Holiday choral concerts at SUNY Ulster

This fall, the SUNY Ulster Music Department presents a special Choral Ensemble concert with the Rondout Valley High School Select Choir. The concert will be performed by the College Chorus and Vocal Ensemble under the direction of Choral Director Janet Gehres and accompanied by Edward Leavitt, and the Rondout Valley High School Select Choir directed by Lucas Rau, Choir Director at Rondout Valley High School. The performance will be Thursday, December 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the SUNY Ulster Quimby Theater.

Selections performed by the choirs in this concert include “The Star Spangled Banner,” “Autumn in Our Town,” “Beati Omnes,” and many more. The grand finale of the concert will be a performance of “Homeward Bound,” arranged for choir and wind ensemble. The choir includes 35 SUNY Ulster singers along with 28 singers from Rondout Valley High School. In addition to the choirs, members of the SUNY Ulster Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Vic Izzo, and the SUNY Ulster String Ensemble, under the direction of Anastasia Solberg, will accompany on several songs. An African piece will also be performed with Chris Earley, Coordinator of the SUNY Ulster Music Program, on percussion.

Janet Gehres says, “We are very excited about this collaboration with Rondout Valley’s choir. It gives both groups an opportunity to work with different conductors and the larger, more robust combined choir enables us both to perform pieces we could not do alone. As an added bonus, it gives the high schoolers an excellent opportunity to practice their skills with older, more experienced members of the SUNY Ulster choir. Our hope is that the excitement of these combined students’ choir experiences will set them all on the path to becoming lifelong singers.”

This is the fifth collaborative concert between SUNY Ulster and local high school choirs on the SUNY Ulster campus in the past ten years. The entire college music department continually works with area high schools to develop relationships with our student music ensembles and works toward future collaborations, hoping that these collaborations increase the comfort levels of high school choir members and allow them to form mentorships with older choir members. In addition to high school/college choir collaborations at SUNY Ulster, SUNY Ulster‘s music professors and ensembles also periodically perform small-scale concerts at area high schools.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Deborah Kaufman at kaufmand@sunyulster.edu or by phone at 845-687- 5261.

Also:

SUNY Ulster will host its annual series of winter concerts beginning November 27, 2018. The following five holiday concerts will be performed by students, music educators, faculty, staff, and audience participants. The concerts are free and open to the public.

Wind & Percussion Ensembles

Tuesday, November 27, 7:30 p.m., College Lounge

Attend a concert of outstanding wind ensemble selections performed by the SUNY Ulster Wind Ensemble under the direction of Victor Izzo, Jr. and the Percussion Ensemble directed by Chris Earley.

 

Honors Recital

Friday, November 30, 3:00 p.m., Quimby Theater

This concert will feature faculty-selected solo and chamber performances by students in its applied lesson program, chosen based on outstanding performances at the convocation series.

String Ensemble

Monday, December 3, 7:30 p.m., Quimby Theater

The College String Ensemble performs its winter concert under the direction of Anastasia Solberg.

Community Band & Jazz Ensemble

Wednesday, December 5, 7:30 p.m., College Lounge

Members of the SUNY Ulster Community Band under the direction of Victor Izzo, Jr. join members of the SUNY Ulster Jazz Ensemble and the Hudson Valley Youth Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Robert Shaut and Dan Shaut in this invigorating annual concert.

Tuba Christmas

Saturday, December 15, 3:00 p.m., Clinton Hall

Join us for this seasonal favorite as a participant or audience member. Tuba and euphonium players of all ages perform Christmas music from around the world. Participants pay $10, and register at 12:00 p.m., rehearse at 1:00 p.m., and perform the free concert beginning at 3:00 p.m.

For more information, contact (845) 688-1949.

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