Three ensembles from the Department of Music at Gustavus Adolphus College will present their spring concerts this weekend. The Gustavus Chamber Singers and the Adolphus Jazz Ensemble combine efforts on Saturday, April 29 at 7:30 p.m. and the department’s brass ensembles will perform for the annual Brassworks! concert on Sunday, April 30 at 1:30 p.m. Both performances are in Jussi Bjorling Recital Hall.
The Chamber Singers and Adolphus Jazz combine efforts for a distinctly jazz-oriented performance at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday evening. The Adolphus Jazz Ensemble and director Steve Wright open the concert with Lennie Niehaus’ Catch As Catch Can, and continue with Lush Life and Nutville, before the Chamber Singers take the stage. After the vocal peformance is concluded, the ensemble returns to perform Alamode, What’s New and Mark Taylor’s Turnaround.
The Chamber Singers, under the direction of Gregory Aune, will present a number of vocal jazz standards such as I’m Beginning to See the Light, If I Fell and Lullaby of Birdland, in addition to newer works like As You Are, You Are the New Day and Voice Dance II.
Sunday’s Brassworks! concert, directed by Scott Moore, opens at 1:30 p.m. in the recital hall with the Gustavus Brass Choir and its performance of two works by Ralph Vaughn Williams and Charles Knox. The Christ Chapel Brass follows with the Quintet No. 1, Op. 5 by Victor Ewald. The Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble then takes the stage to present works by John Cheetham, Lennie Niehaus, Benedetto Marcello and a Lois Alexander arrangement of the spiritual Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. The Christ Chapel Brass return to present the Don Gillis arrangement of Just a Closer Walk, followed by the Brass Choir’s performance of Designs for Brass and concludes with Coro Spezzato by Palestrina.
Both performances will be held in Jussi Bjorling Recital Hall and are free and open to the public.