The Ithaca College Choir, conducted by Lawrence Doebler, will perform the world premiere of “Confederate Soldier’s Prayer” by Gary Schocker at the 28th annual Choral Composition Contest and Festival on Saturday, November 10. Beginning at 7:00 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 Verdi’s “Sanctus.” Participating high school choirs represent Ithaca, Lansing, Niagara Wheatfield, Ward Melville, and West Genesee from New York; and Westborough, Massachusetts.
Gary Schocker is renowned as a performer on the flute, as well as a noted pianist and a prolific composer, having written musicals, award-winning works for the clarinet and for the flute, and a wide variety of other material. He is the most published living composer of music for the flute in the world. His poetic and virtuosic flute playing has brought him great critical acclaim. He also frequently performs programs of music for unaccompanied flute. He offers both standard works and new works, including his own concertos with orchestra.
