Three Minot State University vocal groups will give an area audience a sneak preview of a show they are taking on the road.
Ken Bowles, MSU's concert choir director, has joined forces with two more university music directors, Cherie Collins and Rebecca Petrik, in a varied concert that also will offer soaring sound at Williston and Moose Jaw, Sask. The Minot performance, which is free to the public, is at 7:30 p.m. at Ann Nicole Nelson Hall at the university.
The Concert Choir, the women's chorus that Collins directs and Petrik's MSU Singers total more than 90 voices and offer a wide variety of music, Bowles said.
The concert choir will present classical works by musical masters such as Italian composer Giovanni Palestrina and Sergei Rachmaninoff as well as contemporaries like Morten Lauridsen and David Childs who have distinguished themselves.
"There is no particular focus on solos," Bowles said, adding that a detailed piano accompaniment by his wife, DeVera Bowles, will be "a significant addition."
The women's chorus will offer both classical works, like a selection from "Requiem," and folk music.
"The MSU singers will perform some music from the lighter side, including jazz and swing arrangements for a broader audience," Ken Bowles said.
"These vocalists don't have to be music majors to sing with one of the groups," he said, "but they must make the rigorous time and scheduling commitment that is needed."
Tour
The groups will leave the following week to perform at First Lutheran Church in Williston at 8 p.m. on March 9 and at St. Andrews United Church in Moose Jaw the following evening.
"Moose Jaw is Minot's sister city, and St. Andrews is a wonderful place to sing," Bowles said.
He said the groups plan a stop at Calgary, Alberta, before returning to Minot. The tour is a biennial event.