The Spartanburg Festival Chorus will appear in concert November 9 at 7:30 p.m. in Daniel Recital Hall on the Converse College campus. Conducted by Dr. Keith Jones and accompanied on the organ by Brennan Szafron, Spartanburg Festival Chorus is Converse’s only mixed choir, incorporating men from the graduate program and the community to sing the tenor and bass parts. This year the choir has a great balance of both men’s and women’s voices. The theme for the program is “Happy Birthday, or Rest in Peace.”
The first half of the program begins with a piece entitled “Heilig, Heilig” for double choir by Felix Mendelssohn, born 200 years ago this year. The second set of pieces is by Purcell, born 350 years ago. These songs were written as a birthday ode to Queen Mary in 1694. The choir will also perform several excerpts from Purcell’s funeral music written at Queen Mary’s death. The next birthday celebrated is that of Queen Anne, with music written in honor of her birth by Handel. Handel’s death was 250 years ago this year. The piece is called “United Nations Shall Combine,” and is written for double choir. At a certain point in the music Handel cleverly illustrates the title by having the two choirs suddenly combine into one. The last pieces on the first half of the program are by Haydn, who died 200 years ago. The pieces are from Haydn’s Creation and celebrate the birth of all mankind.
Following a brief intermission, the choir will perform Lux Aeterna by the modern composer Morten Lauridsen. The work is deeply spiritual and infused with the mystery and emotion that surrounds the direct and indirect affect that death has on people’s lives. As every member of the choir memorializes a loved one through their music, the audience is also invited to remember the lives of those who have gone before them into “light eternal.”
This concert is open to all and free of charge.
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