Wooster Singers and Concert Band to hold joint performance April 20

The College of Wooster’s Wooster Singers and Concert Band will hold a joint concert on Saturday, April 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Gault Recital Hall of Scheide Music Center (525 E. University Street).

The Wooster Singers will feature three student conductors, Chelsey Webb ’25, Anna Puster ’25, and Abby Washinger ’25, who will conduct pieces they chose and rehearsed themselves throughout the semester. The songs in the choral portion of the concert feature music focused on endings and beginnings. The musical selection includes a new piece by Daniel Brinsmead that takes listeners behind the scenes of the Apollo 11 liftoff and its impact on the world for years to come, a song by Alexandra Olsavsky that demonstrates the power we all have within ourselves to break the status quo, and a lullaby sung in the Lakota language, passed down through generations by rote and arranged by William Linthicum-Blackhorse. 

The Concert Band will feature music from Leonard Bernstein’s famous musical West Side Story, as well as a composition by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, Michael Colgrass.  The performance will also mark the first time that composers Nicole Piunno and Katahj Copley will have their music performed on the Wooster campus.  The concert will feature both student conductors, Paul Zito ’25 and Liam Kenehan ’24, and a student soloist, trombonist Ryan Yonek ’25, who will be performing Arthur Pryor’s Blue Bells of Scotland. 

The Wooster Singers is the College’s only all-treble ensemble music course, open to music majors and non-majors alike. Performances feature students participating in their first choral ensemble experience and those studying toward a music career. The ensemble is conducted by adjunct instructor Victoria Peacock ’17. An alumna of the College, Peacock earned a bachelor’s degree in music composition before going on to earn a master’s degree in choral conducting from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Peacock sings with the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus and Trinity Cathedral Choirs. She has a particular interest in conducting works by living composers and composers from underrepresented groups. 

The Wooster Concert Band is comprised of students, staff, and faculty of the College, as well as a number of community members from Wayne County, ranging in age from 16 to 80. The Concert Band is conducted by Jeffrey D. Gershman, professor of music and director of bands at Wooster. Gershman also serves as conductor of the Scot Symphonic Band and the assistant director of the Scot Marching Band, along with teaching classes in conducting and music education. He received his Doctor in Musical Arts in Wind Conducting degree from The University of Texas at Austin and continues to maintain an active schedule as a guest conductor for bands throughout the country. 

This concert is free and open to the public, and tickets are not required. For more information, contact the Department of Music at 330-263-2419 or administrative coordinator Melissa Puster at mpuster@wooster.edu

Posted in Event on April 17, 2024.