Baylor Concert Choir and Women’s Ensemble to Share the Stage for Joint Performance

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WACO, Texas (April 30, 2015) – In a special concert titled “Illuminations of Heart,” the Baylor Bella Voce women’s ensemble will join Baylor’s mixed Concert Choir at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 1, in Jones Concert Hall in the Glennis McCrary Music Building.
The 27-voice women’s ensemble and 64-voice mixed choir will be conducted by Lynne Gackle, Ph.D., professor of ensembles in Baylor’s School of Music and associate director of choral activities. Gackle will be joined by guest conductor and composer Daniel Hall, director of choral activities at Ohio University, as well as Concert Choir’s graduate conductors Landry Duvall and Grant Frederick.
“Bella Voce will be premiering a special piece called ‘Illuminations’ written by Daniel Hall who is a well-known American composer,” Gackle said. “To work with a living composer is always exciting.”
Thomas Hanks, Ph.D., professor of medieval literature in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences, and his wife financially funded the creation of “Illuminations,” a new piece of choral literature designed especially for women’s voices. Hanks also pointed Hall to writings by 13th-century female author Julian Norwich, from which much of the lyrical content is derived.
“It’s exciting for our women to sing text that old,” Gackle said.
The Concert Choir will open the program with “Shout!” by Renée Waters, “Verleih uns Frieden” by Felix Mendelssohn, “Rytmus” by Ivan Hrusovsky and “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need” by Mack Wilberg.
The Concert Choir will also sing Eric Whitacre’s Five Hebrew Love Songs and “John the Revelator” by Sean Ivory and Paul Caldwell.
Baylor Bella Voce will open its portion of the concert with “O Frondens Virga” by 12th-century German composer Hildegard von Bingen, “O Salutaris Hostia” by ''riks Ešenvalds and “Ave Maria” by David MacIntyre.
Baylor Bella Voce will also sing Hall’s “Reflections from Yad Vashem,” “White Birds” and “Illuminations,” for which the concert is named.
Concluding the program will be Baylor Bella Voce’s performances of the Mari Valverde arrangement of “Hébé” by Ernest Chausson and a setting by Robert DeCormier of the spiritual “Let Me Fly.”
Baylor Bella Voce is Baylor’s premier women’s ensemble, composed of both undergraduate music majors and non-majors. The ensemble is known for performing a vast and diverse musical repertoire expanding a variety of choral style, periods and genre of music written specifically for the female voice. Bella Voce performs regularly on campus, within the community, state and nationally.
Baylor’s Concert Choir consists regularly of a group of 60 or more men and women student performers. The choir focuses on performing from a large repertoire of choral styles with an emphasis on accompanied works.
The concert is free and open to the public.
The Glennis McCrary Music Building in located at 110 Baylor Ave. in Waco.
For more information, call the Baylor University School of Music at 254-710-3991.
by Sarah Czerwinski, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805
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Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution, characterized as having “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 16,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Baylor sponsors 19 varsity athletic teams and is a founding member of the Big 12 Conference.