SUNY Geneseo Campus during Spring
GENESEO, N.Y.—The Department of Music’s Chamber Singers and Spectrum Women’s Ensemble will present a joint concert on April 24 in Doty Recital Hall at 3 p.m. The concert will not only commemorate William Shakespeare, but it will also be the final time to hear the Geneseo Chamber Singers before they leave for their, five-concert tour of Italy. The concert is free and open to the public.
“The choir has been working together in rehearsals and performances throughout the year in preparation for this international concert tour,” said Conductor of the Geneseo Chamber Singers Gerard Floriano, professor of music. The tour will include performances in such prominent Italian venues as Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, Cattedrale di San Lorenzo in Perugia, Basilicadi Santa Trinita in Florence and Duomo in Siena.
Floriano noted that the joint concert will feature a wide range of choral music from the Renaissance through the 21st century for the Geneseo Chamber Singers. This will include works by Guillaume Dufay, Orlando di Lasso, Antonio Lotti, Johannes Brahms, Daniel Gawthrop, Abbie Betinis, Morton Lauridsen and Eric Whitacre, along with several spirituals and folk songs.
Additionally, April 23 will mark the 400th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare. In remembrance, the Spectrum Women’s Ensemble will honor the life of Shakespeare by performing pieces from Shakespeare’s texts in the joint concert, which takes place only a day after the anniversary.
“We begin with a chorus sung by the witches in Verdi’s ‘Macbeth,’” said Conductor of the Spectrum Women’s Ensemble Amy Cochrane. “In [Verdi’s] opera, the parts of the three witches are sung by a three-part women’s chorus. Each part has its own character and speaks as a single witch.”
Opening in the woods just as Verdi’s ‘Macbeth’ does, the all-women’s chorus will open the act with the witches’ chorus, which takes place in two sections. The first section, “Che faceste? Dite su!” will be in the minor, while the second section, “Le sorelle vagablonde,” will be in the parallel major.
The second chorus that Spectrum Women’s Ensemble will perform is in Act 3 from “Macbeth.” Taking place in the witches’ cave, the women’s chorus shall perform the Apparition scene where Macbeth has collapsed from seeing three apparitions. In the piece, a gentle chorus and a ballet of spirits surround Macbeth.
“I am also excited to do Amy Beach's ‘Three Shakespeare Choruses, Opus 39,’ written for four part unaccompanied women's voices,” said Cochrane.
“Three Shakespeare Choruses, Opus 39” includes works from Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “The Tempest.” The song’s titles are “Over Hill, Over Dale,” “Come Unto These Yellow Sands” and “Through the House Give Glimmering Light.” Additionally, the Spectrum Women’s Ensemble will perform “No Time” by Susan Brumfield. “No Time” will be the only piece the Spectrum Women’s Ensemble will present that is not from one of Shakespeare’s works, as “No Time” is an arrangement of a traditional camp-meeting song.
News release written by College Communications intern Alexandra Ciarcia.
Media Contact:
David Irwin
Media Relations Director
(585) 245-5529
Irwin@geneseo.edu