The UNLV Choral Ensembles present the second performance of their concert season on Friday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 p.m. in Rando Recital Hall, located on the northeast end of the university campus in the Lee & Thomas Beam Music Center. This performance features more than 100 voices in uplifting choral selections presented by the University Concert Singers, Chamber Chorale, Women's Chorus, Varsity Men's Glee Club, and Lamprophony.
Jocelyn K. Jensen and David B. Weiller conduct the concert with pianists Jae Ahn-Benton, Barbara Buer, and Jason Corpuz. The featured work is "Come, Ye Sons of Art" by Baroque composer Henry Purcell.
Henry Purcell was a child prodigy and tremendously popular during his lifetime. Composed in 1694, "Come Ye Sons of Art" is one of Purcell's six celebratory pieces, or odes, for the birthday of Queen Mary II. The work has seven short movements, including choruses, duets, and solos. An instrumental ensemble of strings, flutes, oboes, and trumpets will accompany the University Concert Singers and soloists Alex Price, Maia Julianne Thielen, Deanna Woods, Kurt Ludwig Sedlmeir, Donovan Crespo, Lacy Burchfield, and Nicholas Hummel.
The Women's Chorus and Varsity Men's Glee Club represent students from throughout the campus as well as alumni and community members. The women present a choral setting of the aria from "Orchestral Suite #3" by Johann Sebastian Bach, and "Bumble Bee" by Anders Edenroth of the popular Swedish vocal jazz quintet, The Real Group. The men perform the popular Hebrew folk song, "Tum Balalaika," American composer David Conte's "Alleluia," and the popular "Canon in D" by Johann Pachelbel. The Chamber Chorale sings a movement from the "Mass For Five Voices" by English renaissance composer William Byrd, the Gloria from "Mass in G Major" by Bach, and "On Meditation" by American composer Brian Edward Galante that draws upon the Tao Te Ching, a Chinese text from the fourth century B.C.
Lamprophony is a student-led contemporary acappella ensemble of five advanced vocalists under the direction of Gianni Becker. They will sing "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap and "Run to You" by the Pentatonix.
The university choral ensembles enjoy a reputation for vibrant performances. The choirs recently were praised for a concert described as "...glorious, yet disciplined. The choruses performed with unaffected charisma." Annual tours have included the southwestern United States as well as Hawaii, New York, Mexico, and Canada.
Professor David Weiller celebrates 31 years as director of choral studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is a past recipient of the UNLV William Morris Award for Excellence in Teaching, the UNLV Alumni Association's Distinguished Faculty Award, and Teacher of the Year Award in the College of Fine Arts. Jocelyn Jensen joined the faculty of the UNLV department of music in 1992 when she founded the Women's Chorus. She is a past recipient of the department's Outstanding Adjunct Faculty of the Year award and is also recognized as one of the outstanding adjunct faculty members from the entire university campus. She is the artistic director of the Las Vegas Master Singers, an outstanding community chorus that presents an annual concert series and performs regularly with the Las Vegas Philharmonic.
Tickets for the Nov. 21 concert may be purchased at the UNLV Performing Arts Center box office or by calling 702-895-ARTS (2787). General admission is $10; senior citizens, military, and UNLV faculty/staff tickets are $8. UNLV students and high school vocal music students from the Clark County School District may receive one free ticket by presenting valid student identification at the box office. Seating is limited and advance ticket purchase is recommended.
