Homecoming concerts showcase Troy choral talents

Published 8:36 pm Monday, November 8, 2010

Homecoming Week at Troy University is football, tailgating, school spirit and pride, but it doesn’t stop there. Homecoming Week 2010 will also feature the university’s excellent choral music program.

Troy University’s 90-member choral ensemble, Collegiate Singers, conducted by Laura Mixon, will be in concert at 7:30 tonight at First United Methodist Church of Troy. The free concert will feature choral selections from some of the United States’ finest composers.

The Collegiate Singers will sing a wide range of American pieces from patriotic pieces including “God Bless America” and “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” to spirituals to modern compositions, such as Clausen’s “Set Me as a Seal.”

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The Troy University Gospel Singers will present their fall concert at 8 p.m. Friday in the Claudia Crosby Theater on the campus of Troy University.

Diane Orlofsky, director of university choirs John M. Long School of Music, said that 100-plus members are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year and this concert is in celebration of their rich musical traditions.

“Over the span of three decades its repertoire will include spirituals, anthems and hymns,” Orlofsky said. “The Celebration Concert will include performances of works composed and arranged by Ralph Manuel, Moses Hogan, William Dawson and James Hall.”

The third and final concert of Homecoming Week will be at 3 p.m. Sunday at Bush Memorial Baptist Church.

Troy University’s auditioned, 36-member Concert Chorale will present its annual fall concert titled “Masterworks in Miniature.” The Concert Chorale will be conducted by Orlofsky and Dale Lawrence, choral graduate assistant and John Baumer, undergraduate student conductor.

“This concert will feature some of the finest and most recognizable choral music ever written, spanning several centuries,” Orlofsky said.

The Concert Chorale will perform such well-knows works as Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus, Bruckner’s “Ave Maria,” Mendelssohn’s “He Watching Over Israel,” Barber’s “The Coolin’” and Copland’s “Stomp Your Foot,” and others.

Several of the pieces will be accompanied by organ, violin, harp, trumpet and percussion.

Immediately following the concert, the public is invited to a reception honoring Phil Wilson, a Troy University School of Music alumnus who was recently named “Alabama Teacher of the Year”.