TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Indiana State University's Masterworks Chorale, a community choir for the Wabash Valley, is looking for vocalists who love music and are interested in performing.
The chorus comprised of students, faculty, and community singers, studies and performs choral masterworks with the ISU Symphony Orchestra and professional soloists each semester.
This semester, the group will perform Glenn Mclure's "Saint Francis in the Americas: A Caribbean Mass."
"I think this community is going to really embrace this work," said Buchanan. "It is not your typical setting of the Mass Ordinary, which is what most folks are used to hearing."
The piece is written for chorus, percussion, steel drums, and piano. It fuses Latin American cultures and the spiritual legacy of the Medieval Italian saint, Francis of Assisi. The audience will hear calypso rhythms, samba rhythms, salsa, and other forms of South African and Spanish melodies.
"I heard this piece about 12 years ago and was totally blown away. It isn't too often that you want to stand up in the aisle and start dancing when you are listening to a mass setting," Buchanan said. "But this piece is different. We have such talented percussion students here and Jimmy (ISU percussion professor, Jimmy Finnie) does such a great job. The opportunity to combine forces on this work is too good to pass up."
The ensemble rehearses every Monday evening from 7 - 9 p.m. in Room 150 of the Center for Performing and Fine Arts, located at the corner of Seventh and Chestnut Streets. The concert is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 23 at 3 p.m. in Tilson Auditorium. A $30 activity fee will be assessed to cover musical expenses each semester, unless registered for ISU credit.
For more information on Masterworks or to signup to participate, contact Buchanan at (812)237-2763 or sbuchanan2@indstate.edu.
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Contact: Scott Buchanan, director of choral activities, (812) 237-2763 or sbuchanan2@indstate.edu
Writer: Paula Meyer, Office of Communications & Marketing, (812) 237-3783 or paula.meyer@indstate.edu