BROOKINGS – SDSU musicians will close their concert season with five concerts in three days as the music department hosts the annual Spring Festival of Music April 21-23.

Virtually every student in the department will be performing in at least one of the concerts, in the Performing Arts Center on the South Dakota State University campus. “The concerts feature performances by all of the large ensembles and chamber ensembles within the department and one ticket admits the holder to all five festival concerts,” according to department head David Reynolds.

Bands

The weekend kicks off with a 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 21, concert by the 55-member Symphonic Band, 50-member Concert Band and the 45-member Comm/University Band. They will perform highlights from the academic year, including songs from the Americas.

Orchestra/opera

On Saturday, April 22, the 42-member SDSU/Civic Symphony and the 27 participants from the SDSU opera workshop will share the stage, beginning at 2:30 p.m.

Their selections will come from “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” a Shakespearean tale put to music by Otto Nicolai. Set in Elizabethan times, it tells the tale of two married women who receive identical love letters from Sir John Falstaff and then enlist the help of the entire town to teach him a lesson. The opera will be sung in English.

Instrumental jazz

The 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 22, concert will be presented by Jazz Ensemble 1 (18 students), Jazz Ensemble 2 (18 students) and an eight-student combo. They will present pieces from the March saxophone conference and the April 6 Optimists Jazz Festival.

Choirs

The 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 23, concert will feature all three choirs – the Concert Choir and the Statesmen and University Women’s Choir, which just returned from a joint tour in Nashville during spring break.

Laura Diddle, director of choral activities, said, “Angels and Light – and collaboration with other musicians and the SDSU dance program seems to be a common thread among the choirs this spring.”

The 120 women will be collaborating with Melissa Hauschild-Mork and her dancers in presenting “Adiemus” by Karl Jenkins. Professor Tammy Yonce will provide the haunting flute accompaniment. Associate professor Aaron Ragsdale is also participating in this collaborative effort with members of his percussion ensemble. The women will sing as the dance students perform.  

Also, the women are performing the lively spiritual “Jordan's Angels” and an arrangement of “Amazing Grace” with associate professor Mike Walsh on clarinet. The Women’s Choir closes with a combined number with the Statesmen – “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” featuring Daniel Otamendi as soloist.

The Concert Choir will perform “Stars,” a piece with pitched water glasses by Latvian composer Erik Esenvalds. The group also sings “Lightly Stepped a Yellow Star” by Dan Forrest accompanied by a large percussion ensemble under Ragsdale’s direction and Eric Whitacre’s “Lux Nova (New Light).”  

Additionally, the Concert Choir will sing several pieces from its Rapid City tour in January, including Bruckner's “Ave Maria” and a piece dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. titled “The Trumpet Sounds Within My Soul.” 

Andrew Robinette, director of The Statesmen, said the group “will perform Schubert’s ‘Grab und Mond,’ a beautiful example of the Romantic period’s choral writing by one of the great choral masters. We will also perform a stunning setting of ‘Come Sing to Me of Heaven’ and Moses Hogan’s setting of ‘The Battle of Jericho,’ among other selections.”

Percussion

The closing concert at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 23, will feature the percussion ensemble directed by Ragsdale.

Tickets for one or all five of the concerts are $10 for adults and $5 for students with a cap of $30 per family. SDSU students are admitted free with their student ID. Tickets are available at the door 30 minutes prior to the concert.