Six music students who are enrolled in Advanced Conducting this semester will demonstrate their skills by conducting the CU Concert Choir and the CU Concert Band on Thursday, April 28. Victoria Chambers, Shay Hernandez, William McGee, Rachel McCurry, Mikayla Stephenson and Kenneth Williams have been working with the ensembles since mid-March and are ready to take the conductor’s baton for this concert. The performance will take place in the University Theatre at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for senior citizens/military/K-12 students. Admission is free to CU students, faculty and staff with CU ID. Patrons are encouraged to call (580) 581-2346 to reserve a seat.
The Cameron University Concert Choir, directed by Dr. Christian Morren, will perform a variety of choral compositions.
Hernandez, a senior from Wichita Falls, will conduct Jacob Narverud’s “Ad Astra; Stephenson, a senior from Duncan, will take the baton on “Flight Song” by Kim Arneson; and McCurry, a junior from Lawton, will serve as conductor on Michael John Trotta’s “Carita Abundat.” All three plan to teach music in public schools after graduating from CU.
Morren will conduct “Soon We Will Be Done” by Kyle Peterson, Mozart’s “Lacrymosa” from “Requiem in D minor, K. 626” and Keith Hampton’s “Praise His Holy Name.”
Williams, Chambers and Magee will conduct the CU Concert Band, directed by Dr. Lucas Kaspar, who teaches the class in advanced conducting. Williams, a junior from Lawton, will conduct Gustave Holst’s “Suite in F.” Chambers, a senior from Lawton, will conduct John Barnes Chance’s “Elegy.” Magee, a senior from Lawton, will conduct “William Byrd Suite” by Gordon Jacob. After completing his CU degree, Williams plans to pursue a master’s degree in music. Chambers and Magee plan to teach music in public schools.
Kaspar will conduct John Philip Sousa’s “Liberty Bell March.”
To close the concert, the ensembles will join forces to perform Mykola Lysenko’s “Prayer for Ukraine.” Written in 1885, the lyrics are particularly moving given the current crisis in Ukraine.
“I have had so much fun working with Will, Victoria, Kenneth, Shay, Mikayla and Rachel,” Kaspar says. “Dr. Morren and I decided to feature the Advanced Conducting students because we want the students to be equipped for wherever their musical journey takes them after graduating from Cameron. Conducting an ensemble entails a lot more than waving your arms around and telling people what to do (although that is part of it). All of the students have greatly improved since they began studying conducting in the Fall 2021 semester. Dr. Morren and I are both very proud of how far all the students have come, and we are excited to see what each of their futures hold.”
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PR# 22-065
