Features Editor

What better way to top off St. Patrick’ Day than with a gala concert.

Area residents will have that opportunity when Troy State University plays host to more than 200 performers from throughout the Wiregrass who will put their talents on display at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Claudia Crosby Theater.

The concert is sponsored by the Troy Council on the Arts and Humanities and TSU. Tickets are $5 and may be purchased through TSU’s John M. Long School of Music.

The concert will feature the Dothan-based Southeastern Symphony Orchestra and world-class pianist Angela Glover.

Glover is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory and a resident of Dothan.

A 160-voice chorus will combine several choral groups from the region – the Troy Community Chorus, the TSU Collegiate Singers, the Troy Children’s Chorus and the Southeastern Chorale.

Dr. Terre Johnson, director of the Choral Music at TSU, will serve as conductor.

With more than 200 singers and musicians set to take the stage, the concert promises to be a unique event, said Dr. William R. Denison, director of the John M. Long School of Music.

"With such a large, quality orchestra, so many singers and Angela Glover performing, this will be a special concert," Denison said. "The program features very recognizable, accessible music, so it should appeal to a wide variety of people."

The concert will feature a variety of late Romantic and 20th Century music, including Rachmaninoff’s "Piano Concerto no. 3 in D Minor, op. 30," performed by Glover; English composer Vaughan Williams’s cantata, "Toward the Unknown Region;" and selections from "Old American Songs" by composer Aaron Copland.

"Troy has never had a concert like this before," Johnson said. "We appreciate the generosity of the Troy Council on the Arts and Humanities in making this special effort possible."

For ticket information call 670-3322.