Chorus Opens Season with Brahms Nov. 17

The UALR Community Chorus opens its 2011 – 2012 season on Thursday, Nov. 17, at 7:30 p.m. at Second Presbyterian Church in west Little Rock with a performance of “Ein Deutsches Requiem” by Johannes Brahms. The requiem will be performed in the original German with English translations for each movement provided in the program. The concert also features the UALR Concert Choir presenting “Serenade to Music” by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Both choirs will be accompanied by an orchestra of local professional players; Dr. Bevan Keating, associate professor of music and director of choral activities at UALR, will conduct. General admission is $10. Tickets can be reserved through the UALR Music Department box office by phone at 501-569-8993 or online at http://ualr.tix.com. UALR students, faculty, and staff are entitled to one free ticket, but must present a valid university ID when picking up the ticket in Room 151 in the Fine Arts Building. Faculty, staff, and students may reserve a free ticket by calling 501-569-3294. “Ein Deutsches Requiem” was Brahms’s first great orchestral success. He started work on it in his mid-20s and completed it in 1868, when he was 35. The requiem is particularly notable because Brahms ignored the traditional Roman Catholic Latin texts and instead based his composition on his own selection of texts drawn from the Lutheran Bible, published in the German vernacular. Keating said the result is a work of extraordinary beauty that focuses more on comforting those still on earth and celebrating the legacies of the departed than on the fine points of salvation or the final judgment of souls. “Serenade to Music,” by British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1938, is adapted from Act V, Scene 1 of William Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice.” Although the piece was originally composed for 16 soloists, the performance on Nov. 17 will be staged by the 40-voice UALR Concert Choir, an auditioned choir made up of UALR students, faculty, and staff members from a wide range of academic disciplines. The UALR Community Chorus will continue its season in early April 2012 with a performance of the second and third parts of George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah.” The UALR Community Chorus is a non-auditioned choir comprised of nearly 100 voices drawn from community members throughout central Arkansas. The chorus welcomes new singers regardless of prior musical experience. Prospective new singers are particularly encouraged to join the ensemble in January 2012, when rehearsals for “Messiah” begin. For more information about the UALR Community Chorus or the UALR Concert Choir, contact Bevan Keating at 501-569-3499 or [email protected] or Karen Kuralt at 501-569-8334 or [email protected].