CANYON, Texas — The West Texas A&M University fall choir concert will feature a selection of sacred and secular songs, as well as a preview of a major upcoming performance.
WT’s Collegiate Choir, Chamber Singers and Chorale will perform at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 19 in Mary Moody Northen Recital Hall on WT’s Canyon campus.
Admission is free. For information, call 806-651-2840.
“The WT Choirs’ fall concert will exhibit a variety of diverse literature,” said Dr. Sean Pullen, professor of music and director of choral activities for the School of Music in WT’s Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities. “Featured in the program for the evening will be the Chorale’s first performance of the literature which will be sung at its performance for the Texas Music Educators Association in February.”
The concert will open with the Collegiate Choir performing “A Joyful Call to Praise” by Lloyd Larsen, “Autumn Give Her Hand to Winter” by Keith Loftis, “Nelly Bly” by Stephen Foster and “Dayung Sampan,” an Indonesian folk song arranged by Ruth Morris Gray.
The choir will join the Chamber Singers for “Pulse” by Robert T. Gibson and “Hands Are Knockin’” by Kyle Pedersen, featuring Gideon Talley on the djembe.
The Chamber Singers will perform “Bring Me All Your Dreams” by Christopher H. Harris, “Il es bel et bon” by Pierre Passereau, “O nata lux de lumine” by Michel Guimont and “Almost Like Being in Love” from “Brigadoon” by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Lowe.
Eduardo Guaderrama, a graduate student in music from Friona, will conduct “Nelly Bly” and “Il es bel et bon.”
The Chorale will perform the first movement of “Songs of Faith” by Paul Basler, featuring Dr. Gugliermo Manfredi, WT professor of music, on horn; “Midwinter Song” by Susan LaBarr; “Wake Up, My Spirit” by Adolphus Hailstork; “Des Tages Weihe” by Franz Schubert; “Zdawna dawnego rzeceńka ciecze,” the fourth movement of “Sobótkowe Śpiewki” by Kazimierz Serocki; “My Song in the Night,” arranged by Elaina Hagenberg; “Alleluia” by Ēriks Ešenvalds; “Oh, What a Beautiful City,” arranged by Stacey V. Gibbs; “Neguan orbela” by Xabier Sarasola; and “Oh Happy Day!”, arranged by Pullen.
The Chorale was invited to perform Feb. 9 in the Stars at Night Ballroom of the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio as part of TMEA’s annual convention.
“It is a tremendous honor for the WT Chorale to be invited to perform at the 2024 convention of the Texas Music Educators Association,” Pullen said. “Only two university-level choirs are selected each year from around the state to perform for the convention. The WT Chorale sang for the 2016 convention and is excited to return for this upcoming conference.”
A roster of performers is below.
Fostering an appreciation of the arts is a key component of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.
That plan is fueled by the historic One West comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached its initial $125 million goal 18 months after publicly launching in September 2021. The campaign’s new goal is to reach $175 million by 2025; currently, it has raised more than $150 million.
