Americana!

Well, last Friday night was the University Chorus Concert out here at the University of Illinois, which went really well! We had a great time and made some wonderful music before, including four pieces (arrangements) that had never been heard before (Three by Danny McDavitt and one by me). It was a really rewarding experience!

The program got the title "Americana" because it was all somehow tied to the Americas. Beginning with a piece that was close to home (written by a composer from Chicago) then moving out to Latin America for a few fragments from the Mass. Then over to England, when Elgar did two settings of pieces by Tennyson, then back to the United States for some standard compositions and some folk music. All in all, a pretty good program, I think!

The picture on the poster above was taken by Whitney, and as many of you can imagine, is not even remotely a picture of Illinois! But it sure looked Americana, right? Whitney also came out for the concert (or my birthday....still not sure which...) and she took some wonderful pictures of our last rehearsal on stage before the concert began! Thanks hun!

P.S. If I get super ambitious, I may even attempt to put some audio clips on here....we'll see.

A fantastic pianist, Colin Leslie

Looking "out" for the slower of the folk songs (thanks to a little micro-geography)

This might be my favorite part of the concert! There was quite a bit of percussion in several of the pieces, and the best box I could find to carry it all around was this one! It held together quite well!