A series of ensemble concerts are scheduled for the weekend at Gustavus Adolphus College. The Gustavus Wind Orchestra opens the schedule on Saturday, May 6, at 7:30 p.m. in Christ Chapel. The Gustavus Percussion Ensembles open Sunday’s schedule at 1:30 in Jussi Bjorling Recital Hall and the men’s and women’s choruses, St. Ansgar’s and Birgitta, conclude the weekend at 7:30 p.m. Sunday in Christ Chapel. All three events are open to the public.
The Gustavus Wind Orchestra, under the direction of Dr. Douglas Nimmo, will present their spring concert on the evening of Honors Day at Gustavus. This concert, at 7:30 p.m. in Christ Chapel, is the final performance of the season and the ensemble’s first after completing its European Concert Tour in February. For this performance, the band will open with Ron Nelson’s Savannah River Holiday, followed with works by Jeffrey Brooks, Luigi Zaninelli and Sir Malcolm Arnold’s Four Cornish Dances. Following intermission, the ensemble opens with Dello Joio’s From Every Horizon and Claude Smith’s Fantasia for Alto Saxophone, featuring senior saxophonist and section leader, Aaron Hanson. The program concludes with Morton Gould’s Santa Fe Saga and the Sousa march, The White Rose.
Sunday opens at 1:30 p.m. in the recital hall with the sounds of the Gustavus Percussion Ensembles. Under the direction of Robert Adney and Paul Hill, the program ranges from Tom Brown’s Lovely Lady to the adagio and allegro movements from George Handel’s Concerto Grosso, Op. 3, No. 3. The program includes Four Caribbean-South American Dances by Steve Primatic and two works by Steve Reich, Drumming Part II and Music for Pieces fo Wood. The performance ends with the combined ensembles’ performance of the Sonny Rollins classic, St. Thomas.
The weekend concludes with the joint performances of the St. Ansgar’s Male Chorus and the women’s Birgitta Chorus. Under the direction of Gregory Aune and Travis Sletta respectively, the two vocal ensembles will present a variety of works for a cappella chorus, accompanied and combined choruses. This performance is schedule to begin at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 7 in Christ Chapel.
All three performances are open to the public at no charge.