UW-Parkside Presents the University Chorale on Nov. 24

Published: November 18, 2024

Kenosha, Wis.- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside Music Department in the College of Arts and Humanities proudly presents the University Chorale in Concert on Sunday, Nov. 24. The concert, which begins at 3 p.m. will take place in Frances Bedford Concert Hall in the Rita Tallent Picken Center for Arts and Humanities. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens. For tickets or more information go to https://www.uwp.edu/therita/.

The 29-voice student group will sing a variety of choral offerings under the direction of Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities Dr. James Kinchen. Some of the selections in this program reflect the repertoire that the Chorale has been learning throughout the semester.

Pieces by American colonial composer William Billings, Be Glad Then America, When Jesus Wept, and Chester, for example, offer a decidedly distinctive American flavor, while embracing actual political concerns of the Colonists in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War.

Hand in Hand - A Song for Peace also reflects on the conflict and strife that is taking place in the Middle East. In very moving terms, it expresses the urgency for peace and brotherhood between those who have been at enmity with each other. Tres Cantos Nativos transports us to the Brazilian rainforest to remind us of our co-dependency with nature and how much we need to care for the environment.

Contemporary composer David Dickau's beautiful setting of the Shakespeare-inspired Heviningham poem, If Music Be the Food of Love, is, simply put, a heart-melter.

The joyously lilting work of another 20th/21st-century American composer, Rene Clausen, All That Hath Life and Breath Praise Ye the Lord, is an effusive invitation to praise that allows the singers moments of music-making that are both scripted and improvised. The sonorous anthemic setting of Psalm 150 by the 19th-century master Louis Lewandowski, brings a decidedly Old World flavor to the concert.

The program also features seasonal selections in the context of the impending holiday season. The Chorale sings the popular American favorite Silver Bells, as well as the Ukrainian favorite, Carol of the Bells. The students will offer an unaccompanied version of the 1960s R&B hit of Carla Thomas, Gee Whiz, It's Christmas. Several conducting students will also take turns leading the audience in the singing of traditional carols such as, Jingle Bells, Joy to the World, White Christmas, and Silent Night.

The University of Wisconsin-Parkside is committed to high-quality educational programs, creative and scholarly activities, and services responsive to its diverse student population, and its local, national, and global communities. We are a dynamic learning community grounded in academic excellence and focused on student success, diversity, inclusion, and community engagement. The campus serves as a premier comprehensive public institution and a destination of choice, serving as a focal point of local, regional, and global progress.

Media Contact:

James Kinchen
Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities
UW-Parkside
[email protected]
262-595-2271