Department of Music to present first  Chancellor's Concert Feb. 24

Feb. 17, 2009 -- On Tuesday, Feb. 24, the Arkansas State University Concert Choir and University Singers will join the Wind Ensemble for the first Chancellor’s Concert in Riceland Hall, Fowler Center, 201 Olympic Drive, Jonesboro. The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free.  Conductors Dr. Dale Miller, director of choral activities, and Dr. Timothy Oliver, director of bands and coordinator of wind and percussion studies will lead the ensembles as they combine to perform works written for both choral and instrumental ensembles.

The concert will begin with the Concert Choir performing the Lloyd Pfautsch arrangement of the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Next, the choir will be joined by members of the Wind Ensemble as together they perform Anton Bruckner’s masterpiece, “Mass No. 2 in E minor for Eight-part Chorus and Wind Orchestra.” While many composers have written mass settings, this one stands apart for two reasons. First, the instrumentation is unusual in that Bruckner wrote for only wind instruments in this piece and excluded strings. Second, Bruckner took many ideas and compositional techniques from older vocal forms, such as Renaissance polyphony, and infused them with contemporary harmonic language to produce a traditional, yet Romantic work. This is a landmark piece of music within both the vocal and instrumental repertoire.

The second half of the concert will begin by featuring the Wind Ensemble as they perform David Maslanka’s “Give Us This Day.” This is a two-movement symphony which is both serene and powerful. The typically reflective compositional style of Maslanka finds expression within a wide variety of wind and percussion sonorities. The first movement is slow for the most part but maintains a quality of unrest and of deep searching. The second movement is extremely fast, while at the same time joyous and stern.

The final work on the concert is “Song of Democracy” by Howard Hanson. The piece utilizes both large choral and wind ensembles. Hanson is perhaps one of the most influential American composers, not only via his compositions, but also because of his contributions to music education. This piece, written in 1957, used as text parts of two Walt Whitman poems, “An Old Man's Thoughts of School,” written for the inauguration of a public school in Camden, New Jersey, in 1874; and from “Thou Mother with thy Equal Brood.”  Although commissioned for the hundredth anniversary of the National Education Association and the fiftieth anniversary of the Music Educators National Conference, Hanson dedicated the work to the musical youth of America. The combination of choral and vocal sonorities used in this piece bring this concert to an exciting conclusion.

Members of the ASU Concert Choir are as follows.  First sopranos: Crystal Haralson of Paragould, Angela Jackson of Naylor, Mo., Janet Tullos of Cabot, Roberta Tupper of Bartlesville, Okla., and Becky Morrison and Kari Rickman of Jonesboro. Second sopranos: Morgan Cox of Paragould, Sara Bedingfield of Nashville, Tenn., Dena Bell of Forrest City, Mollie Black of Benton, Katie Fischer of Jacksonville, Melissa Jackson of Pine Bluff, Hannah McQuay of Jonesboro, Renee Porter Smith of Kingwood, Texas, and Katie Willeford of El Dorado. First altos: Lauren Bridges of Marmaduke, Rebecca Craft of Jonesboro, Madison Kuebler of Searcy, Katherine Richards of Osceola, and Michelle Shotwell of Manila. Second altos: Susa Hulett of Mountain Home, Elizabeth Rountree of Hot Springs, Lorie Shavers of Pine Bluff, and Sloane Simmons of Jonesboro. First tenors: Kyle Berry of Austin, Josh Dennis of Springfield, Mo., Wesley Hooper of Harrisburg, Craig McAlister of Jonesboro, and Justin Stewart of Nashville, Tenn. Second tenors: Jeremy Carter of Paragould, Nick Robbins of Manila, and Sam Lee, Chris Orr, Willie Sullivan, and Matt Vardell of Jonesboro. Baritones: Romero Harper of Wynne, Mark Parsley of Malvern, John Sherwood of Searcy, and Matt Morgan and Taylor Woodruff of Jonesboro. Basses: Gabrien Brown of Newport, Patrick Maynes of Bryant, Drew McCann of West Memphis, Drew Warren of Manila, Jarvis Brodie and Brandon Stroud of Jonesboro, and Blake Markum and Jonathan Trail of Paragould.

Joining the Concert Choir for “Song of Democracy” are the University Singers. First soprano: Arielle Moss of Southside. Second sopranos: Elizabeth Davis of Paragould and Christina Mueller of Jonesboro. First alto: Ashlea Armstrong of Jonesboro. Second alto: Jennifer Nix of Brookland. First tenor: John Yerger of Jonesboro. Baritones: Derrick Brockman of Jacksonville and Toan Tran of Jonesboro. Bass: Jonathan Little of Bono. 

Rehearsal accompanists are Luca Strazzulo, Brian Henkelmann, and Willie Sullivan. 

Personnel for the Wind Ensemble are as follows. Piccolo: Hannah Sneed of Republic, Mo. Flutes: Angela Hammill of West Memphis, Lauren Henderson of Piggott, Caitlin Proctor of Conway, and Caitlin Sammons of Bald Knob. Oboes: Lauren Crum of Oxford, Miss., Sara Bedingfield of Nashville, Tenn., and Pamela Masterson of Homestead, Fla. Bassoons: Bryan Eckert of Jonesboro and Josh McFalls of Searcy. Clarinets: Sahyeeda Beard of Cherokee Village, Amelia Middleton of Russellville, Samantha Vaughn of Piggott, and Elizabeth Biggs, Michelle Davis, and Christopher Williams of Jonesboro. Bass clarinet: Nicole Nebeker of Harrisburg. Contrabass clarinet: Scott Dunkin of West Memphis. Alto saxophones: Allen Adcock of Bono, Ben Hobson of Grapevine, Texas, and Claire Richardson of Jonesboro. Tenor saxophone: Daniel Medina of Marion. Trumpets: Meagan Conley of Osceola, Joseph Curtis of Trumann, Kelsey Lambert of Paragould, Jon Stevenson of North Little Rock, and Antonio Starks and Angela Guajardo of Jonesboro. Horns: Matthew Allen of Magnolia, Jeremy Lloyd of Gosnell, Charnrit Rergron-asa of Thailand, and Amber Keefer and Laura Thompson of Jonesboro. Trombones:  Brandon Avant of West Memphis, Kasey Chitmon of Blytheville, Jonathon McAlister of Marion, and Treavor Mitchell and Adam Peoples-Waddell of Jonesboro. Euphoniums: Derek Escue of Jonesboro, Zack Rikard of Hardy, and Matthew Watson of Walnut Ridge. Tubas: Jay Shepherd of Paragould, Andrew Van Brook of Hoxie, and Daniel Van Aalsburg of Hardy. Percussion: Gabrien Brown of Newport, Trent Duff of Pocahontas, Aaron Fisher of Southaven, Miss., Jon David Carmack and Cheyenne Sheppard of Jonesboro, Seth Gaskill and Jarrett Tedder of Paragould. Keyboards: Chaz Allen of Springdale.   

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