The Ithaca College Choir, conducted by Lawrence Doebler, will perform the world premiere of “Love’s Phases” by Dana Wilson at the 27th annual Choral Composition Contest and Festival on Saturday, Nov. 11. Beginning at 7 p.m. in Ford Hall in the James J. Whalen Center for Music, the free event will also feature six high school choirs, each performing pieces chosen as finalists in a national competition of newly composed works.
Sponsored by the Ithaca College School of Music and the Theodore Presser Company, the competition is designed to encourage the creation and performance of new choral music. The festival gives members of the high school choirs the opportunity to attend rehearsals and workshops throughout the day. The composers of the final pieces will each coach one of the choirs. The winning composition will be announced at the evening performance.
The evening’s performance will conclude with the Ithaca College Choral Union joining the high school choirs in singing “Ye shall have a song” from “The Peaceable Kingdom” by Randall Thompson. Participating high school choirs represent Lansing, Niagara Wheatfield, Ward Melville and West Genesee from New York; Dorman from Spartanburg, South Carolina; and Westborough, Massachusetts.
Dana Wilson is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Music in the Ithaca College School of Music. Diverse ensembles throughout the world have commissioned and performed works by Wilson, including the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Buffalo Philharmonic, Memphis Symphony, Washington military bands, Netherlands Wind Ensemble, and Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra. Wilson has composed solo works for such renowned artists as hornist Gail Williams, clarinetist Larry Combs, trumpeters James Thompson and Rex Richardson, and oboist David Weiss.
For more information about this or any of the approximately 300 concerts presented each year at the Ithaca College School of Music, visit www.ithaca.edu/concerts or call (607) 274-3717.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20061106103101326