half of the concert will feature the Concert Band in Ed Kiefer’s The Anguish of Nosferatu, Erika Svanoe’s The Haunted Carousel, selections from The Phantom of the Opera and Justin Williams’ arrangement of At the Movies: Haunted Nights.

The UAlbany Symphony Orchestra will take the stage for the second half of the concert.  Performing under the direction of Christopher David Neubert, the group will present two works: Gioacchino Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) and Gabriel Faure’s Masques et Bergamasques.

Advance tickets to each concert are $5 for the general public and $3 for students, seniors and UAlbany faculty-staff.  Tickets purchased on the day of the shows are $10 for the general public and $8 for students, seniors and UAlbany faculty-staff. All tickets must be purchased on-line from the UAlbany Performing Arts Center’s site at www.albany.edu/pac.  Information and assistance can be obtained by contacting the UAlbany Performing Arts Center’s main office at (518) 442-3995 or [email protected].