Student music ensembles from the Department of Music at Gustavus Adolphus College fill the the weekend of May 8-10 on the campus as the semester nears completion. Friday, May 8 features the Gustavus Philharmonic Orchestra and Vasa Wind Orchestra spring concert at 7:30 p.m. The Lucia Singers are set for a Mother’s Day Concert on Sunday, May 10, at 1:30 p.m. in Christ Chapel and Brassworks! follows in Björling Recital Hall at 3:30 p.m. All performances are free and open to the public.
Conductor Brian Buckstead and the Gustavus Philharmonic Orchestra team with the Vasa Wind Orchestra and Conductor James Patrick Miller and open a busy weekend at 7:30 p.m., Friday, May 8, with a concert in Björling Recital Hall. The Philharmonic, a twenty-six member string ensemble, open the concert with two works by Leroy Anderson, followed by Lullaby by George Gershwin and the “Hoe Down” from Rodeo by Aaron Copland. The Vasa Wind Orchestra continue following intermission with Divertimento for Band by Vincent Persichetti, Evening Music by Jayce Ogren with texts by Rainer Maria Rilke and conclude with The Florentiner by Julius Fucik.
The Lucia Singers annual Mother’s Day Concert begins on Sunday, May 10 at 1:30 p.m. in Christ Chapel. Conducted by Patricia Snapp, the Lucia Singers’ program opens with works by Gwyneth Walker, Emma Lou Diemer and Mozart’s Laudate Dominum. The concert continues with a Kenyan folksong, African Psalm, Beethoven’s Sonata, Op. 10, No. 2 in F, the African-American spiritual Wade in the Jordan River, and concludes with the “Rhythm of Life” from the musical Sweet Charity by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields.
Brassworks! and Conductors Paul Budde & Scott Moore open their spring concert at 3:30 p.m. in Björling Recital Hall. The concert features performances by the Gustavus Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble, the Christ Chapel Brass and the Gustavus Trombone and Brass Choirs. Sunday’s program includes works as varied as Three Brass Cats by Chris Hazell, Haydn’s Achieved is the Glorious Work from The Creation, When I’m Sixty-Four by Lennon and McCartney and St. Louis Blues by W. C. Handy, among other works for brass ensemble.
The performances this weekend by the Philharmonic, Vasa, Lucia Singers and the various brass ensembles are free and open to the public.