In addition to Michael Johnson’s annual concert at Gustavus this Friday, December 11, guitar, brass and choral recitals and concerts fill Jussi Björling Recital Hall during the final weekend of the 2009 fall semester. These three performances are free and open to the public.
Guitarist Daniel Braak opens the weekend with his senior classical guitar recital on Saturday, December 12 at 1:30 p.m. Braak is a senior music major from Des Moines, a 2006 graduate of Hoover High School and a student of James McGuire. His program begins with Seven Renaissance Pieces for Lute and continues with Fernando Sor’s Waltz in E. A change in style in the recital brings Zapateo, Ojos Brujos and Afro-Cuban Lullaby, arranged by Leo Brouwer, to the stage. Braak continues with Sounds of Bells by Joao Pernambuco and concludes the recital with En Las Trigales by Joaquin Rodrigo.
Sunday brings the annual Brassworks! concert to Björling Recital Hall at 1:30 p.m. Conducted by Scott Moore, the Gustavus Brass Choir, the Gustavus Trombone Choir and the Christ Chapel Brass, along with the Trombone Quartet and the Horn Quartet, perform works ranging from Heinrich Schütz’s The Angel Spoke to the Shepherds to a Chris Woods’ arrangement of the traditional spiritual Joshua Fit De Battle and Fantasy and Double Fugue and by Eric Ewazen. Included in the program are works by Speer, Bonelli, Tschesnokov, and Mendelssohn. The Christ Chapel Brass conclude the program with O Holy Night by Adolphe Adam, which was featured in this past weekend’s Christmas in Christ Chapel, and Sonata from Robert King’s arrangement of Die Bänkelsängerlieder.
The weekend of music concludes with the a 7:00 p.m. performance on Sunday, December 13 by the St. Ansgar’s Chorus and the Gustavus Chamber Singers, conducted by Rod Urtel. The St. Ansgar’s Chorus program opens with The Gift of Love by Hal Hopson and Der Herr Segne Euch by Johann Sebastian Bach, and continues with the Shaker Tune, How Can I Keep from Singing?, arranged by Bradley Ellingboe. The Chamber Singers open their vocal jazz program with such standards as Tuxedo Junction, Take Five and Java Jive, and include Lazy River, In My Life and Your Song.
This weekend of music is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required.