ISSUED: 25 March 2016
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — The a cappella choirs of Shepherd University under the direction of Dr. Rachel Carlson, visiting assistant professor of music, with special guests the Jefferson High School Chamber Choir, will present a Spring Choral Concert on Friday, April 1, at 8 p.m. in the Frank Center Theater.
The Jefferson High School Chamber Choir, under the direction of Shepherd alumnus Joel Ziler, will perform “Daemon Irrepit Callidus” by György Orbàn, “Alleluia” by Randall Thompson, and “I Got Shoes” as arranged by Alice Parker and Robert Shaw. Ziler graduated from Shepherd in 2010 with a Bachelor of Music Education in choral music.
The Shepherd Women’s Camerata will perform an arrangement by Walter Barrie of Michael Este’s “How Merrily We Live,” “Rise Up, My Love” by Eleanor Daley, “Laudate Pueri Dominum” by Felix Mendelssohn, “Tota pulchra es” from “Quatre Motets” by Maurice Duruflé, and an arrangement by Clifton J. Noble, Jr. of “Hold On.” The Shepherd Chamber Singers will perform “If ye love me” by Thomas Tallis, “Flora gave me fairest flowers” by John Wilbye, Anton Bruckner’s “Locus Iste,” and “Trois Chansons de Charles d’Orléans” by Claude Debussy.
Carlson is conductor of the Shepherd University Chamber Singers, Women’s Camerata, and Masterworks Chorale. In addition to conducting, she teaches choral methods and conducting classes. She founded and serves as artistic director of Six Degree Singers, a community choir based in Silver Spring, Maryland, and serves as assistant conductor of the Washington Master Chorale. In 2014, Carlson was nominated for a Wammie (Washington Area Music Award) for best Classical Conductor/ Director. Carlson has toured extensively with professional choirs across the country, appearing as a soprano soloist with the Washington Master Chorale, Washington Bach Consort, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Oregon Bach Festival, True Concord Voices and Orchestra, Vox Humana, and Washington Revels, and as a professional choral singer with Conspirare and the Manhattan Chorale.
The Shepherd Chamber Singers is a mostly a cappella ensemble, concentrating on masterpieces of the 20th century. The ensemble is made up of between 20 and 24 students. While most of the members are vocal majors, other music majors and students from across campus are welcome to audition. Shepherd’s Women’s Camerata is an ensemble of 30-35 female singers, composed of voice majors, music majors, and many students from other disciplines.
For more information, call 304-876-5555 or visit www.shepherd.edu/music.
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