(MACON) - The Mercer Singers will embark on a concert tour of Austria and the Czech Republic in May 2004.
The 45-voice choir includes undergraduate students from all disciplines of Mercer University and is led by Dr. Stanley Roberts, associate professor of music and director of choral studies in Mercer's College of Liberal Arts.
The Mercer Singers can be seen performing before leaving for Europe in their annual concert with the Macon Symphony Orchestra. This year's concert, held at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 24, at The Grand Opera House, will consist of a performance of the Durufl'e "Requiem." For tickets and more information, contact the Macon Symphony at 478-301-5300.
Their upcoming 11-day tour will include a performance at the Anton'in Dvor'ak Festival in Pribram and the singing of High Mass at the historic St. Vitus Cathedral (pictured lower right) in Prague. In recent years, the Mercer Singers have given performances in...
(MACON)- University Organist Robert Parris has quite a task ahead of him at the 2004 National Convention for the American Guild of Organists in July.
He will perform Leo Sowerby's "Concerto for Organ and Orchestra," a piece so difficult that only four people have ever performed it, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the newly-constructed Disney Hall, one of the finest performance halls in the nation. It will be the inaugural performance on the hall's Manuel Rosales-designed pipe organ.
The 35-minute "Concerto for Organ and Orchestra" is shrouded in mystique. Sowerby, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1946 for composing "The Canticle of the Sun," originally wrote the famed piece for E. Power Biggs. It was not published, nor did anyone but Biggs play it, until his death in 1977.
At that time, many had heard of the magnificent piece, but few had actually heard it. Since Biggs performed it with the Philadelphia Orchestra in the Lincoln Center in 1963,...
WHO: Ga. State Sen. Mike Crotts, Deputy Chief of Staff for Gov. Sonny Perdue Dylan Glenn and Ga. State Rep. Lynn Westmoreland
WHAT: These candidates for the 8th Congressional District will participate in a free, public debate.
WHEN: Monday, April 19, at 4 p.m.
WHERE: Mercer University School of Medicine Auditorium
BACKGROUND: The student group Mercer College Republicans is hosting this debate.
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WHO: Mercer University freshman engineering students and engineering faculty members
WHAT: Students are designing and constructing vehicles using K'Nex building toys to compete in the following categories: boat, amphibious, dragster, cable car, rampster and tug-o-war.
WHEN: 3- 5 p.m., Friday, April 16
WHERE: Mercer University School of Engineering Building. Go to South Campus Entrance off Mercer University Drive.
WHY: The students enrolled in EGR 107 - the freshman engineering course - have been designing and building vehicles using K'Nex building kits. These vehicles will compete in a variety of events at the School of Engineering. Each design category will have four to six design teams competing. This is a fun and challenging way for students to put their designs to the test and learn the skills necessary to succeed in the engineering field.
There will be many opportunities for video and photos....
(MACON) - The Mercer Singers will give their annual "Farewell Concert" Sunday, April 18, 3 p.m., in Fickling Hall of the McCorkle Music Building. Stanley L. Roberts, associate professor of music, director of choral studies and coordinator of sacred music studies in Mercer's College of Liberal Arts, will conduct.
The "Farewell Concert" is performed each spring as a final choral concert and in honor of the graduating singers. Joining the Mercer Singers will be the 22-voice Mercer University Women's Chamber Choir. The event is free of charge.
The performance will include some of the repertoire that the Mercer Singers will sing as a part of their 2004 Tour of Austria and the Czech Republic in May. A featured piece for this concert will be the premiere of a new composition written for the Mercer Singers by former Mercer music theory instructor Brant Adams.
Adams' choral setting, titled "In the Fold," is an adaptation of the second movement (Largo) of...
WHO: Chick-fil-A founder and chairman Truett Cathy
WHAT: Truett Cathy will speak to Mercer University's Stetson School of Business and Economics students.
WHEN: Monday, April 12, at 6 p.m.
WHERE: Mercer University Religious Life Center, College Street, off Mercer University Drive on the Macon Campus
BACKGROUND: Students in Mercer's Stetson School of Business and Economics have been reading The Generosity Factor, a book Cathy co-authored with Kenneth H. Blanchard. His presentation is a part of Business Week activities on Mercer's Macon campus. Business Week is sponsored by the Stetson School of Business and the Alpha Tau chapter of Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity.
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(MACON) - The Mercer Wind Ensemble will present a "Concert of Concertos," which will include two Georgia premieres, Friday, April 16, 7:30 p.m., at The Grand Opera House, 651 Mulberry St.
The concert will be conducted by Dr. Douglas Hill, associate professor of music, director of instrumental music and coordinator of the music education program for Mercer University's College of Liberal Arts. The concert is free and open to the public.
The two works premiering are Eric Ewazen's (pictured immediate left) "Danzante" (inspired by the Diego Rivera painting) for trumpet and wind ensemble and Gary Ziek's "Concerto for Percussion and Wind Ensemble." James Thompson (pictured far left), past principal trumpet with the Atlanta Symphony and current professor at the Eastman School of Music, will perform as soloist on the first piece, while Brian Nozny, adjunct professor of music at Mercer, will perform as soloist on the latter piece.
The Wind...
(MACON) - The 2004 Mercer Jazz Festival will be held Saturday, April 17, at 7:30 p.m., at The Grand Opera House, 651 Mulberry St.
Tickets are $5 for the general public; admission is free with a Mercer ID.
Led by Monty Cole, director of Jazz Studies at Mercer, this year's concert will feature guest artist Brad Goode (pictured left), who was described as "lyrical genius of the trumpet...The young demon of bebop" by Larry Kart of The Chicago Tribune.
The Jazz Festival will kick off with a combo set of Cole on saxophone; Goode, trumpet; Bob Barnett, bass; Steve Schanin, drums and Jim McKillip, piano. The musicians will play a set list "in the spirit of a jam session."
Also on tap for the festival is a big band set with the Mercer Jazz Ensemble, featuring Goode on trumpet. Jazz enthusiasts and Grand Opera House patrons can expect to hear first-rate renditions of Rob McConnell's "Close Enough for Love," Drum Kern's "All the...
Bonnie Rideout may have received a formal education on the violin, but ever since she picked the instrument up at the age of eight, she has been a fiddler at heart. On Sunday, April 18, she will demonstrate her musical gift at The Grand Opera House, 651 Mulberry Street.
In 1985, Rideout earned two degrees-one in violin performance and another in fine arts. "I'm indebted to the teachers who taught me the value of reading music and the discipline of learning the 'masters,'" she said. "But the more I played 'serious' music, the more I missed my fiddling."
Rideout charms her audiences with a unique style of fiddling and a vast knowledge of traditional Scottish dance tunes, Highland bagpipe music and ancient Gaelic melodies, each reflecting the rich musical tradition of her heritage.
She is the only American to hold the honor of representing Scottish fiddle music at the prestigious Edinburgh International Festival. She is the first woman to hold a national...
(MACON) - Mercer University President R. Kirby Godsey has named Hewitt W. "Ted" Matthews, Ph.D., vice president for the Health Sciences. In his new...
