FARMINGTON -The University of Maine at Farmington will present its spring concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 12, and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 13, in Nordica Auditorium of Merrill Hall. Dennis Hayes will conduct the Community Chorus and Steven Pane will lead the Chamber Choir.
Tickets are $6 for adults and $3, for senior citizens. They will be on sale at Mickey’s on Main Street or at the door.
Hayes, who recently retired after 27 years as a music educator in SAD 9, has put together a program unique for the UMF Community Chorus since the selections are all jazz related.
The major work on the concert will be Dave Brubeck’s Mass, “To Hope.” Brubeck is known for the cool sound developed in the 1950s and ’60s by his quartet, which featured alto saxophonist Paul Desmond. More recently, Brubeck has been composing in more classical formats. Widely known for jazz masterpieces such as “Take Five” and “Blue Rondo a la Turk,” Brubeck has been gaining recognition in the serious concert world because of his oratorios, cantatas and musical plays. “To Hope” was composed in 1979.
One of the greatest figures in jazz was the late Duke Ellington. The chorus will perform a medley of 17 of his pieces titled “Ellingtonia.” It was compiled in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Ellington’s birth in 1999. Ellington was known as a great bandleader, composer and pianist. Many critics and historians call him jazz’s most significant composer.
Rounding out the chorus’ portion of the program will be recently published arrangements of a modern swing spiritual, “Walk a Mile” by Pepper Choplin, and the well-known jazz ballad “Stormy Weather” by songwriter Harold Arlen.
Accompanying the chorus will be guest artist Gerry Wright on piano and his jazz trio.
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