The Chattanooga Singers and the Chamber singers, both directed by Dr. Kevin Ford, will be presenting an evening of choral entertainment on Friday November 20, 7:30 p.m., at the Roland Hayes Concert Hall in the UTC Fine Arts building on the corner of Palmetto and Vine Streets. The concert is free and open to the general public.
The Chattanooga Singers will open the program with two pieces of South American literature. Their first piece, Hanacpachap, is from Peru, and it is considered to be the earliest piece of choral music written in the Americas. Misa Criolla, by Argentinean composer, Ariel Ramirez, is their second piece. All of the movements are set to dance forms. The South American instruments accompanying the choir include the Bolivian drum and the Chirango, a small string instrument.
The Chattanooga Singers will close their portion of the program with a few Christmas pieces to kick off the Holiday season.
The Chamber Singers will perform a variety of different pieces. These include Precious Lord and This Lil Light of Mine, arranged by Roland Carter. The Chamber Singers will present the world premiere of Dave Brubeck’s A Christmas Hymn, written in honor of Terry Sanford, the administrative specialist in the UTC Music Department and a former choral director. Sanford was a transcriber, conductor, and proponent of Dave Brubeck’s choral music, and Brubeck wanted to show his gratitude for Terry’s years of hard work transcribing and editing all of his music. Thus, Brubeck dedicated A Christmas Hymn in Terry’s honor, and although The Pacific Mozart Ensemble will release the piece on a CD next spring, the UTC version of the piece will go in Brubeck’s archives as the original performance.
The Chamber and Chattanooga Singers are UTC’s premier mixed ensembles, and they are open to all university students by audition. Both of these groups perform an extensive variety of music and have performed all over the world. Dr. Kevin Ford, the director of both groups, is the UC Foundation Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at UTC.
For more information, please contact the UTC Music Department at 423-425-4601 or visit our website at http://utc.edu/music.
