SUNY Plattsburgh Choral Ensembles to Present "Evening of Choral Delights"

The College Chorale will perform a varied program, including several 20th-century choral pieces.  The audience will likely recognize two songs from American composer Randall Thompson's "Frostiana" suite, set to words by Robert Frost "Choose Something Like a Star" and "The Road Not Taken."  In contrast, College Chorale will also perform the striking "Three Hungarian Folk Songs," by Bela Bartok and "El Vito," an Andalusian folk song arranged by Mack Wilberg for chorus and a dynamic four-hand piano accompaniment. The choir displays their language dexterity while singing the charming French folk song "Aupres de ma Blonde," arranged by Robert Shaw.

A second group, the Cardinal Singers will perform two settings of the motet "O magnum mysterium," displaying the striking contrasts in the writing between Renaissance composer Tomas Luis de Victoria and 20th-century French composer Francis Poulenc. The chamber choir will also perform one chanson from the "Trois Chansons" suite by French impressionist Claude Debussy - "Dieu! qu'il la fait bon regarder!" Like the College Chorale, Cardinal Singers will include a set by Bela Bartok entitled "Four Slovak Folk Songs."

Under the direction of Jo Ellen Miano, chair of SUNY Plattsburgh's Music Department, the women of College Chorale and Cardinal Singers combine to sing a moving setting of words of Sojourner Truth, "Ain't I a Woman?" composed by contemporary American composer Janis Bethea Kindred.

Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, call 518-564-2180.