Symphonic Winds and Combined Choirs to Present Concert

Feb. 23, 2018

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. —Illinois Wesleyan University’s Symphonic Winds, Collegiate Choir and University Choir will collaborate to welcome the coming spring with a concert on Friday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m. at Westbrook Auditorium in Presser Hall (1210 N. Park St., Bloomington). The event is free and open to the public.

Led by adjunct instructor of symphonic winds Jason Gardner, Symphonic Winds will perform a setlist of pieces that includes: “Satiric Dances” by Norman Dello Joio, “Down a Country Lane” by Aaron Copland, “The Fairest of the Fair” by John Philip Sousa, “Fantasy on American Sailing Songs” by Clare Grundman and “Incantation and Dance” by John Barnes Chance.

The setlist for the Collegiate Choir, comprised of approximately fifty student vocalists from the School of Music, includes: “Hej! Máme na prodej” by Bohuslav Martinu, “Let My Love Be Heard” by Jake Runestad, “Stellar Mansions” by Nicholas Ng and “An Ode for Music” by Zoltán Kodály. The University Choir, a choral group that is open for all IWU students to audition, will perform works such as: “Jubilate Deo” by László Halmos, “Muusika” by Pärt Uusberg, “Dana-Dana” by Lajos Bárdos, “Cantus Glorius” by Józef Świder amd “Kalkagunga Yurdu” by William Barton.

The two groups will then join in singing “Make Our Garden Grow” from the 1956 operetta Candide composed by Leonard Bernstein, thus commemorating the 100th anniversary of Bernstein's birthday. Bernstein, an American composer and conductor who reached worldwide success for his works, is best known as the composer for West Side Story.

Both critically acclaimed choral groups are under the direction of professor of music Scott Ferguson, currently on sabbatical. The guest conductor of both choirs for the concert will be adjunct instructor in the School of Music Nathan Bramstedt ’01, who himself was a member of the Collegiate Choir during his time at IWU.

For additional information, please contact the School of Music at (309) 556-3061.

By Rachel McCarthy '21