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The free performance will begin at 8:15 p.m. in Ford Hall in the James J. Whalen Center for Music.
Based around the theme of "Journeys," the concert will feature spirituals by the late Moses Hogan, in which the human spirit journeys from slavery to freedom; J. S. Bach's summation of a life in the funeral motet Jesu, meine Freude; and John Corigliano's setting to music of Fern Hill, the Dylan Thomas poem that depicts the various life journeys of the mind and body. Music of Jakob Handl and a new work by Daniel Dorff commissioned by the choir will complete the program.
The choir's spring tour began on February 29 and took the group to six venues in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Carolina. A seasoned touring ensemble, the choir has given concerts in Carnegie Hall, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and Alice Tully Hall in the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Although it has a long tradition of a cappella singing, the choir has performed with the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra; the Ithaca College Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, and Wind Ensemble; and numerous professional ensembles.
In each of the last 24 years, the choir has premiered works that have been published by Theodore Presser as part of the Ithaca College Choral Series. Many distinguished composers have accepted the commission, including Vincent Persichetti, Karel Husa, William Schuman, Peter Schickele, Chen Yi, and, most recently, Daniel Dorff.
Lawrence Doebler is a professor of music performance and director of choral activities in the School of Music, where he is currently in his 26th year. In addition to conducting the choir, he also leads the madrigal singers and the choral union. He is the music director of the Cayuga Vocal Ensemble and has served as director of music at churches in Ithaca, Cleveland, St. Louis, and Madison, Wisconsin. He taught previously at Smith College and the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Ithaca College's School of Music enjoys a distinguished reputation among institutions for professional music study in the United States. A celebrated faculty teaches some 500 undergraduate music majors each year, maintaining the conservatory tradition within a comprehensive college setting. The School of Music is home to specialists in virtually every orchestra and band instrument; in voice, piano, organ, and guitar; and in music education, jazz, composition, theory, history, and conducting. The faculty performs regularly on campus and throughout the country in recitals and concerts, contributes to publications and professional organizations, and make presentations at numerous conferences and workshops every year.
Contributed by Erik Kibelsbeck
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20040310134852299