Six music ensembles from the Gustavus Department of Music provide a full day of music on Sunday, May 3 on the Gustavus campus. The Gustavus Percussion Ensemble opens the afternoon in Christ Chapel at 1:30 p.m., followed by the Woodwind Chamber Ensembles at 3:30 p.m. in Bjorling Recital Hall. The choral ensembles, Birgitta Singers and St. Ansgars Chorus, conclude the performance schedule in Christ Chapel at 7:00 p.m. All three concerts are free and open to the public.
The afternoon of music opens in Christ Chapel at 1:30 p.m. with the Gustavus Percussion Ensemble directed by Paul Hill. This performance includes classical works arranged for percussion such as Royal Fireworks Suite by G. F. Handel and arranged by Steve Grimo, as well as works for percussion by Steve Reich, Clapping Music and Gainsborough for Percussion Quintet by Thomas Gauger. The concert concludes with Ein Liebeslied? written in 1992 by Nebojsa Jovan Zivkovic.
Action then moves to Bjorling Recital Hall as the college’s woodwind chamber ensembles present a spring concert at 3:30 p.m. Under the direction of Ann Pesavento, Sunday’s program includes performances by the Woodwind Choir, the Flute Choir and Emily Sapa, director, and the Gustavus Chamber Players. The Woodwind Choir will present three works, Berceuse by Armas Jarnefelt, Suite in A minor by Georg Telemann and Chrysanthemum by Scott Joplin. The Flute Choir and Director Emily Sapa will also present three works. They open with Boismortier’s Concerto No. 2 in A minor, continue with a traditional Chinese folk song suite and conclude with Agua de Beber by Antonio Jobim. The GCP open with Beethoven’s Rondino in E-flat, directed by Ann Pesavento and Two Hungarian Dances by Johannes Brahms, directed by guest conductor Elizabeth Winslow. The final work on the program is Gordon Jacob’s three-movement Divertimento in E-flat directed by guest conductor James Patrick Miller.
The women’s and men’s chorus, Birgitta Singers and St. Ansgar’s Chorus, conclude Sunday’s set of ensemble performances with music in Christ Chapel beginning at 7:00 p.m. As with the other ensembles, Birgitta and Ansgars directed by Gregory Aune and Nicholas Wayne, perform a variety of works for choral ensemble which begin with early church music, through gospel and end with contemporary compositions. Works on the program include works in Latin such as Francesco Tosti’s A Vucchella, Daemon Irrepit Callidus by Gyorgy Orban and Felix Mendelssohn’s Beati Mortui. Contemporary works include James Mulholland’s arrangement of Victor Young’s When I Fall in Love, Bring Him Home from Les Miserables and Jeffry Ames’ arrangement of the traditional American spiritual Joshua Fit de Battle.
The three ensemble concerts on Sunday, May 3, in Christ Chapel and Bjorling Recital Hall are free and open to the public.