UIS Music program presents Fall Showcase Concert

For a musical tour around the world, UIS students, faculty, staff and community members are invited to attend the UIS Music Fall Showcase Concert on Friday, Dec. 4, 2009, at 7:30 p.m.

The event will feature music from a variety of countries, cultures and historical periods. Highlights include selections from Russia, China, Germany, and New Orleans plus songs sung in Swahili and Hebrew.

The evening begins with a pre-concert lecture by UIUC musicology student Jessica Davis of Urbana in the lobby outside the PAC Studio Theatre from 7 to 7:20 p.m. Doors will open for the concert following the lecture, and refreshments will be served after the performance.

The Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Todd Cranson, will open the evening with music of John Robichaux’s 19th Century New Orleans Dance Orchestra. This music was all the rage at high society dances around the turn of the 20th Century and competed and comingled with early jazz in the Crescent City.

Following the Chamber Orchestra, the Chorus, under the direction of Dr. Sharon Graf, will perform numerous selections from around the world including Eric Whitacre’s “Five Hebrew Love Songs” performed with the Chamber Orchestra.

The program concludes with selections by Sousa, Wagner, and more performed by the UIS Concert Band.

The Showcase Concert is free and open to the public. Donations are welcome and will benefit the UIS Music Student Merit Award.

The current UIS Music program began in 2001 and is comprised of students, faculty, staff and alumni as well as Springfield community members, all with a variety of skill levels. Anyone interested in joining the UIS Chorus, Band or Chamber Orchestra may contact Sharon Graf or Todd Cranson by emailing music@uis.edu or calling (217) 206-6240.