November 23, 1999
Contact: Charla Jenkins, University Theatre, (785) 864-2684.
LAWRENCE -- The 75th annual Holiday Vespers at the University of Kansas will be performed at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5, in the Lied Center. Performing for the concert are the combined KU Choirs and KU Symphony Orchestra with Simon Carrington, professor and director of choral activities, and Brian Priestman, professor and director of orchestral activities, and others, conducting.
Prior to each performance, at 2 and 7 p.m., holiday music will be performed from the Lied Center stage by the KU Tuba/Euphonium Consort, directed by Scott Watson; Trumpet Choir, directed by Christopher Moore, and the Percussion Ensemble, directed by George Boberg; and in the foyer by the KU Saxophone Quartet II, directed by Vince Gnojek. Holiday organ music will also be presented in Bales Recital Hall.
The 1999 Vespers program opens with "Deus in Adiutorium"and "Domine ad Adiuvandum" from "Vespers of the Blessed Virgin," a 1610 work by Claudio Monteverdi, performed by the combined choirs and orchestra with Carrington conducting. Later in the program, the massed choirs and orchestra will also perform "Unto Us Is Born A Son," a traditional work arranged by David Willcocks.
Throughout the program, the orchestra will play "Danse Russe Trepak" and "Danse des Mirlitons" from the "Nutcracker Suite, no.1," by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and "Angel's Dance," a 1995 work by Steven Admundsen. The orchestra will also play with the KU Chamber Choir for "For unto us a Child Is Born" from "Messiah" by George Frideric Handel.
The remainder of the Vespers program includes:
-- "Te Lucis Ante Terminum" by Thomas Tallis, and "Jesus est n³," a Huron carol, arranged by Amy Bolles Lukken, Sioux City, Iowa, graduate student, performed by the KU Oread Consort.
-- "Ise Oluwa," a Nigerian folk song, sung in the Yoruba language, arranged by Ron Kean, performed by the combined choirs and Central Junior High School's Seventh Grade Ensemble, conducted by James Daugherty, assistant professor of music education and choral music.
-- "Stany, Stany, Nine," a Bulgarian folk carol, arranged and conducted by Adela Peeva-Petrova, performed by the combined choirs. Peeva-Petrova is a choral conductor from Sofia, Bulgaria, who is completing a five-week residency at KU under the sponsorship of Artslink.
-- "Soldier's Hallelujah," a 1997 work by Vijay Singh, performed by the Men's Glee Club, conducted by Lincoln Andrade, Lawrence graduate student.
-- "Give Way, Jordan," a traditional carol, arranged by Mary Goetze, performed by the KU Women's Chorale, conducted by Catherine Parrill, Lawrence doctoral student.
-- "Winter Wonderland," arranged by Grobengieser, performed by the KU Jazz Singers and Vocal Jazz Ensemble, conducted by Mitos Cox, Seattle, Wash., graduate student.
-- "Share’Dream" by Dede Duson with text by Gwen Frostic, and "Sir Christ²mas" by William Mathias, both performed by the combined choirs with Carrington and Priestman conducting.
In keeping with the Vespers tradition, the choirs, orchestra and audience will join together to sing "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing" by Felix Mendelssohn and the traditional carol, "O Come, All Ye Faithful," both arranged by David Willcocks.
Reserved seat tickets for Vespers are now on sale in the KU box offices: Lied Center, 864-ARTS; Murphy Hall, 864-3982; and SUA, 864-3477. Tickets are $7 for the public and $5 for students and senior citizens. Both VISA and MasterCard are accepted for phone orders.
If Vespers performances sell out, a waiting list will be taken at the Lied Center beginning one hour prior to the curtain times.