October 10, 2008
Bowling
Green, Ky. - Works by Johannes Brahms, George Frederic Handel and Morten Lauridsen will be featured in a choral orchestral concert performed by the Bowling Green Western Choral Society and the Western Kentucky University Chorale at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10 at First Baptist Church in Bowling Green.
Tickets are $10 for general admission, $8 for seniors and $5 for students. Tickets will be available at the door.
Dr. Paul Hondorp, Choral Society Artistic Director and WKU Director of Choral Activities, said the program, titled “Darkness and Light,” will include Brahms’ “Alto Rhapsody” featuring Dr. Liza Kelly; excerpts from Handel’s “Chandos Anthem #10: The Lord is My Light”; and Lauridsen’s “Lux Aeterna. “
Composers whose work will be performed represent three musical periods: Baroque, Romantic and Contemporary. Baroque composer George Frederic Händel (1685 – 1759) was born in Halle, Germany, traveled to Italy, and eventually settled in England, where he composed a number of well-known oratorios, including “The Messiah.” Music historians rate Handel as “one of the greatest composers of the late Baroque Period and, in his lifetime, he was, perhaps the most internationally famous of all musicians.”
Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897) was one of the last notable composers of the Romantic Period. Like Handel, he was born in Germany, but later moved to Vienna, Austria. He was a prolific composer, who, over time, produced an extensive repertoire of orchestral and choral works. Among the best known is “A German Requiem,” which brought him international recognition as a composer of great importance. Along with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven, Brahms is considered “one of the greatest and most influential composers of all time.”
Twentieth-century American composer Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943) was born in Colfax, Wash. He attended Whitman College and University of Southern California, where he studied advanced composition and has been a professor of composition since 1972. Since 1993, Lauridsen’s music has rapidly increased in international popularity. He is noted as being “arguably one of American’s most-performed contemporary choral composers.”
For information about the concert, which is presented by the WKU Department of Music and the Bowling Green Western Choral Society, call (270) 745-3751.
More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu and at http://wkunews.wordpress.com/. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
For information, contact Earlene Chelf at (270) 842-0218.
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