APPLETON, WIS. — More than 300 voices will join forces in tribute to some of America’s greatest composers Sunday, Feb. 24 for the EXPERIENCE American Choral Masterpieces concert at 2 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel, 510 E. College Ave., Appleton. The concert is free and open to the public.
In a pre-concert lecture begining at 1:15 p.m., Lawrence music historian Julie McQuinn will explore the concept of “American” music, examine the history of America’s quest to define itself musically and discuss the music and attitudes of some of the diverse group of composers featured on the concert program.
The two-hour concert will showcase Lawrence’s own Concert Choir, Cantala (women’s choir) and Viking Chorale as well as a special “Festival Choir” of 140 exceptional high school singers nominated by their respective choral directors.
Members of the Festival Choir were drawn from 20 high schools in six states, including as far away as Oregon and Vermont. The choir will have a strong local flavor, with singers from Appleton East, Appleton West, Xavier, Ashwaubenon, Green Bay Southwest and Oshkosh West high schools performing with the Lawrence choirs. The entire Appleton North High School choir also will perform.
The concert, supported by a $50,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, will be performed under the direction of noted guest conductor Charles Bruffy, artistic director of the Phoenix Bach Choir and the Kansas City Chorale. Praised by many as the next great American choral conductor, The New York Times named Bruffy a potential heir apparent to the late great Robert Shaw and Fanfare magazine has hailed him as “one of the next big things in American choral music.”
Focusing exclusively on works by noted American composers, among them Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland and Eric Whitacre, the program will include the world premiere of “Careless Carols,” a commissioned work written specifically for this concert by award-winning composer Andrew Rindfleisch.
Considered among the leading composers of his generation, Rindfleisch is the director of music composition studies at Cleveland State University. His work has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards, among them the Aaron Copland Award, the Koussevitzky Foundation Commission from the Library of Congress and the 1997-98 Rome Prize.
